In 2024, the School of Philosophy at Fudan University signed a cooperation agreement with Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), Germany, which includes a student exchange program. This program will launch in the current semester and is expected to send 1–2 students each academic year for exchange. Below is a brief introduction to MLU.
University Overview
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (German: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, MLU) is a public research university in Germany. Originally founded in 1502 as the University of Wittenberg (Leucorea), MLU is one of the oldest universities in Europe, with a history spanning over 500 years. In 1817, it merged with the University of Halle. The university's main campus is located in Halle (Saale), Saxony-Anhalt. In 1933, it was officially named after its most famous alumnus, Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation.
As a historical center of intellectual activity during the Reformation and the birthplace of German dialectics in the 18th century, MLU has produced many renowned scholars and figures, including Martin Luther, Nobel Laureates Karl Ziegler (Chemistry, 1963), Hermann Staudinger (Chemistry, 1953), Emil Adolf von Behring (Medicine, 1901), Gustav Hertz (Physics, 1925), the psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus (known for the forgetting curve), set theory pioneer Georg Cantor, and the composer George Frideric Handel.
Teaching and Research Resources
With over 500 years of tradition in education and research, MLU offers a comprehensive range of disciplines, including theology, law, economics, medicine, social sciences, cultural studies, and linguistics. As of 2023, the university had approximately 19,227 students, including 1,731 international students.
MLU is a member of the German university alliance Halle–Jena–Leipzig and collaborates with major research institutions such as the Max Planck Society and the Fraunhofer Society. Its natural sciences institutes are located in the Weinberg Campus, the second-largest science park in eastern Germany. Humanities research at MLU centers on themes such as “Enlightenment – Religion – Knowledge” and “Societies and Cultures in Motion: Communication – Experiment – Institution.” In the natural sciences, key research areas include “Materials Science – Nanostructured Materials” and “Life Sciences – Structures and Mechanisms of Biological Information Processing.” MLU is also a leader in agricultural sciences, and its Faculty of Medicine focuses on epidemiology, health and nursing research, and signal transduction studies.
MLU was one of the first German universities to advocate for academic and teaching freedom. It is considered by many educators as a pioneer of the modern university and has had a lasting impact on the modernization of higher education in Germany and across Europe.
