Next stop "Technische Universität Dortmund" – TU Dortmund University has its own train station which serves as the campus's main gate, only seven minutes from the city centre. Step off the train and you encounter a vibrant, village-like atmosphere, offering a wide variety of social and cultural amenities with shops, pubs and restaurants.
Student residence halls form a feeling of community in student life - commodious and quiet, yet not without their vitality. These living areas go well beyond the cliché of college dorms, especially in view of the facilities provided. All residence halls are equipped with state-of-the-art telecommunications, providing both high-speed internet access and even video conferencing facilities.
The campus serves its educational and research purposes, but its lawns, benches and beer gardens invite students and teachers to pause and relax. The campus is a living space for many people. On any given day, one will find plays and concerts, exhibitions, films, readings and guest lectures. Several times during the semester, cafeterias are turned into discotheques, departments and faculties organise graduation ceremonies, and alumni return to the university to celebrate their reunions. The annual summer highlight is the "Sommerfest" when TU Dortmund University presents its work to the citizens of Dortmund, inviting them to a day of presentations, games, art, music and plenty of food, all lasting well into the evening.
At TU Dortmund University, there are approximately 4,000 foreign students from 110 countries. Here, huge priority is placed on the international character of the university.
To investigate nature, to educate people, to accept technical challenges and to co-design the resulting cultural and social changes - these are the key tasks of TU Dortmund University. From the beginning, TU Dortmund University has been dedicated to interdisciplinary cooperation between natural/technical sciences and social/cultural sciences and their specialities with regard to research and teaching. The potentials of these specifics are to be used continually to mutually increase orientation competence, cultural competence, innovation power, critical faculties and technological knowledge and therefore to ensure even higher academic quality.
TU Dortmund University does not focus exclusively on the strengths of its individual disciplines, but also on the interdisciplinary network between its disciplines. This implies more profile-building features with regard to teaching offers and interdisciplinary research. The interdisciplinary cooperation in the university's three areas - engineering and computer science, natural sciences and social and cultural sciences - opens up innovative synergy potential in research and cutting-edge education.

Dortmund is the eighth largest city in Germany with a population of approx. 600,000 inhabitants. Its origins date back to 890 AD. The city was severely damaged during the Second World War and was completely reconstructed in the decades following its destruction. Today, it is a modern centre of business, high technology, education and culture, with renovated Art Nouveau façades shaping the architectural landscape of many residential neighbourhoods contrasting with the sleek municipal and office buildings of the city centre. One of the most pleasant features of Dortmund's environment are its open natural spaces and extensive green areas. More than half of the city area is devoted to gardens, parks and forests. In many ways, Dortmund's international population and the blend of old and new introduce the visitor to everyday life in twenty-first-century Germany. Two features of Dortmund culture, rooted in its industrial past, still shape its post-modernity: football and beer. Dortmund beer is famous all over the world, as is its football team, Borussia Dortmund. TU Dortmund University's student ticket allows our students to use the transport system of the Ruhr area free of charge, so they can explore this large metropolitan area which offers many exciting cultural activities. More than five million people live in the 53 cities of the Ruhr area, including Dortmund, Bochum, Essen, and Duisburg. The large cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf are nearby, as are the vineyards of the Rhine Valley. The excellent transportation network makes travelling convenient and connects the whole area. Formerly known for mining and heavy industry, the Ruhr area is now sometimes dubbed "Helicon Valley" because of its research in alternative energy sources and its shift to e-commerce and computer-related businesses.