Technische Universität Berlin’s Profile – Regulations and Guidelines

Technische Universität Berlin is a research institute developing science and technology for the benefit of society. Members of the University are committed to the principle of sustainable development and Alexander von Humboldt’s pedagogical ideal of the unity of research and teaching.

Mission Statement

This mission statement serves as a permanent inspiration for standards in teaching at TU Berlin, and, as a kind of “constitution”, forms the basis for all regulations, guidelines and strategies governing teaching at our University. All study and examination regulations, curricula and quality management measures for studying and teaching need to reflect the content of this mission statement.

Mission statement for teaching

The University Strategy establishes TU Berlin’s objectives for the coming eight years.

University Strategy (only in German)

Technische Universität Berlin has a special social responsibility as educator and shaper of future decision-makers in our society and its role as multiplier is both a responsibility and an opportunity. TU Berlin recognizes the goals of “sustainable development and climate protection” as urgent societal tasks and that its primary responsibility is to embed these goals into teaching, research, and knowledge transfer.

TU Berlin and the State of Berlin will therefore work in partnership to use energy economically, ecologically and, as far as possible, sparingly, and also to make intensive use of renewable energies in the existing building stock. They will also use appropriate means to tap existing potential for saving energy and reducing CO2 emissions. The partners agree that the scope of the measures to be implemented also depends on issues such as the provision of financial resources, and the use of funding and funding conditions.

Read the full version of the Climate Protection Agreement (pdf)

The Structural Plan 2015 establishes Technische Universität’s areas of scientific focus and its development goals. It provides information about the further development of the defining areas of focus in research and teaching, professorships established in the TU budget, and the degree programs offered. Structural plans enable the Berlin universities to agree on their individual scientific profiles and their development plans, thus ensuring a broad-based, complementary spectrum of scientific disciplines in teaching and research in Berlin.

Structural Plan 2015 (only in German)

In December 2019, TU Berlin unanimously adopted these principles in its Diversity Strategy - Equal Opportunities at Technische Universität Berlin in the Academic Senate, thus starting the process for diversity mainstreaming - a systematic integration of equal opportunities and freedom from discrimination in all fields of action of the University.

Diversity, inclusion and anti-discrimination will be systematically integrated into the steering mechanisms, regulations and (university-wide) strategy processes as guiding principles.

• Diversity Strategy (pdf)
• Further information

• Technische Universität Berlin Civil Clause
  The Civil Clause represents the University’s pledge to not engage in any research for military purposes. The Civil Clause is further a confirmation of the University’s commitment to its responsibilities and its acknowledgment of the role it played prior to and during World War II, particularly in the area of military research.
  Civil Clause (only in German)
• Technische Universität Berlin Open Access Policy
  The University supports the scientific-political promotion of open access to scientific knowledge as established in the “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities“. The Executive Board and the Academic Senate of Technische Universität Berlin strongly encourage members of the University to publish their research findings open access.
  Technische Universität Berlin Open Access Policy
• Technische Universität Berlin Guidelines on Copyright Law
  These guidelines provide an overview of the copyright issues encountered in the daily life of the University. They seek to raise awareness of copyright issues among professors, staff members, and students as well as provide possible solutions.
  Technische Universität Berlin Guidelines on Copyright Law (only in German)
• Code of Conduct for Doctorates in Cooperation with Commercial Enterprises
  Technische Universität Berlin considers the doctoral dissertation a scientist’s first independent academic work. Technische Universität Berlin regards the public discussion and publication of research designs, interim findings, and final results of the research process throughout the doctoral period as one of its defining activities. All data and facts serving as the bases for a thesis must be subject to extensive debate and verification.
  Code of Conduct for Doctorates with Commercial Enterprises

TU Berlin carries out basic and application-oriented research at top international level and promotes cross-faculty research activities and networks with external actors as well as knowledge and technology transfer between the university and practical applications. To this goal, TU Berlin forms strategic alliances with companies as well as university and non-university research facilities. With the Research Data Policy TU Berlin wants to provide its current and future researchers with an orientation for handling research data.

Research Data Policy of the Technische Universität Berlin (including guidelines on the implementation)

In its Mission Statement, the Technische Universität Berlin commits to research and teaching that is based on social, ethical and humanist grounds. It is particularly important to TU Berlin that research findings are sustainably disseminated, accessible and visible.

In order to achieve this, TU Berlin supports the research political request for Open Access to scholarly knowledge as laid out in the “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities”. TU Berlin's Executive Board and Academic Senate strongly recommend that the university's members publish their research results Open Access.

TU Berlin's Open Access Policy

• Online Style Guide
  This contains general and design-specific corporate design guidelines for the further development of Technische Universität Berlin’s website.

• IT Security Guidelines
  The Security Guidelines define the objectives for the entire IT security process and form the basis for an IT security strategy at the University. The measures implemented as a result of these guidelines are intended to provide the greatest possible security in the area of information technology. Security is an indispensable prerequisite for data protection measures, which need to be ensured in all areas, particularly regarding the use of personal data. The guidelines apply to all the University’s units and its entire IT infrastructure, including IT operating systems and all devices connected to the TU network, as well as all members of the University.
  IT Security Guidelines (only in German)
• Using Mobile IT Devices
  The guidelines on using mobile IT devices provide recommendations for all University members on the use of mobile terminals (laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc.) for official purposes. They serve to raise awareness of IT security issues and risks associated with the use of mobile IT devices.
  Guidelines on Using Mobile IT Devices (only in German)
• Guidelines on Reporting IT Security Incidents
  Compliance with the IT Security Guidelines requires that their impact be monitored and possible weaknesses identified. To achieve these aims, the University has established a central system for reporting flaws as well as incidents relating to IT security. This reporting system is a quality assurance measure and is intended to enable appropriate action and measures to be taken to limit and avoid damage. The kind of incidents to be reported include the loss or theft of electronic devices storing sensitive data relating to the University, incidents of hacking into the University’s IT systems or the spreading of malcodes through IT systems operated by the University.
  Guidelines on Reporting IT Security Incidents (only in German)
• Technische Universität Berlin Guidelines on Passwords
  The Guidelines on Passwords regulate the assignment, use, and configuration of passwords for use in the University’s IT systems and define the rights and duties of all users of IT systems when using password-based authentication procedures.
  TU Berlin Guidelines on Passwords (only in German)

These guidelines cover protection against sexual discrimination as disparagement based on the gender of a person, sexual harassment in the form of verbal, visual, written and/or physical abuse of a sexual nature, and sexual violence in the form of sexual assault and rape. They apply to all members of the University as well as all other persons researching, teaching, or studying at Technische Universität Berlin, and visitors to the institution.

Guidelines on Protection against Sexual Discrimination, Harassment and Violence

Through the environmental guidelines, University management and staff from all status groups pledge their commitment to an environmentally friendly development of the University. Work and decisions carried out on a daily basis throughout the entire University should reflect the essence of the guidelines. The protection and preservation of natural resources as part of a sustainable development is a leading goal of the University in its research and teaching activities as well as its operation. By applying these guidelines, the University seeks to fulfill its function as a role model for society.

Environmental Guidelines for the Technische Universität Berlin