Lead & Knowledge

Numerous patent applications are an indicator that intensive research is taking place. Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences enjoy a world renowned reputation.  Discover a large concentration of highly educated individuals.

Region of Intellectuals

In the Cologne Bonn Metropolitan Area, students enjoy a wide selection of courses of study from an excellent choice of universities and colleges.  There are also very good options in vocational education and training.  Where there is a high number of students enrolled in universities, there is a high level of educated individuals applying for jobs. The best example of this is Bonn, which is the leader in North Rhine-Westphalia. One out five employees has a university degree, which is above the national average.

Educational Statistics

In the winter semester 2007/08 there were over 100,000 students taking advantage of the high quality and broad-based courses of study. This represents one quarter of all students at North Rhine-Westphalian universities. Around 45,000 young men and women were enrolled in winter semester 2007/08 at the University of Cologne, which was founded in 1388 (it is the oldest university in Germany and second largest in terms of the number of students). The University in Bonn had over 27,000 students in the winter semester 2007/2008. Finally, the largest university in Germany, The Cologne University of Applied Sciences, had 16,000 students.

Internationally Renowned Universities

More and more young people from abroad choose the Cologne Bonn Metropolitan Area as their destination for higher education. The most popular universities of the winter semester 2007/2008, (each having more than 10% international students enrolled) were the following: the Universities of Cologne and Bonn, the Cologne, the Bonn/Rhine-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, the European University of Applied Sciences in Bruehl, and the private Rheinische Fachhochschule Köln. This large number of student life is not only an asset for science and research, but it also enriches the cultural life of the each university.

Patents and Intensive Research

Teaching and researching go hand in hand in the region. According to the Center for Higher Education Development in Gütersloh, the Universities of Cologne and Bonn are among the top 20 research-intensive universities in Germany(in the field of chemistry and mathematics). In addition to university research institutes, there are many other renowned research institutes. This region has access to the Fraunhofer Institute, the Institute of the Max Planck Society, and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The results of research and development can be seen by the impressive amount of patent applications. In 2005, the Cologne Bonn Metropolitan Area had more than 1,300 patent applications. Most patents (approximately 431) came from the automotive and mechanical engineering industry, as well as, the DLR, which had approximately 88 patent applications.

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