Saarland University : Rankings, Fees & Courses Details | TopUniversities
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Saarland University

Location

Saarbrücken, DE, Saarbrücken Germany

Ranking

# =635QS World University Rankings

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About Saarland University

Saarland University (UdS) is a research-oriented public university with a strong European profile. Founded in 1948, it operates on two closely connected campuses: the main campus in Saarbrücken and the medical campus in Homburg.

Saarland University offers an attractive combination of robust research, a genuinely European outlook, interdisciplinary study opportunities and a welcoming, personal campus atmosphere in Saarbrücken and Homburg. Students benefit from a compact campus and close contact with staff.

The campuses in Saarbrücken and Homburg offer lecture halls, laboratories, libraries, sports facilities and a wide range of student clubs and activities. International students will find a supportive environment with advisory services on housing and funding, as well as introductory and mentoring programmes.

The university community is international and diverse, with around 24 percent of students coming from outside of Germany. Overall, Saarland University employs over 5,000 staff members, including almost 300 professors and over 1,600 academic employees, making it one of the largest employers in the region. With around 16,300 students and six faculties, the university offers the full spectrum of disciplines typically found at a comprehensive European university.

Overall, students can choose from around 170 study programmes, including approximately 70 bachelor’s and state-examination programmes, over 68 master’s programmes and a wide range of continuing education degrees. UdS offers around 26 international degree programmes, many of which lead to double or multiple degrees with partner universities. Saarland University was one of the first German universities to achieve system accreditation, confirming the high quality of its internal structures for ensuring and developing teaching and learning.

Saarland University places great emphasis on interdisciplinarity and on overcoming boundaries between subjects. This has resulted in pioneering study fields such as legal informatics, bioinformatics, language technology, biotechnology, cultural studies in historical perspective, intercultural communication and quantum engineering.

Saarland University has a particular strength in its four main research areas: Computer Science, BioMed, Interdisciplinary European Research and Sustainability.

The Saarland Informatics Campus (SIC) is recognised as one of the world's leading locations for computer science, bringing together university departments and several top-ranked research institutes in computer science and related fields.

In BioMed, the natural sciences and medicine collaborate closely together at the interfaces of biology, chemistry, pharmacy, materials science and clinical research under the umbrella of the PharmaScienceHub (PSH).

Interdisciplinary European Studies are bundled in the Cluster for European Research (CEUS) and complemented by institutions such as the Europa-Institut and the Centre for Franco-German Relations.

Saarland University places a strong emphasis on sustainability as a core institutional responsibility, integrating ecological, social and economic dimensions into its research, teaching and campus development. The university promotes awareness of global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss, supports innovative sustainability focused research initiatives and advances sustainable solutions through interdisciplinary study programs, including the Master’s in Sustainable Materials and Engineering.

Saarland University is a member of the European University Alliance Transform4Europe, which links 11 partner universities across the continent and offers joint study programmes, innovative teaching formats and extensive mobility opportunities. The university is also part of the University of the Greater Region (UniGR) network with partners in Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Saarland University is an entrepreneurial and socially engaged institution. Through its Third Mission activities and structures, it supports innovation, knowledge transfer and a strong start up culture. Since the 1990s, hundreds of companies have been established within the university community, with the support of start-up centres, an Innovation Centre and science parks located directly adjacent to the campus.

Saarland University's unique strength lies in its exceptionally dense network of high-profile non-university research institutes located on or near the campus. These include the CISPA Helmholtz Centre for Information Security, the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Max Planck Institutes for Informatics and for Software Systems, and Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz Centre for Informatics in the field of computer science. In the natural and life sciences and engineering, key partners include

  • Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS)
  • INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials
  • Fraunhofer Institutes for Biomedical Engineering (IBMT) and for Non-destructive Testing (IZFP)
  • ZeMA – Centre for Mechatronics and Automation Technology
  • Institute for Future Energy and Material Flow Systems (IZES)
  • KIST Europe – Korea Institute of Science and Technology Europe

About Saarland University

Saarland University (UdS) is a research-oriented public university with a strong European profile. Founded in 1948, it operates on two closely connected campuses: the main campus in Saarbrücken and the medical campus in Homburg.

Saarland University offers an attractive combination of robust research, a genuinely European outlook, interdisciplinary study opportunities and a welcoming, personal campus atmosphere in Saarbrücken and Homburg. Students benefit from a compact campus and close contact with staff.

The campuses in Saarbrücken and Homburg offer lecture halls, laboratories, libraries, sports facilities and a wide range of student clubs and activities. International students will find a supportive environment with advisory services on housing and funding, as well as introductory and mentoring programmes.

The university community is international and diverse, with around 24 percent of students coming from outside of Germany. Overall, Saarland University employs over 5,000 staff members, including almost 300 professors and over 1,600 academic employees, making it one of the largest employers in the region. With around 16,300 students and six faculties, the university offers the full spectrum of disciplines typically found at a comprehensive European university.

Overall, students can choose from around 170 study programmes, including approximately 70 bachelor’s and state-examination programmes, over 68 master’s programmes and a wide range of continuing education degrees. UdS offers around 26 international degree programmes, many of which lead to double or multiple degrees with partner universities. Saarland University was one of the first German universities to achieve system accreditation, confirming the high quality of its internal structures for ensuring and developing teaching and learning.

Saarland University places great emphasis on interdisciplinarity and on overcoming boundaries between subjects. This has resulted in pioneering study fields such as legal informatics, bioinformatics, language technology, biotechnology, cultural studies in historical perspective, intercultural communication and quantum engineering.

Saarland University has a particular strength in its four main research areas: Computer Science, BioMed, Interdisciplinary European Research and Sustainability.

The Saarland Informatics Campus (SIC) is recognised as one of the world's leading locations for computer science, bringing together university departments and several top-ranked research institutes in computer science and related fields.

In BioMed, the natural sciences and medicine collaborate closely together at the interfaces of biology, chemistry, pharmacy, materials science and clinical research under the umbrella of the PharmaScienceHub (PSH).

Interdisciplinary European Studies are bundled in the Cluster for European Research (CEUS) and complemented by institutions such as the Europa-Institut and the Centre for Franco-German Relations.

Saarland University places a strong emphasis on sustainability as a core institutional responsibility, integrating ecological, social and economic dimensions into its research, teaching and campus development. The university promotes awareness of global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss, supports innovative sustainability focused research initiatives and advances sustainable solutions through interdisciplinary study programs, including the Master’s in Sustainable Materials and Engineering.

Saarland University is a member of the European University Alliance Transform4Europe, which links 11 partner universities across the continent and offers joint study programmes, innovative teaching formats and extensive mobility opportunities. The university is also part of the University of the Greater Region (UniGR) network with partners in Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Saarland University is an entrepreneurial and socially engaged institution. Through its Third Mission activities and structures, it supports innovation, knowledge transfer and a strong start up culture. Since the 1990s, hundreds of companies have been established within the university community, with the support of start-up centres, an Innovation Centre and science parks located directly adjacent to the campus.

Saarland University's unique strength lies in its exceptionally dense network of high-profile non-university research institutes located on or near the campus. These include the CISPA Helmholtz Centre for Information Security, the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Max Planck Institutes for Informatics and for Software Systems, and Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz Centre for Informatics in the field of computer science. In the natural and life sciences and engineering, key partners include

  • Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS)
  • INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials
  • Fraunhofer Institutes for Biomedical Engineering (IBMT) and for Non-destructive Testing (IZFP)
  • ZeMA – Centre for Mechatronics and Automation Technology
  • Institute for Future Energy and Material Flow Systems (IZES)
  • KIST Europe – Korea Institute of Science and Technology Europe

University information

The admission requirements vary depending on the programme.

16,107
%
%
2,868
%
%
2,823
%
%

Cost of Living

Saarland University is located in a region of Germany where the cost of living is relatively low. This applies to both the main campus in Saarbrücken and the medical campus in Homburg, where the university hospital is based. For international students, this means that they can enjoy high-quality study and research conditions alongside affordable living expenses.

For most students, housing is the biggest expense. In Saarbrücken and Homburg, students can choose from halls of residence, shared flats and private flats. Rents are generally lower than in large German cities, and many students find affordable rooms in shared flats close to campus. As a smaller town, Homburg often offers a particularly calm residential environment, which many medical students appreciate during their studies.

As a public university, Saarland University does not charge general tuition fees for most programmes. Instead, students pay a semester contribution that covers administrative costs and usually includes a semester ticket for public  transport . This ticket allows unlimited travel on buses and regional trains within Germany, making it easy to commute between the city centre and campus in Saarbrücken or around Homburg and the surrounding area. There are good connections between Saarbrücken and Homburg, making travelling between the two locations straightforward.

Everyday living expenses such as food, clothing and leisure activities are also comparatively affordable. Students can eat at the university cafeterias and dining halls, which offer subsidised meals at low prices, include vegetarian and vegan options. Both Saarbrücken and Homburg have supermarkets and weekly markets, as well as cafés and restaurants offering food to suit all budgets. Thanks to student discounts and the university's sports and cultural offerings, it is possible to maintain an active social life on a student budget.

Health insurance is mandatory for students in Germany. EU/EEA students can often use their European Health Insurance Card, while most non-EU students take out German student health insurance at a reduced rate. Saarbrücken and Homburg both offer modern medical facilities. In Homburg, the university hospital plays a central role in patient care and medical training, and students benefit from having specialist medical services on site.

Students should also budget for study-related expenses such as books, learning materials, and possibly a laptop. However, the university library system provides extensive print and online resources free of charge, and many course materials are made available digitally. Printing and copying services are offered on campus at reduced rates for students.

International students should be aware that the German authorities require proof of sufficient financial resources as part of the visa and residence permit process. As these regulations and the required amounts may change, applicants are advised to consult the most up-to-date official information and the advisory services at Saarland University.

Overall, the cost of living in Saarbrücken and Homburg is favourable compared to many other university locations in Germany and Europe. Moderate housing costs, the absence of general tuition fees, comprehensive public transport coverage via the semester ticket and subsidised student services all help to keep monthly expenses at a reasonable level, making Saarland University an attractive choice for international students.

Accommodation
$9,960
Food
$3,610
Transport
$660
Utilities
$6,370

Scholarships

Selecting the right scholarship can be a daunting process. With countless options available, students often find themselves overwhelmed and confused. The decision can be especially stressful for those facing financial constraints or pursuing specific academic or career goals.

To help students navigate this challenging process, we recommend the following articles:

Rankings & Ratings

Saarland University is one of the top Public universities in Saarbrücken, Germany. It is ranked #=635 in QS World University Rankings 2026.

QS World University Rankings

  • 2015
    #441-450
  • 2016
    #501-550
  • 2017
    #501-550
  • 2018
    #501-550
  • 2019
    #=461
  • 2020
    #468
  • 2021
    #451
  • 2022
    #=447
  • 2023
    #=441
  • 2024
    #=600
  • 2025
    #601-610
  • 2026
    #=635

QS World University Rankings

  • 2015
    #441-450
  • 2016
    #501-550
  • 2017
    #501-550
  • 2018
    #501-550
  • 2019
    #=461
  • 2020
    #468
  • 2021
    #451
  • 2022
    #=447
  • 2023
    #=441
  • 2024
    #=600
  • 2025
    #601-610
  • 2026
    #=635

Campus locations

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Saarland University basic 6 no 2868 L 541