Europe and our research

Owing to its excellent research and a tight-knit international network of partners, the University of Passau is a globally visible and highly respected academic and research institution in the heart of Europe. 'The University’s guiding principle is to foster excellence in research and establish outstanding working conditions, particularly for students and early career researchers. Among other things, the University of Passau supports researchers in making research proposals to European research programmes.
The quality of our research is also reflected in the fact that many of the third-party proposals for EU funding are successful.
EU-funded research projects
Research projects on topics with a strong European relevance
The University of Passau was founded in 1978 as a so-called borderland university in Passau, the City of Three Rivers. At the time, due to its proximity to both Austria and the Iron Curtain, the issue of Europe was tangible and real. This history is taken up by the research theme "Europe and Global Transformation".
In recent years, Europe's responsibility to respond to global challenges with appropriate strategies has increasingly prompted researchers at the University of Passau to make development questions a matter of academic enquiry. One result of this interdisciplinary engagement is the University's focus on "Migration, Sustainable Development and Just Order".
Research institutions with a European relevance
The University's European orientation is also reflected in the fact that several of our research institutes are concerned with Europe and European issues.
- IRIXYS: Trinational Research Centre on Big Data
- Institute for International and Foreign Law
- European Law and European Economic Law Section
- European and International Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law Section
- Research Centre for Human Rights in Criminal Proceedings (HRCP)
- Centre for European Law at the University of Passau (CEP)
- Institute of Eastern Bavaria Area Studies (IKON)
- Research Unit for Political Communication