Mission statements, audits, strategies, regulations, policies, codes of conduct, framework plans and charters: the University of Münster has issued a number of important policy documents and auditing processes which govern many important topics related to life and work at the University.
The strength of our university is rooted in the constructive cooperation of many people with many different tasks in research, teaching, transfer and operations. In the Code of Conduct, we summarise how we wish to interact with one another and what values and orientations we want to uphold.
The University of Münster has been a recognised “family-friendly university” since its initial certification in June 2008. As part of the auditing process and in collaboration with all university groups, administrators have implemented many minor and major changes to improve the compatibility of professional or academic pursuits and family life for staff and students at the University.
In 2020 the Senate and Rectorate adopted the Mission Statement on Diversity, entitled “Living.Knowledge.Diversity”, which sustainably anchors and advances the topic of diversity in research, teaching and transfer activities at the University of Münster. It is particularly important to the University that all members are involved in implementing the tenets of the mission statement in their daily working life.
In signing the Diversity Charter, the University of Münster pledged to recognise diversity within and outside the University, to understand the potential opportunities and enrichment it represents, and promote a culture on campus characterised by mutual respect and appreciation.
In January 2022 the University of Münster joined the diversity audit “Designing Diversity”, conducted by the Stifterverband. The auditing process spans a period of two years. Its goal is to advance efforts to sustainably anchor and increase awareness of diversity, non-discrimination and equal opportunity in the University’s core fields of activity by developing target-based strategies and measures at all levels.
In the current Equal Opportunity Framework Plan, the University of Münster presents an equal opportunity programme with proposals in five central fields, which it has pledged to implement in the coming years.
In July 2023, the Senate passed the Statute "Securing good scientific practice", which obliges researchers and academic staff of the University to exercise fairness and honesty in academic work. The statute is supplemented by its "Research Data Management Policy" and the "Guidelines for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in Research and Teaching".
With the University Development Plan, the University of Münster documents the development priorities it intends to set over the next five years.
In its internationalisation strategy, the University of Münster has defined its self-image as well as fifteen internationalisation goals within five fields of action.
The University of Münster is aware of its responsibility for its social, environmental and economic impact in society and the challenges that sustainability will present in the future. Consequently, the University of Münster addresses sustainability in each of its central fields of activity – research, teaching, transfer and operations. The mission statement was approved in 2021.
In 2023 the University of Münster adopted its own sustainability strategy. Its aim is to help shape policies to promote sustainability in all the University’s fields of action in the coming years.
Human Resources Development at the University of Münster is the responsibility and obligation of all supervisory staff in the administrative units, faculties and central facilities.
Those who study, research, teach or take up employment at the University of Münster become part of an open-minded university community, dedicated to offering high-quality study and instruction. The Mission Statement on Teaching and Studies reflects the self-image of our institution and serves to provide orientation.
Science takes place in society. The creation of knowledge and its transfer to society is a central component of our public culture. The University of Münster sees itself as an institution of civic life and regards transfer as one of the central performance dimensions of higher education. It views transfer as a demonstration of civic responsibility and aims to do justice to it in all sectors of society. Research and teaching, the two other fundamental performance dimensions of academia, exist both as ends in themselves and as the motor of social progress.