Fachhochschule Dortmund - University of Applied Sciences and Arts,Dortmund, Germany

Fachhochschule Dortmund was officially founded in 1971 but had its oldest predecessor, the "Royal Master-Workman School of Mechanical Engineering", already opened its doors in 1890. The basic idea of the tradition of this school still applies today: Lectures as well as research activities are oriented to the solution of application-related problems and tasks. Professors with work experiences guarantee the connection to practice and enable today a rich program of around 30 courses: From Architecture and Design, Computer Science and Engineering to Applied Social Science and Business Studies. Around 10,000 students are now enrolled at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund.

Dortmund can look back upon a history which is now over 1,100 years old. However, the city only became truly important during the period of industrialization in the second half of the 19th century. Coal and steel - not to mention the famous Dortmund breweries - made Dortmund into one of the largest cities in the Ruhr Area of Germany. Today Dortmund has a population of about 600,000 and is both the economic and cultural center of Westphalia, the fulcrum of a region which is currently experiencing a dynamic structural change. Future-oriented companies, commercial businesses, banks, insurance companies and research institutes now make up the focus of Dortmund's economy. Not to be forgotten that Dortmund belongs to the Ruhr Area, a closely spaced conglomerate of cities that sum up to more than 5,000,000 people; an area full of additional cultural offers and economic power.

Faculty of Business Studies

With over 50 full-time professors and, depending upon course offerings, an additional 30 lecturers who come from numerous business sectors, along with 1900 students, the Faculty of Business Studies is the largest of the seven departments at Fachhochschule Dortmund. The Faculty of Business Studies offers degrees in Business Administration (BA), International Business (BA), Finance, Accounting, Controlling, and Taxation (FACT, BSc), Administrational Logistics (BSc) and Business Information Technology (BSc; in collaboration with the Faculty of Computer Science) as well as postgraduate degrees - European Master in Project Management (MA) and Risk & Finance (MSc) and also a distance learning joint study program in Business Administration for New Public Management (MBA).

The roots of the department stretch back to the Technical College for Industrial Managers in Dortmund, which was the foundational core of the Department of Business Studies established at the Fachhochschule Dortmund in 1971.

The international orientation of the department found its earliest expression in the International Business program, in place since 1989. At that time it was developed as a double-degree program with the goal of a European college education, and since 2006 it has gone forward with bachelor's degree programs in International Business with double degree and free mover partner colleges which are spread all over the world.

The significant number of foreign students attending these programs is not the only evidence of the international dimension of the Department of Business Studies. This is also reflected in the fact that the department collaborates with more than 50 partner colleges in Europe and overseas. These contacts are also the foundation of numerous research collaborations. Focal points of research involve, among others, the development of multi-media programs, of business models, of expert systems for corporate planning and decision support, and the economic uses of mobile systems. The result of these innovations and also the specific focus on practical experience of the educational program along with its scientific orientation and connections with the regional economy are reflected in the demand for places in the programs of study.