With approximately 31,000 students from over 120 nations, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) is one of the largest and most diverse universities in Germany. JGU unites almost all academic disciplines under one roof, including the Mainz University Medical Center; the Mainz Academy of Fine Arts; the Mainz School of Music; and the Faculty of Translation Studies, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies in Germersheim. About 4,600 academics, among them about 580 professors, teach and conduct research in over 100 institutes and clinics. With 76 fields of study and 296 degree courses, JGU offers an extraordinarily broad range of courses.

As the only German university of its size, nearly all of the institutions of JGU are located on one single campus near the city centre, which is also home to five partner institutes involved in top-level, non-university research: the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPI-C), the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P), the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM), the Institute of Biotechnology and Drug Research (IBWF), and the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB). The campus of the University Medical Center is only about a kilometre away and the Mainz Leibniz Association institutions – the Institute of European History (IEG), the Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research (LIR), and the Roman-Germanic Central Museum (RGZM) – are located slightly further away in the inner city. In addition to this, many local businesses also carry out research, making Mainz a uniquely dynamic research hub.

JGU enjoys global eminence as a research-driven university. Its main core research areas are particle and hadron physics, the materials sciences, and translational medicine, while its most outstanding research achievements in the humanities have been attained in fields of American studies and historical cultural studies. JGU's success in Germany's Excellence Strategy programme has confirmed its academic status: In 2018, the research network PRISMA+ (Precision Physics, Fundamental Interactions, and Structure of Matter) was recognised as a cluster of excellence. With its forerunner, PRISMA, and the Materials Science graduate school in Mainz (MAINZ), JGU had previously been successful in the Excellence Initiative. Moreover, excellent placings in national and international rankings as well as numerous other honours and awards demonstrate just how successful Mainz-based researchers and academics are.

Another attribute of JGU is its research-oriented teaching – which incorporates research-based topics in the curricula early on. Similar emphasis is placed on promoting and mentoring young research talents. JGU also considers the exchange of knowledge with society as one of its key duties. As an open university, JGU offers the populace a unique portfolio of information dissemination concepts that extend far beyond the scope of standard popular academic formats. Through its system of university governance, JGU makes sure that its members participate in the strategic planning and that outstanding academics get involved.

The University of Mainz was founded in 1477, closed in 1798 when Napoleon's troops occupied the city, and reopened in 1946 as Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz remains devoted to the principles embodied by its namesake: promoting and implementing innovative ideas, utilising knowledge to enhance people's lives, and inspiring individuals to surpass boundaries. This ambition serves as the university's driving force.

Mainz - At the Heart of the Rhine-Main Region

In its everyday life, the state capital of Rhineland-Palatinate proves that tradition and progress are not necessarily opposites. Looking back on a history spanning 2,000 years, Mainz has remained young. The metropolis on the Rhine, where Romans, electors, and personalities such as Barbarossa and Gutenberg have left their mark, is today a picturesque home for people and business. And in 2011 Mainz was named Germany's City of Science.

Mainz stands for conviviality and cosmopolitanism. Mainz always has an "open ear" for culture, and not only because a well-known Whitsun festival with theatre, music, seminars, and cabaret bears this name. State theatres, small stages, and other cultural centres provide a lively and varied array of offerings for all tastes. On the one hand, new and experimental forms of theatre are presented at the "studio theatre" (Kammerspiele), while the historic Moller building presents opera, theatre, and ballet. An especially dazzling facet of Mainz cultural life is the nationally known "cellar" stage. Top names feature on the placards of this "cabaret cellar": from Dieter Hildebrandt to the "Missfits" to Lars Reichow, to name only a few.

At the same time, the state capital is a vital central location for business, including many media companies - led by German Television ZDF ("Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen"), which promotes the image of its home town across Europe on a daily basis. Extensive wine growing areas characterise the landscape on the edge of the city, where a walk in the vineyards lets you leave your everyday cares behind at any time of the year. Other surrounding areas are also delightful and offer a wealth of opportunities for day excursions. Whether to Europe's major flight hub, the Frankfurt airport, or to the charming Rheingau region with its famous monasteries such as Eberbach situated in the hills, or on a romantic boat trip on the Rhine or a short tour through the splendid landscapes of the Hunsrück, Odenwald, and Taunus ranges of hills (Mittelgebirge).