Sep 17, 2025
Ursula Staudinger formally inaugurated into second term as TUD Rector
TUD Rector Prof. Ursula M. Staudinger during the investiture ceremony wearing her gown and chain of office.
On September 17, 2025, Prof. Ursula M. Staudinger was inaugurated into her second term as Rector of TUD Dresden University of Technology in a formal inaugural ceremony. The ceremony in the Dülfer Hall was attended by over 200 invited guests from the fields of science, politics and business, including Saxony’s Minister of Science, Sebastian Gemkow, who presented the certificate of appointment.
The Rector’s second term of office will consolidate the crucial decisions made in her first five years and establish new priorities. Since Ursula M. Staudinger assumed office as Rector in 2021,TUD has launched key strategic initiatives to transform it into a globally oriented yet regionally anchored top university for the 21st century. This includes outstanding successes in cutting-edge research, in particular the five Clusters of Excellence, which will receive funding from 2026 onwards. This puts TUD among the top 5 universities nationwide in this Excellence Strategy funding line, making us the leading technical university in the competition.
The Excellence Strategy also marks a key transition point from the first to the second term: On August 1, the Excellence Self-Assessment Report, which the Rector had been instrumental in preparing, was submitted, and her second term of office began on August 18. Preparations are currently underway for the on-site visit by a panel of international assessors on November 11 and 12.
“I am overjoyed that the Extended Senate expressed its confidence in me in the first round of voting in March and thus granted me the opportunity to strategically develop TUD along this path,” says Ursula M. Staudinger. "I am very much looking forward to the next five years, which will be pivotal years for TUD: In March 2026, we will find out whether we will remain a University of Excellence, and in 2028 we will celebrate our 200th anniversary.”
Among the first well-wishers was Sebastian Gemkow, Saxony's Minister of Science, who congratulated her warmly, saying: “Professor Staudinger is distinguished by her creative drive, her dedication to raising the visibility of science beyond TU Dresden and the science hub of Saxony, not to mention her broad, diverse commitments. She has been extremely successful in developing the University of Excellence TU Dresden and I am sure that she will carry this success into the future in her second term as Rector. I look forward to continuing our close and trusting collaboration."
“In this new term of office, my aim is to continue promoting our TUD as a driver of innovation, a social partner, and an excellent place of learning for all ages. In addition, through our collaborative and interdisciplinary approach, we want to achieve breakthroughs in fundamental research,” says Ursula M. Staudinger, describing the key points for the coming years. A pivotal project is the expansion of the transdisciplinary Center Synergy of Systems (SynoSys), which brings together methods from network, data, digital, and citizen science to explore complex phenomena at the crossroads of biomedicine and the social and behavioral sciences. To this end, TUD is establishing three innovation campuses together with the partner institutions in the DRESDEN-concept research alliance: Green Microelectronics, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Material Sciences and Production, and Interdisciplinary Transformative Life Sciences.
“In addition to bolstering research and transfer, it is also very important to me personally to make teaching at our university even more flexible. Micro-certificates will be launched in the winter semester, broadening our modular learning formats and appealing to new target groups and age groups. There should also be more flexibility in the creation of new degree programs, including the implementation of AI to support personalized learning paths." Ursula M. Staudinger still attaches great importance to increasing TUD's outreach to the wider public, promoting diversity, openness and inspiring people to take an interest in science. This is all the more pertinent with regard to transforming Lusatia into a sustainable high-tech location.
Among the guests at the inaugural ceremony were Rectors from universities in Saxony and other European countries, as well as representatives from the City of Dresden and the surrounding districts.
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