The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn or, simply, University of Bonn is an elite public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the Rhein-Universität (English: Rhine University) on 18 October 1818 by Frederick William III, as the linear successor of the Kurkölnische Akademie Bonn (English: Academy of the Prince-elector of Cologne) which was founded in 1777. Since 2019, the University of Bonn is one of only 11 German Universities of Excellence and the only German university with six Clusters of Excellence. With a strong record of disciplinary excellence and a number of Transdisciplinary Research Areas, the University of Bonn supports the achievement of excellence - since 1818.

Show less

Media studies are concerned with the theory, history, aesthetics, reception and use of media. The central focus of this degree program lies on the media genres film, television, radio, internet and the broad field of digital media. In Bonn, the fields of media and film studies (subareas of cultural studies) and communications (oriented towards the social sciences), are intermeshed as a result of interdepartmental cooperation. From the cultural studies perspective, this permits us to explore the evolution of the media while at the same time viewing cultural, economic, political and social processes. From the social-sciences perspective, on the other hand, we discover the social conditions, consequences, and significances of media-based, public, and interpersonal communication. In addition to a required external internship, this degree program offers a broad and varied practical component, where students are conveyed insights into media production processes in the areas they choose—audio/radio, film/video, online or photography (analog and digital)—all of which flow into the students’ theoretical studies of the respective media. Graduates of this program will be able to perceive and understand the results of current media developments and critically think them through to their logical conclusions; they will have acquired more in-depth specialized knowledge enabling them, as the outgrowth of their scientific reflection, to ask forward-looking, probing questions of the media. Show less

As one of only eleven Universities of Excellence in Germany, University of Bonn is the only of its peers with six Clusters of Excellence. Recent decades have seen the university produce more winners of the Nobel Prize and Fields Medal than any other German university. The University of Bonn has a 200-year history of combining excellent research in a range of disciplines with research-led teaching. 

Studying at the University of Bonn means learning from the very best: teaching in our over 200 degree programs is performed by internationally leading academics working at the cutting edge of their subject. The wide range of subjects taught at the University gives our students the chance to take an interdisciplinary approach to their studies. A network of partners located on five continents facilitates learning in international contexts and promotes intercultural dialog. Our students learn to develop their own questions, ideas and solutions and to defend them in academic discourse. This prepares them to respond to and shape the dynamic professional challenges posed by our modern knowledge society.

As one of the best research-led universities in Germany with an international reputation as a leading institution of research and teaching, the University of Bonn plays host to a number of prize-winning researchers spread across a range of disciplines. The university's two hundred year history of academic excellence is based on a number of simple yet effective elements: high-quality academic research, a research-led teaching curriculum, the international flair of Bonn as the German city of the United Nations and its location in the Rhineland, not only a highly-networked region of academic excellence, but also a region providing a high quality of life.

Show less

You will need to book the accommodation after you have been accepted.

You can choose to live on campus or off campus in private accommodation.

How to book:

• Make a booking online after you have been accepted (in this case please let us know your choice when you apply).
• Register when you arrive - its not possible to reserve a room before arriving. You can arrive a few days before and book it

Show less