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  • 10/21/2019

Handover at the top level of TUM

Thomas F. Hofmann is the new President

An era has come to an end: Wolfgang A. Herrmann served as President of TUM for 24 years. On September 30, 2019, he solemnly handed over the official chain to his successor Thomas F. Hofmann.

Thomas F. Hofmann with students
Welcoming the freshers: Thomas F. Hofmann (2nd from left) is the new President of Technische Universität München. (Photo: Andreas Heddergott)

Hofmann has been a member of the university's Board of Directors for ten years, and he served as Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation. "The future belongs to our students and alumni," he emphasized in his inaugural address. According to the new President, it is important to promote the students' youthful curiosity "…not by uniformity, but by offering them a broader perspective, beyond the scope of their respective specialist fields".

Links to other disciplines

He emphasized that basic competences in the data sciences are especially important: "In addition to Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics, we have to ensure that digital key competencies and information technologies become essential parts of the subject area of ??each of our study programs."

According to Hofmann, it is also necessary to promote the students' ability to connect with other scientific disciplines. "For example, they can only really try to understand human decision-making if they are able to combine the competences of Data Science, Psychology, Neuroscience, and Economics."

Student competition on teaching

The new President wants to put special emphasis on the future of teaching. In order to create a new scope for development, the aim is to promote different forms of online learning – cleverly combined with new forms of campus teaching.
Further, Hofmann emphasized that personal interaction between students and teachers and between the students themselves is just as important as highlighting the aspect of interdisciplinarity. Thus, there will be a stronger focus on "problem-oriented and project-based learning in teams".

In order to involve the students more closely in the development, Hofmann announced a competition regarding "the best proposals for measures focusing on the sustainable design of our teaching". The best ideas will be implemented, funded in the scope of the Excellence Strategy.

More information:
“We are creating a global marketplace of knowledge“ (Interview with Thomas F. Hofmann)
“Leadership handover at TUM“ (Press release)
Film about Thomas F. Hofmann

Technical University of Munich

Corporate Communications Center

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