The Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons (ER-C) is an institute located on the campus of Forschungszentrum Jülich belonging to the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres . It comprises three divisions: ER-C-1 “ Physics of Nanoscale systems ”, ER-C-2 “ Materials Science and Technology ” and ER-C-3 “ Structural Biology ”.
58-638: Within the framework of a competence platform governed jointly by Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University , the ER-C operates a national and international user facility that provides access to state-of-the-art instruments, methods and expertise to universities, research institutions and industry. The ER-C's main purposes are fundamental research in electron microscopy, focusing on method development and applications of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and scanning-transmission electron microscopy (STEM) in physics, chemistry and biology. As
116-834: A University agreement with the Harbin Institute of Technology since 2019. In June 2024 a research by Correctiv journalists showed Chinese military involvement in several RWTH projects. From 100 RTWH professors in Mechanical- and Electrical engineering 19 had coorperated with researchers from NUDT and the Seven Sons of National Defence initiative and 45 had benefited from Chinese government funding. The money, in some cases channelled through companies privately held by RWTH professors, went, among other things, to projects with military applications, including radar technology for drones . RWTH Aachen University's 620 acres (250 ha) campus
174-465: A competence platform, the ER-C was founded on 27 January 2004 through a contract signed by the chairman of Forschungszentrum Jülich Joachim Treusch and the rector of RWTH Aachen University Burkhard Rauhut. It was inaugurated on 18 May 2006 in the presence of members of the Ernst Ruska family, as well as representatives of the international electron microscopy community. On 1 January 2017, the ER-C attained
232-557: A comprehensive single-particle and tomography approach to investigate the structures of membrane biology processes autophagy and endocytosis. The facilities are accessible to external users through the ER-C user office . RWTH Aachen University RWTH Aachen University ( German: [ˌɛʁveːteːˌhaː ˈʔaːxn̩] ), in German Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen ,
290-517: A degree in electrical engineering from RWTH Aachen and is known for the Debye model and Debye relaxation . Another example, Helmut Zahn and his team of the Institute for Textile Chemistry were the first who synthesised insulin in 1963 and they were nominated for Nobel Prize. Another example is B.J. Habibie , the third president of Indonesia that contributed in many aviation advancements. Franz Josef Och
348-523: A research output of more than 1000 research papers over 5 years, and no more than 80% of activity in a single subject area ( Times Higher Education World University Rankings ) . The QS World University Ranking for 2021 included 1002 research universities. The region with the highest number was Europe , with 39.8%, followed by Asia /Pacific with 26.7%, the US and Canada with 15.6%, Latin America with 10.8% and
406-580: A similar distribution, with 185 of their 500 ranked institutions in 2020 coming from Europe, 161 from the Americas, 149 from Asia/Oceania and five from Africa. All regions except Africa are represented in the top 100, although the Americas are represented solely by universities from the United States and Canada. In 2024, the US has the most universities in the top 500 from a single country, 114, followed by China with 103,
464-447: A spherical aberration corrected transmission electron microscope equipped with a large (11 mm) objective pole-piece gap, a double biprism system and a direct electron counting detector. The same microscope is used for ongoing instrumentation development, including ultra-high vacuum sample transfer, laser illumination, in situ magnetising and low temperature experiments. Recently, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) became an integral part of
522-658: A unique position with regards to the reflection and promotion of international aspects and intensive interaction with other universities. In Asia, RWTH Aachen collaborates with Tsinghua University to offer Tsinghua-Aachen (Germany) Joint Master Program. RWTH Aachen was ranked #106 globally (#5 nationally) in the QS World University Rankings 2024, #90 globally (#5 nationally) in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024, and #201–300 globally (#10–19 nationally) in
580-505: Is a German public research university located in Aachen , North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany . With more than 47,000 students enrolled in 144 study programs, it is the largest technical university in Germany. RWTH Aachen in 2019 emerged from the final of the third federal and state excellence strategy. The university will be funded as a university of excellence for the next seven years. RWTH Aachen
638-556: Is a collaborative effort of 47 principal investigators from 8 academic divisions of RWTH Aachen University, as well as Max Planck Institute for Iron Research and Forschungszentrum Jülich . RWTH Aachen University has educated several notable individuals, including some Nobel laureates in physics and chemistry. The scientists and alumni of the RWTH Aachen played a major role in chemistry , medicine, electrical , and mechanical engineering. For example, Nobel laureate Peter Debye received
SECTION 10
#1733085759441696-571: Is also a member of DFG and the Top Industrial Managers for Europe network. On 25 January 1858, prince Frederick William of Prussia (later German emperor ), was given a donation of 5,000 talers from the Aachener und Münchener Feuer-Versicherungs-Gesellschaft , the precursor of the AachenMünchener insurance company , for charity. In March, the prince chose to use the donation to found
754-516: Is divided into nine (previously ten) faculties: Faculty nine was pedagogical sciences , but it was abandoned in 1989. Teacher education , however, continued. The university cooperates with the Fraunhofer-Institutes situated in the Melaten district of Aachen . The institutes offer workshops, courses and lectures for the students of RWTH Aachen. The Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance (JARA)
812-660: Is located in the north-western part of the city Aachen. There are two core areas – midtown and Melaten district. The Main Building, SuperC student's center and the Kármán Hall are 500 m away from the city centre with the Aachen Cathedral , the Audimax (biggest lecture hall) and the main refectory are 200 m farther. Other points of interest include the university's botanical garden ( Botanischer Garten Aachen ). A new building,
870-455: Is run by the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia . Since the summer semester of 2004 the state of North Rhine-Westphalia allowed universities to request a maximum of €500 per semester as tuition fees. In the past, tuition fees applied solely for long-term students and second studies. Since the summer semester of 2007, all students enrolled at the RWTH Aachen had to pay these €500, if they were not exempt for one of several reasons put forth by
928-529: The ARWU World Rankings 2023. In the 2023 QS Subject Ranking, RWTH Aachen ranks first in Germany in mechanical engineering and materials sciences. In the 2023 THE Subject Ranking, RWTH Aachen ranks second in Germany in engineering and computer science. In the 2022 ARWU Subject Ranking, RWTH Aachen ranks first in Germany in chemical engineering. In 2009, two prominent German newspapers, Handelsblatt and Wirtschaftswoche , ranked RWTH Aachen
986-568: The Middle East and Africa with 7%. All regions except the Middle East and Africa were represented in the top 100. The largest number of new entrants to the rankings were from East Asia and Eastern Europe , followed by Southern Europe . By individual country, the US has the most institutions with 151, followed by the UK with 84, China with 51, and Germany with 45. The top 200 shows a similar pattern with
1044-494: The Nazi party were allowed to return and a multitude of new institutes were founded. By the late 1960s, the TH had 10,000 students, making it the foremost of all German technical universities. With the foundation of philosophical and medical faculties in 1965 and 1966, respectively, the university became more "universal". The newly founded faculties in particular began attracting new students, and
1102-837: The Stepstone Salary Report for Graduates 2019/2020 , graduates of RWTH Aachen are amongst the highest earners in Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics . From 2001 to 2013, national rankings regularly identified RWTH Aachen as one of the best universities in Germany in the fields of engineering (especially mechanical engineering, electrical engineering ), as well as amongst the top three in computer science , physics , chemistry , and medicine. Almost all basic lectures are held in German, but an increasing number of master programs require proficiency in English for admission. RWTH Aachen
1160-529: The Sultanate of Oman signed an agreement to establish a private German University of Technology in Muscat . Professors from Aachen aided in developing the curricula for the currently five study-programs and scientific staff took over some of the first courses. In 2007, RWTH Aachen was chosen as one of nine German Universities of Excellence for its future concept RWTH 2020: Meeting Global Challenges , earning it
1218-517: The University of California , have served as models for research universities around the world. Having one or more universities based on the American model (including the use of English as a lingua franca ) is a badge of "social progress and modernity " for the contemporary nation-state . The Americans' continued dominance into the early 21st century has forced their European counterparts to confront
SECTION 20
#17330857594411276-626: The University of Stuttgart , a house in Kleinwalsertal in the Austrian Alps . The university is currently expanding in the city center and Melaten district. The SuperC, the new central service building for students, was opened in 2008. The groundbreaking for the new Campus-Melaten was in 2009. Double degrees and student mobility are promoted with other technology universities through the TIME ( Top Industrial Managers for Europe ) network. Furthermore,
1334-504: The connotation of being a "University of Excellence". However, although the list of universities honored for their future concepts mostly consists of large and already respected institutions, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research claimed that the initiative aimed at promoting universities with a dedicated future concept so they could continue researching on an international level. Having won funds in all three lines of funding,
1392-472: The American military–industrial complex and developing artificial intelligence , and Berkeley and Stanford played a central role in the development of Silicon Valley . The "most prestigious group of research universities" in the United States is the Association of American Universities . Since the 1960s, American research universities, especially the leading American public research university system ,
1450-518: The American context, as having values of intellectual freedom, initiative and creativity, excellence, and openness, with such additional characteristics as: Global university rankings use metrics that primarily measure research to rank universities. Some also have criteria for inclusion based on the concept of a research university such as teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and conducting work in multiple faculties ( QS World University Rankings ), or teaching undergraduates, having
1508-552: The ER-C inaugurated the first chromatic aberration corrected transmission electron microscope in Europe, which is designated “PICO” and is capable of resolving atomic positions in materials with a spatial resolution of 50 picometers and a precision approaching 1 picometer. It is also equipped with a monochromator, an electron biprism, an electron energy-loss spectrometer and a direct electron counting detector. In situ and quantitative electromagnetic field measurements can be carried out using
1566-988: The Ernst-Ruska Centre with state-of-the-art cryo-microscopes: 300 kV Titan Krios G4 (operational in Summer 2021) and 200 kV Talos Arctica including Gatan Bioquantum K3 detectors. The three scientific divisions of the ER-C focus on specific research topics: 1. ERC-1 (solid state physics and chemistry) focuses on electroceramics and nanoelectronic oxides, materials for Green IT, electromagnetic field mapping, electron optics and method development, metallic alloys and crystal growth, catalysis, nanofabrication and quantum sensing, scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy and momentum-resolved scanning transmission electron microscopy. 2. ERC-2 (materials science) focuses on gas separation membranes, battery materials, non-volatile memories and high-performance steels. 3. ERC-3 (structural biology) focuses on cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) using
1624-534: The RWTH is member of the IDEA League , which is a strategic partnership among four of Europe's leading research universities, including TU Delft , Chalmers University of Technology , and ETH Zürich , and was the first German university starting an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program in 2008. Compared to other German universities the RWTH Aachen received the highest amount of funds granted by third-party donors in
1682-635: The State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 24 February 2011 study fees were abolished by the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia (Legislation for the Improvement of Equal Opportunities to University Admission) with effect from Winter Term 2011/12. Universities will receive 249 Mio Euro of national funding for measures that improve the quality of teaching (e.g., through additional teachers and tutors) as compensation. Tuition fees per semester are still being charged. The RWTH
1740-480: The TH in 1933 met with relatively low resistance from both students and faculty. Beginning in September 1933, Jewish and (alleged) Communist professors (and from 1937 on also students) were systematically persecuted and excluded from the university. Vacant Chairs were increasingly given to NSDAP party-members or sympathizers. The freedom of research and teaching became severely limited, and institutes important for
1798-681: The UK with 35 and Germany with 35. The top 200 shows the similar pattern: the US with 59 followed by China with 37 and the UK with 20. The 2024 Times Higher Education only gives a breakdown by country and only for its top 200; this again has the U.S. at the top with 56, followed by the UK with 25, Germany with 21, and China with 13. The top 200 features one university from Africa, the University of Cape Town in South Africa , but none from Latin America . The U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities Ranking 2021 gives numbers by country for
Ernst Ruska-Centre - Misplaced Pages Continue
1856-516: The US having 45 universities, the UK 26 and Germany 12. By comparison, the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (2015) identifies 115 US universities as "Doctoral Universities: Highest Research Activity" and a further 107 as "Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity", while Altbach estimated that there were around 220 research universities in the US in 2013. The Academic Ranking of World Universities shows
1914-438: The United States and Japan also have well-known private research institutions. Institutions of higher education that are not research universities or do not aspire to that designation, such as liberal arts colleges , instead place more emphasis on student instruction or other aspects of tertiary education, whereas research university faculty members, in contrast, are under more pressure to publish or perish . The concept of
1972-543: The aforementioned fields of engineering and computer science. RWTH Aachen took 3rd place in 2018 based on the number of top managers in the German economy measured by the number of DAX board of management members. In 2019, RWTH Aachen took 2nd place. The top 3 universities in 2019 with the most top managers were the LMU Munich , the RWTH Aachen and the Technische Universität Darmstadt . According to
2030-606: The certification of new knowledge" through the awarding of doctoral degrees , and continue to be "the very center of scientific productivity". They can be public or private , and often have well-known brand names. Undergraduate courses at many research universities are often academic rather than vocational and may not prepare students for particular careers, but many employers value degrees from research universities because they teach fundamental life skills such as critical thinking . Globally, research universities are overwhelmingly public institutions , while some countries like
2088-830: The development of a competence region for innovative materials technologies and ultimately to the success of structural change. The ER-C develops new methods and technologies in the field of electron microscopy, with a special focus on ultra-high-resolution techniques to study solid state materials, soft materials and biological systems. The ER-C houses conventional and state-of-the-art electron microscopes, ranging from standard scanning electron microscopes to highly-specialised aberration corrected instruments offering sub-Å resolution imaging and spectroscopy, as well as quantitative measurements of electromagnetic field distributions using phase contrast techniques that include off-axis electron holography and 4D STEM. The ER-C currently operates seven aberration-corrected instruments. On 29 February 2012,
2146-601: The establishment of American hegemony by the end of the 20th century. Most importantly, Berkeley, Chicago, Columbia, and Princeton (along with Birmingham and Cambridge in the UK) directly participated in the creation of the first nuclear weapons (the Manhattan Project ). Besides that, Columbia and Harvard were instrumental in the early development of the American film industry (Hollywood), MIT and Stanford were leaders in building
2204-474: The first Prussian institute of technology somewhere in the Rhine province . The seat of the institution remained undecided over years; while the prince initially favored Koblenz , the cities of Aachen , Bonn, Cologne and Düsseldorf also applied, with Aachen and Cologne being the main competitors. Aachen finally won with a financing concept backed by the insurance company and by local banks. Groundbreaking for
2262-417: The first place in Germany in the fields of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering, and computer science. In 2012, Handelsblatt ranked The RWTH School of Business and Economics amongst top 10 within Germany. In the 2015 ranking published by DAAD together with Centre for Higher Education Development and Die Zeit , RWTH Aachen also stands on top among other German universities in
2320-463: The highest amount of third-party funds among all German universities, placing first per faculty member and second overall in the most recent survey from 2018. RWTH Aachen is a founding member of the CESAER association of universities of science and technology in Europe, and IDEA League , a strategic alliance of five leading universities of technology in Europe, as well as its German counterpart TU9 . It
2378-485: The last years. More than 7,000 international students are currently enrolled within the undergraduate, graduate or PhD programme. Compared to other German universities the portion of international students at the RWTH Aachen is higher-than-average. The proximity of Aachen to the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg combined with the subsequent exposure to a variety of cultural heritages has placed RWTH Aachen University in
Ernst Ruska-Centre - Misplaced Pages Continue
2436-531: The late 19th century, when these fifteen institutions began to graft graduate programs derived from the German model onto undergraduate programs derived from the British model. At Johns Hopkins, president Daniel Coit Gilman led the development of the American research university by setting high standards for recruiting faculty and admitting students, and insisting that faculty members had to commit to both teaching and research. Research universities were essential to
2494-614: The new Polytechnikum took place on 15 May 1865 and lectures started during the Franco-Prussian War on 10 October 1870 with 223 students and 32 teachers. The new institution had as its primary purpose the education of engineers, especially for the mining industry in the Ruhr area ; there were schools of chemistry , electrical and mechanical engineering as well as an introductory general school that taught mathematics and natural sciences and some social sciences . The unclear position of
2552-507: The new Prussian polytechnika (which officially were not universities) affected the first years. Polytechnics lacked prestige in society and the number of students decreased. This began to change in 1880 when the early RWTH, amongst others, was reorganized as a Royal Technical University , gained a seat in the Prussian House of Lords and finally won the right to bestow Dr.-Ing. (1899) degrees and Dipl.-Ing. titles (introduced in 1902). In
2610-424: The number of students almost doubled twice from 1970 (10,000) to 1980 (more than 25,000) and from 1980 to 1990 (more than 37,000). Now, the average number of students is around 42,000, with about one third of all students being women. By relative terms, the most popular study-programs are engineering (57%), natural science (23%), economics and humanities (13%) and medicine (7%). In December 2006, RWTH Aachen and
2668-683: The process brought RWTH Aachen University an additional total funding of €180 million from 2007 to 2011. The other two lines of funding were graduate schools , where the Aachen Institute for Advanced Study in Computational Engineering Science received funding and so-called "clusters of excellence", where RWTH Aachen managed to win funding for the three clusters: Ultra High-Speed Mobile Information and Communication (UMIC) , Integrative Production Technology for High-wage Countries and Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass (TMFB) . RWTH
2726-487: The regime's plans were systematically established, and existing chairs promoted. Briefly closed in 1939, the TH continued courses in 1940, although with a low number of students. On 21 October 1944, when Aachen capitulated , more than 70% of all buildings of the university were destroyed or heavily damaged. After World War II ended in 1945 the university recovered and expanded quickly. In the 1950s, many professors who had been removed because of their alleged affiliation with
2784-426: The research university first arose in early 19th-century Prussia in Germany, where Wilhelm von Humboldt championed his vision of Einheit von Lehre und Forschung (the unity of teaching and research), as a means of producing an education that focused on the main areas of knowledge, including the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities , rather than on the previous goals of the university education, which
2842-455: The same year, over 800 male students enrolled. In 1909 the first women were admitted and the artist August von Brandis succeeded Alexander Frenz at the Faculty of Architecture as a "professor of figure and landscape painting", Brandis became dean in 1929. World War I , however, proved a serious setback for the university. Many students voluntarily joined up and died in the war, and parts of
2900-492: The so-called Central Auditorium for Research and Learning (CARL) was opened in 2017. It offers space for 4000 students and replaces Audimax as the largest lecture hall building. The name of the new central auditorium, which is going to contain different lecture halls, is a reference to Charlemagne , who reigned his empire from Aachen in the middle-ages. The RWTH has external facilities in Jülich and Essen and owns, together with
2958-680: The status of an independent scientific institute in Forschungszentrum Jülich. The ER-C is presently expanding further within the framework of the Research Infrastructure Roadmap of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the designation ER-C 2.0. The ER-C thus creates incentives for companies dealing with novel materials and technologies to settle in the Rhenish mining area and contribute to
SECTION 50
#17330857594413016-406: The university were shortly occupied or confiscated. While the (then no more royal) TH Aachen (Technische Hochschule Aachen) flourished in the 1920s with the introduction of more independent faculties , of several new institutes and of the general students' committee , the first signs of nationalist radicalization also became visible within the university. Nazi Germany 's Gleichschaltung of
3074-540: The urgent need for reform to avoid "declining into an advanced form of feeder colleges for the best American universities." John Taylor, Professor of Higher Education Management at the University of Liverpool , defines the key characteristics of successful research universities as: Philip Altbach defines a different, although similar, set of key characteristics for what research universities need to become successful: A 2012 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report defined research universities, in
3132-685: Was already part of the federal and state excellence initiative in 2007 and 2012. Since 2007, RWTH Aachen has been continuously funded by the DFG and the German Council of Science and Humanities as one of eleven (previously nine) German Universities of Excellence for its future concept RWTH 2020: Meeting Global Challenges and the follow-up concept The Integrated Interdisciplinary University of Science and Technology: Knowledge, Impact, Networks , also receiving grants for associated graduate schools and clusters of excellence . The university regularly accounts for
3190-794: Was founded by the RWTH Aachen and Forschungszentrum Jülich in 2007. Five sections are coordinated by the research facilities: The Aachen Institute for advanced study in Computational Engineering Science (AICES) is a graduate school established in 2006 under the German Universities Excellence Initiative at the RWTH Aachen University. Research at AICES is broadly in the area of Computational engineering , solving inverse problems that find applications in mathematics, computer science and engineering , mechanical engineering and natural sciences . AICES
3248-508: Was selected to receive funding from the German federal and state governments for the third Universities of Excellence funding line starting 2019. RWTH's proposal was called "The Integrated Interdisciplinary University of Science and Technology – Knowledge. Impact. Networks." and has secured funding for a seven-year period. 2019 Clusters of Excellence RWTH was already awarded funding in the first and second Universities of Excellence funding lines, in 2007 and 2012 respectively. The RWTH itself has
3306-494: Was the chief architect of Google Translate . Werner Tietz is one of the leading engineers of the Volkswagen Group and vice president of SEAT. Research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of knowledge production ", along with "intergenerational knowledge transfer and
3364-737: Was to develop an understanding of truth, beauty, and goodness . Roger L. Geiger , "the leading historian of the American research university," has argued that "the model for the American research university was established by five of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution ( Harvard , Yale , Pennsylvania , Princeton , and Columbia ); five state universities ( Michigan , Wisconsin , Minnesota , Illinois , and California ); and five private institutions conceived from their inception as research universities ( MIT , Cornell , Johns Hopkins , Stanford , and Chicago )." The American research university first emerged in
#440559