TUM celebrates 50 years of Informatics in Munich

Campus news - Ranked as one of the best universities worldwide for computer sciences, the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has played an important role in the Bavarian capital's transformation into a leading European and global tech hub in recent decades. From artificial intelligence to augmented reality and cybersecurity, TUM researchers have worked at the cutting edge of informatics and computer science for the past half century, when the university launched the first degree program in 'information processing' in Munich. On May 12, 2017, TUM and its partner institutions, together with representatives from academia, government and industry, are celebrating 50 years of informatics at Munich's universities with a gala event and exhibition. Winter semester 1967/68: What is today the Technical University of Munich (TUM) offered the very first degree program in "Information Processing? to students in Munich. When Prof. Friedrich Ludwig Bauer, the man behind the new program, gave the first lecture of the two-semester series, the fields of informatics and computer sciences were in their infancy. Over the past half century , informatics degree programs have become an established part of the curricula at three Munich universities: TUM, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) and the Universität der Bundeswehr München. The three schools are credited with driving the Bavarian capital's transformation into an economic and technology powerhouse in Germany and Europe - in 2014, the European Commission named Munich Europe's top ICT tech hub, and the city and region consistently earn top rankings as an international hotspot for IT, innovation, startups and high-tech.