Environmental Campus Birkenfeld


The Environmental Campus Birkenfeld is a branch of the Hochschule Trier in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is close to the small town of Birkenfeld in Rhineland-Palatinate, close to the border of Saarland, Luxembourg, Belgium and France. There are 1,800 students enrolled in two departments. There are a total of 59 professors teaching in both departments and Environment Business / Environment Law.
Since the beginning of the academic year in October 2005, only bachelor and master students are being accepted as part of the Bologna process.
ECB is structured as a residential campus. It offers education, housing and employment all in one location. There are eight residential structures that provide housing for 777 students. As is characteristic of a university of applied sciences, the campus is structured so that the students have the opportunity to receive an early introduction to the sciences. Students are encouraged to take part in the research projects underway on campus. Some programs are even designed solely for student participation.
One such specialized project is the traveling university. Students have the opportunity to travel to one of a selection of foreign countries to work on a project for a period of two weeks. Typical projects involve renewable energy sources and have been conducted in places as diverse as Opole and Kunming. Similar future projects will be located in Brazil.
Incidentally, ECB is the only University in Germany that uses Renewable Energy Sources to generate heat.

History

US Army hospital (1952-1994)

ECB has a very short history compared with other universities across the globe, however it is just as intriguing. The campus area was originally a US Army hospital that was built as a contingency in the event of a 3rd world war. Fortunately, it was never needed.
Near this location was the 98th General Hospital, established in Neubrücke. The hospital had an area of 440,000 square metres when it opened in 1952. It had 1,000 beds as well as various medical specialty sections: Surgery, dental medicine, orthopedics, radiology, rehabilitation, eye medicine and others. The hospital was open through the 1970s and was closed in 1984 due to operational expenses.
In 1994 the US Army finally gave up on the hospital ever being needed and by 1996 the complex was empty.

Environmental campus (since 1996)

In 1996 the ECB was born. The first step was undertaken by the Landrat of the Landkreis Birkenfeld Dr. Ernst Theilen. The academic founders were three professors; Prof. Dr. Michael Eulenstein, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hanns Köhler and Prof. Dr. Marott Bronder. They offered the first courses taught at ECB.
At first, there was a lot of construction underway on campus. The final phase of construction was completed in 2000.

Study

The attractive features of ECB are the modern methods of teaching, the small class sizes and the international contacts. There are now 2,500 students enrolled from beginning of winter semester 2005. There are 14 Bachelor, 4 Dual Bachelor and 12 Master's degree programs offered.

Bachelor

degrees offered
  • Applied Computer Science
  • Bioprocess, Environmental and Process Engineering
  • Bio- and Pharmaceutical Engineering
  • Renewable Energy
  • Mechanical Engineering: Product Development and Technical Planning
  • Media Computer Science
  • Engineering Physics
  • Environmental Economics and Business Management
  • Environmental and Business Computer Science
  • Industrial Engineering/Environmental Planning
  • Economic and Environmental Law
  • Study Program "Environment and Technology"
  • Study Semester "Principles of Sustainable Business"
  • Sustainable Business and Technology
The course of study for these degrees differ slightly from those offered in the United States, however, the German accreditation agency AQUAS will accept either.

Dual Bachelor's Degree

  • Sustainable Resource Management
  • Production Technology
  • Bio- and Pharmaceutical Engineering
  • Environmental and Business Computer Science

Masters

degrees offered
  • Applied Computer Science
  • Bioprocess and Process Engineering
  • Business Administration and Engineering
  • Digital Product Development: Mechanical Engineering
  • International Material Flow Management
  • International Material Flow Management
  • Insolvency and Reorganisation Law
  • Media Computer Science
  • Environmental and Business Economics
  • Environmental Energy Technology
  • Business and Energy Law
  • Sustainable Change

Research

Although the environmental campus has only existed since 1996, it has already launched a set of institutes and competency centers built around the scientific curriculum.
Some of these are already internationally recognized.

Institutes

  • IfaS Institut für angewandtes Stoffstrommanagement
  • Institut für Betriebs- und Technologiemanagement
  • '
  • ' Institute for Micro Process Engineering and Particle Technology
  • Zentrum für Bodenschutz and Flächenhaushaltspolitik
  • Birkenfelder Institut für Ausbildung und Qualitätssicherung im Insolvenzwesen
  • Institut für biotechnisches Prozessdesign
  • ''Institut für das Recht der Erneuerbaren Energien, Energieeffizienzrecht und Klimaschutzrecht''

Competence Centers

  • Fuel Cell Centre Rhineland-Palatinate
  • Competence Centre 'Intelligent microstructured Particles'
  • Competence Centre eGovernment & Environment
  • Umberto Competence Center Birkenfeld
  • Centre for Environmental Communication at the ECB

Partner universities

Additional links

Category:Universities of Applied Sciences in Germany
Category:Hunsrück
Category:Universities and colleges in Rhineland-Palatinate