The Clausthal University of Technology (German: Technische Universität Clausthal, also referred to as TU ClausthalorTUC) is an institute of technology (Technische Universität) in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Lower Saxony, Germany. The small public university is regularly ranked among the Top German universities in engineering by CHE University Rankings.[2] More than 30% of students and 20% of academic staff come from abroad, making it one of the most international universities in Germany.[3] The university is best known for the prominent corporate leaders among its former students. As of 2011, five of the 30 leading companies within the German stock index had alumni of TUC on their management board, with two of them as CEO.[4][5][6][7][8]
The academy of the local Hanoverian mining authority was established in 1775 at Clausthal in the Harz mountain range with its centuries-long history of mining in the Upper Harz (most notably at the Rammelsberg). Initially a school for pitmen and smelter workers, it was raised to the status of a mining college by the Westphalian minister Count Hans von Bülow in 1810. In 1864, at the behest of King George V of Hanover, the spin-off of a mining academy (Bergakademie) was founded.
Both institutions remained under joint administration after the annexation of the Kingdom of HanoverbyPrussia in 1866, until in 1906 the academy was separated as an autonomous educational establishment directly subordinate to the Prussian government represented by a curator. It was one of only two mining academies in Prussia, the other being the mining college in Berlin established in 1770, a predecessor of the Berlin Institute of Technology.
After World War II, the academy passed under the authority of the West German state of Lower Saxony, it was renamed Technische Hochschule in 1966 and Technische Universität in 1968.
In 2015, student numbers at Clausthal reached a high of almost 5000 students. However, since then this number has rapidly plummeted to around 3400.
The CHE-Ranking is the most comprehensive and most detailed university ranking in the German-speaking countries.[9] It is published annually since 2005 by DIE ZEIT.
Clausthal is placed regularly among the top universities in the majority of its engineering and sciences programs.
German business magazineWirtschaftsWoche researched the universities with the most alumni at the top of DAX-corporations.
Clausthal was placed 5th, however in relation to the size of the student body, TUC came in first.
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Junge Karriere, the career magazine of daily newspaper Handelsblatt conducted a ranking of German universities by interviewing over 51,000 students and graduates as well as over 1000 human resource managers. Handelsblatt is the largest newspaper on business and finance in Germany.
TU Clausthal consistently has a very high percentage of international students, ranging from 25 % to 38 % over the last decade.[13]
The largest group of foreign nationals comes from the People's Republic of China (PRC), making up between 12 % and 20 % of total students.
TUC has the highest percentage of Chinese students in Germany.
The popularity of TUC among Chinese nationals is derived from its reputation as one of the three "ABC-Universities".
The abbreviation stands for Aachen, Berlin, and Clausthal and refers to RWTH Aachen, TU Berlin and TU Clausthal. In China, these three Universities are regarded as Germany's leading Universities of Technology.[14][15][16]
Clausthal's reputation in China was further enhanced when former alumnus Wan Gang became the Chinese Minister for Science and Technology in 2007.[17]
As a former mining academy, TU Clausthal is one of three universities in Germany (besides TU Freiberg and RWTH Aachen) that offers study programs in the fields of metals, mining, and petroleum engineering. In this regard, TUC was referred to as the "most renowned university for metallurgy" by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.[18]
The band leader Domenic Eggers, who has a teaching assignment at TU Clausthal, rehearses with the band classical jazz as well as jazzy pop pieces. The program developed in the rehearsals is presented in a concert at the end of each semester, to which admission is free and where only donations for the band are requested.
Currently, about two-thirds of the band members are from the university (including students from abroad) and one-third are from the region.
In 2018 the Big Band set up a smaller ensemble, the swingING TUC Jazz Combo, of four to eight members of the Big Band playing in variable instrumentation. The Jazz Combo regularly practices its own literature, mainly blues but also pop songs, right before the Big Band rehearsal. The swingING TUC Jazz Combo had its first gig in October 2018 at a TU Clausthal event. Since that time it had several performances at regional events.
Avocal ensemble to support the band was also formed by the Big Band and has been rehearsing since March 2020 under the direction of jazz vocal teacher Chiara Raimondi until she left the ensemble in summer 2021 to study in Italy.[27]
