RWTH Aachen University, also known as North Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen, Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen, Technical University of Aachen, University of Aachen, or Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, is a German public research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With more than 47,000 students enrolled in 144 study programs, it is the largest technical university in Germany. In 2018, the university was ranked 31st in the world university rankings in the field of engineering and technology, and 36th world-wide in the category of natural sciences.
RWTH Aachen in 2019 emerged successfully from the final of the third federal and state excellence strategy. The university will be funded as a university of excellence for the next seven years. RWTH Aachen was already part of the federal and state excellence initiative in 2007 and 2012.
Since 2007, RWTH Aachen has been continuously funded by the DFG and the German Council of Science and Humanities as one of eleven (previously nine) German Universities of Excellence for its future concept RWTH 2020: Meeting Global Challenges and the follow-up concept The Integrated Interdisciplinary University of Science and Technology: Knowledge, Impact, Networks, also receiving grants for associated graduate schools and clusters of excellence. The university regularly accounts for the highest amount of third-party funds among all German universities, placing first per faculty member and second overall in the most recent survey from 2018.
RWTH Aachen is a founding member of the CESAER association of universities of science and technology in Europe, and IDEA League, a strategic alliance of five leading universities of technology in Europe, as well as its German counterpart TU9. It is also a member of DFG and the Top Industrial Managers for Europe network.