Fachhochschule Dortmund (FH Dortmund), operating in English as Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, is one of Germany’s ten largest universities of applied sciences and one of the five largest in North Rhine-Westphalia. Fachhochschule Dortmund Urkunde, Fachhochschule Dortmund Zeugnis.

Founded in its current form in 1971 but tracing its institutional lineage to an 1890 royal mechanical engineering school, it enrolls approximately 13,735 students—including 1,698 international students—across eight faculties and roughly 70 degree programmes. 

Its identity rests on three pillars that distinguish it within the German applied sciences sector: Germany’s largest and most broadly based Faculty of Design, a research profile concentrated in biomedical technology and digital transformation, and a select portfolio of English-taught master’s programmes that leverage its engineering and informatics strengths. 

This article examines FH Dortmund’s institutional structure, its research and transfer activities, its international offerings, and the limitations inherent in its applied, regionally anchored model.

FH Dortmund’s eight faculties span Applied Social Sciences, Architecture, Design, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, Mechanical Engineering, and Business Studies. 

The student body’s distribution reflects the institution’s technical and professional orientation: engineering sciences including computer science account for 52% of enrollment, while law, economics, and social sciences comprise 38.1%. Bachelor’s students constitute 85.6% of the total, with master’s students at 13.9%—a ratio consistent with the institution’s role as a primary provider of undergraduate applied education.

The Faculty of Design merits particular attention. FH Dortmund describes it as “the largest and most broadly based Faculty of Design in Germany,” housed in a listed building with workshops, media laboratories, film and photo studios, a cinema auditorium, a surround sound studio, and a video archive. Replica a Fachhochschule Dortmund Urkunde online.

Teaching is project-oriented, with projects supervised individually and a stated emphasis on interdisciplinary cooperation and practical relevance to professional fields. This design faculty provides a counterweight to the institution’s engineering-heavy profile, contributing to the “and Arts” component of its English name.

The university’s international partnerships extend to approximately 170 partner institutions in 56 countries. A foreign language center offers instruction in over twenty languages, from English and French to Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and Kiswahili. The semester contribution is €324.80, with no tuition fees.