The Technische Universität Darmstadt (official English name Technical University of Darmstadt, sometimes also referred to as Darmstadt University of Technology), commonly known as TU Darmstadt, is a research university in the city of Darmstadt, Germany. It was founded in 1877 and received the right to award doctorates in 1899. In 1882, it was the first university in the world to set up a chair in electrical engineering. In 1883, the university founded the first faculty of electrical engineering and introduced the world's first degree course in electrical engineering. In 2004, it became the first German university to be declared as an autonomous university. TU Darmstadt has assumed a pioneering role in Germany. Computer science, electrical engineering, artificial intelligence, mechatronics, business informatics, political science and many more courses were introduced as scientific disciplines in Germany by Darmstadt faculty.

The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, the Goethe University Frankfurt and the Technische Universität Darmstadt together form the Rhine-Main-Universities (RMU). TU Darmstadt is a member of TU9, a network of the most notable German Technische Universitäten (universities of technology) and of the EU-supported European University Alliance Unite! (University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering).

TU Darmstadt is a location of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and seat of the Hessian Center for Articifical Intelligence. TU Darmstadt is a member of the Darmstadt-based ATHENE-Center, the largest research institute for applied cybersecurity in Europe. The university is located in the IT cluster Rhine-Main-Neckar, the "Silicon Valley of Germany".

Graduates of TU Darmstadt include Nobel Prize winners, entrepreneurs, managers, billionaires and politicians. As of September 2019, the university is associated with 4 Nobel laureates and 3 Wolf Prize in Physics laureates. For several years, TU Darmstadt has been one of the universities with the most top managers in the German economy. The university is currently among the top 3. The graduates include Oliver Zipse, Peter Grünberg, Chaim Weizmann and John Tu.

On 10 October 1877, Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, elevated the Polytechnische Schule to Technische Hochschule zu Darmstadt and thereby raised the status of this educational institution to that of a university so that the Abitur (a school leaving certificate from German Gymnasium schools qualifying for university admission or matriculation) became a requirement for admissions. In 1899, the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt was granted the right to award doctorates.

The University's history is varied: its early phases began with the Höhere Gewerbeschule (Higher Trade School), which was founded in 1836 and received its own building near the 'Altes Pädagog' on Kapellplatz in 1844, followed by the Technische Schule (Technical School) in 1864 and the Großherzoglich Hessische Polytechnische Schule (Grand Ducal Hessian Polytechnic) in 1868. At that time, heated discussions were continually held in political circles on the issue as to whether such a poor state as the Grand Duchy of Hessen could afford a technically oriented higher educational institution, or even a polytechnic. After the foundation of Technische Hochschule Darmstadt in 1877, student numbers kept on being so low that in the years from 1881 to 1882 there were long debates in public about closing down the university. In this difficult situation, the local government and the university made the courageous decision to set up the first chair of electrical engineering worldwide. Thus the Faculty of Electrical Engineering came into being as the sixth faculty of the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, which was a novelty in academia, because until then no other university had had such a faculty. This forward-looking higher education policy paved the way for Darmstadt to take up a leading position in the rapidly developing field of electrical engineering, which in turn led to a continuously rising number of students, so that the closure of the university never was demanded again.

In 1895, new buildings were opened in Hochschulstrasse: the Altes Hauptgebäude (the 'Old Main Building' of the University) and an institute building directly opposite. During the two decades before the World War I, all disciplines of the university underwent diversification and expansion. New disciplines such as paper making and cellulose chemistry were introduced, and as early as 1913 a Chair of Aeronautics and Flight Mechanics was set up.

Meanwhile, the political climate had become stormier, and a growing political polarization exploded in Darmstadt over the question of foreign students. The Technische Hochschule Darmstadt had an extraordinarily large number of foreign students. In 1906, for instance, as many as three-quarters of the electrical engineering students were from abroad, mainly from states of eastern Europe.

After the World War I there was an urgent need for reform of the education system at Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, which was seen as a prerequisite for meeting the requirements of a modern industrial society. Intense discussions were held on the aim of extending the curriculum beyond the purely technical education in order to prepare the engineer for his leading role in society. A concrete step in this direction was taken in 1924, when the 'General Faculty', which until then had combined all the non-technical subjects, was divided into a Department of Mathematics and Natural Science and a Department of Cultural Studies and Political Science. Moreover, the measures taken to provide students with knowledge outside their own field of study included the upgrading of Economics and the creation of professorships in political science, history of technology and sociology.

Like other academic institutions in Germany, TU Darmstadt suffered an exodus of scholars following the rise of the Nazi regime in 1933. Most notably, Gerhard Herzberg, the 1971 Nobel laureate in chemistry, was dismissed from TU Darmstadt in 1934 because his wife was Jewish and emigrated with his family to Canada.

On the night of 11/12 September 1944, eighty per cent of the city, including many of the university's buildings, were destroyed during a bomb attack. For a short period in 1945, parts of the TH Darmstadt may have been closed by decree of the Allies before it was reopened in 1946. The electrical engineering department remained continuously functional, doing work under contract with the U.S. Army to build components of the V-2 guidance system. "But we have to be careful how we word this production order because we don't want the Russians to know that we are cranking up the V-2 system." In spite of the difficult post-war situation, university staff and students alike managed to settle down to university work in the severely damaged buildings, which had to be used as a makeshift solution.

As early as 1947, Technische Hochschule Darmstadt hosted the first Internationaler Kongress für Ingenieurausbildung (International Congress on Engineering Education), at which the participants discussed the moral responsibility of the technical intelligentsia and of the scientific elite in politics and society. In view of the disastrous consequences of the war, the participants (with the exception of the Americans, who had already contracted with THD faculty to continue weapon development), committed themselves henceforth to do research and teaching in engineering and scientific disciplines solely for the peaceful development of mankind.

1. Technical Science as Ethical and Cultural Task.
2. Present State and Tendencies of Development in Engineering Education Throughout the World.
3. Selection of Students and Social Problems.

The speech delivered by James R. Newman, Director of American Military Government of Hessen, however, made no mention of such a commitment, while stating that:

"An interchange of these [past experience], together with ideas and methods of education along engineering lines, will aid greatly, not only in the reconstruction of battle torn countries, but also in the bringing about of a universal understanding and mutual respect, and the charity which have prevented the understanding, the tolerance, the respect, and the charity so necessary for the peace, happiness, and contentment that is the dream of every human being on this earth."

The post-war period of reconstruction was largely based on a major development programme in the 1960s, by means of which universities and the state reacted to the continuously rising numbers of students. Since almost no land was available in the city centre for new construction projects, the decision was taken in 1963 to use the 'Lichtwiese' (a former airfield on the outskirts of the city) as a site for building extensions to the Technische Hochschule. Thus in the late 1960s and in the early 1970s numerous buildings, including a new student cafeteria, were erected there and ultimately became the university's second campus.

After 1968 the university reform, having been initiated by the student movement, was beginning to take shape both at a national and a regional level. It aimed at creating clear university structures and the involvement of all university members in decision-making processes. In 1970 the Hessisches Hochschulgesetz (Higher Education Law of the Federal State of Hessen) came into force. These gave Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, along with other Hessian universities, a new structure based on the introduction of a presidential statute and a unified administration as well as the subdivision of the university structure into departments.

In the mid 1970s, there was another rapid rise in student numbers. Staff development, however, lagged far behind, resulting in inevitable restrictions on admission imposed either by the central government or by the University. Regardless of the staff's heavy workload, the TH Darmstadt managed to set the course for the future, as evidenced by the School of Information Science, established in 1974, the Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Technikforschung (Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies on Technology), founded in 1987, and the Department of Materials Science, established in 1989. This department has been housed in a new building on the Lichtwiese since 1996.

By the end of the 19th century, Technische Hochschule Darmstadt had been granted the legal status of a university, and had been offering a correspondingly wide range of subjects. For these reasons, and also with the objective of sharpening public awareness of the university's status at home and abroad, Technische Hochschule Darmstadt was renamed Technische Universität Darmstadt (which is also its official English name albeit often called Darmstadt University of Technology) on 1 October 1997. This name change was partly prompted by misunderstandings that had occurred in English-speaking countries, where Technische Hochschule had often been mistakenly transliterated as 'Technical High School', providing a totally misleading connotation.

On 1 January 2005, the first version of the TU Darmstadt Law applied making TU Darmstadt the first German public university to be given administrative autonomy. New administrative structures were put into place, and their success is being evaluated. For instance, the university can now autonomously administer its budget and buildings. Also, the university can hire professors and negotiate their salaries by itself. Formerly this was done by the State of Hessen. The status of autonomy also allows TU Darmstadt to invest in business start-ups. The Technische Universität Darmstadt is the only German university that has legally committed itself to guarantee their students good studying conditions. The TU Darmstadt law in its current state has legal force up to 31 December 2020.

In 1882, the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt was the first university in the world to set up a chair for electrical engineering and founded the first faculty for it in 1883. The first chair holder was Erasmus Kittler. In the same year the university introduced the world's first course of study in electrical engineering.

In 1913, the university set up the first chair for aviation and aircraft technology in Germany. The TH Darmstadt set up the first chair for scientific policy in 1951. The first chair holder was Eugen Kogon. He is considered one of the founders of political science in Germany.

The TH Darmstadt shaped the subject of corporate governance in Germany. In 1973, the university established the first chair for management control system in Germany. The first chair holder was Péter Horváth, founder of Horváth & Partners.

In Germany, the beginnings of computer science go back to the Institute for Practical Mathematics of the TH Darmstadt, which the mathematician Alwin Walther built in early 1928. In 1956, the first programming lectures and internships in Germany were offered at the TH Darmstadt. Due to the reputation that the TH Darmstadt had at the time in computer science research, the first international congress on computer science held in German-speaking countries took place in October 1955 at the TH Darmstadt. Robert Piloty, professor at the TH Darmstadt, developed the computer science courses in Germany. In 1968, the TH Darmstadt introduced a first degree course in computer science and in 1975 the first degree course in business informatics.

Artificial intelligence as a scientific field in Germany and Europe was founded by Wolfgang Bibel, professor of intellectics at TU Darmstadt. He set up a research group for artificial intelligence at the TH Darmstadt in 1988. In 1996, the first chair in Germany for renewable energies was set up at TH Darmstadt and staffed with Thomas Hartkopf [de].

In 2004, it became the first German university to be declared as an autonomous university.

Typical for a university of technology, ten out of its 13 academic departments (Fachbereiche, FB) are in engineering, natural sciences, and mathematics, while three departments are in the social sciences and the humanities. The departments (with number of the department) are:

• Department of Law and Economics (FB1)
• Department of History and Social Sciences (FB2)
• Department of Human Sciences (FB3)
• Department of Mathematics (FB4)
• Department of Physics (FB5)
• Department of Chemistry (FB7)
• Department of Biology (FB10)
• Department of Materials and Earth Sciences (FB11)
• Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (FB13)
• Department of Architecture (FB15)
• Department of Mechanical Engineering (FB16)
• Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (FB18)
• Department of Computer Science (FB20)

There are five fields of study (Studienbereiche), which offer interdisciplinary degree courses in which students take lectures in multiple departments:

• Computational engineering
• Energy science and engineering
• Information systems engineering
• Mechanics
• Mechatronics

TU Darmstadt offers about 100 courses of study. Beyond bachelor's and master's degrees, it also offers degree courses for teaching positions at German vocational schools and the secondary schools known as gymnasiums.

TU Darmstadt defined three major research fields:

• Energy and Environment (E+E)
• Information and Intelligence (I+I)
• Matter and Materials (M+M).

Each of these research fields cover several, focused Profile Topic which are taken to shape the academic reputation of TU Darmstadt.

At TU Darmstadt there are several Sonderforschungsbereiche (SFB, collaborative research units) as well as several Graduiertenkolleg's (graduate schools) that are funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The university has attracted a considerable number of national and international research institutions to the Wissenschaftsstadt Darmstadt (Darmstadt – City of Science). Among them are:

• GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (GSI)
• Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology SIT [de]
• Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD
• Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability
• European Space Operations Centre (ESOC)
• European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellite (EUMETSAT).
• ATHENE
• German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence
• Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence [de] (hessian.AI)

TU Darmstadt collaborates with these research institutes on a broad basis. For instance, TU Darmstadt and GSI agreed on a strategic partnership, which includes collaboration in the establishment of the FAIR Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research.

The European Space Agency has set up a research laboratory at TU Darmstadt, ESA_LAB@TU Darmstadt. It is the first research laboratory the European Space Agency has set up at a German university.

In 2018, TU Darmstadt has won the competition of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and is building an Institute for Manufacturing together with 50 partners including Siemens, Volkswagen, KUKA, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and Volvo. There will be an EIT Manufacturing Innovation Hub at the university.

TU Darmstadt is involved in the German Excellence Initiative. This initiative sponsored the Cluster of Excellence Smart Interfaces (2007–2014), the Graduate School of Computational Engineering and the Graduate School of Excellence Energy Science and Engineering. TU Darmstadt is also partially involved with the Cluster of Excellence Normative Orders, based at Goethe University Frankfurt.

The Technische Universität Darmstadt maintains several research collaborations with companies and research institutions. These include, for example:

• PRORETA, a research collaboration with Continental AG, whose goal is to develop driver assistance systems that avoid traffic accidents.
• With Merck Group there is a long cooperation, especial in Chemistry and material science. There is also a Merck Lab in cooperation with the chemistry department.
• Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Secure Computing (ICRI-SC), a joint institute of the Technische Universität Darmstadt and Intel, which deals with the security of system-on-a-chip platforms. It is the first Intel collaborative research center for IT security outside the USA.
• Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Collaborative Autonomous & Resilient Systems (ICRI-CARS), a joint institute of the Technische Universität Darmstadt and Intel to study the security, privacy and safety of autonomous systems that collaborate with each other.
• SAP Research, a cooperation with the software manufacturer SAP, which conducts research in various fields.

TU Darmstadt is also a member of the Competence Center for Applied Security Technology (CAST), the largest corporate network for cybersecurity in German-speaking countries.

The Technical University distinguishes between strategic alliances, a cooperative lab and a TU Darmstadt cooperation institute in strategic partnerships.

TU Darmstadt maintains strategic alliances with the companies Merck, Deutsche Bahn, Continental, Robert Bosch GmbH and Siemens.

Cooperative Labs are research laboratories that are operated together with the partner and, as a rule, on the grounds of TU Darmstadt. The labs conduct joint and interdisciplinary research into a defined but broad subject area. Together with Merck, TU Darmstadt operates the Merck Lab, which has been investigating novel inorganic composite materials since 2006 that are suitable as printable components for electronic applications.

Selected strategic partnerships can also receive the status of a TU Darmstadt cooperation institute from the university management. Since 2012, the first TU Darmstadt cooperation institute has been the DB Schenker Lab, whose goal is to expand joint research in the fields of transport and logistics and to additionally create relevant offers in the fields of teaching, training and university marketing.

TU Darmstadt has the innovation and start-up center HIGHEST (Home of Innovation, GrowtH, EntrepreneurShip and Technology Management). HIGHEST supports the development of a business model, the identification of suitable funding programs, networking with mentors, companies and investors, offers lectures and seminars on the subject of innovation and entrepreneurship and provides contact persons. In addition, there are labs at TU Darmstadt on various subject areas in which one can experiment or simply exchange ideas. The autonomy status also enables TU Darmstadt to participate in business start-ups with its own funds. In a competition, TU Darmstadt was honoured by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as a founding university. The university is regarded as a role model when it comes to making start-up processes fast, simple and transparent. Since 2013, 95 knowledge- and technology-based companies have been founded in the vicinity of TU Darmstadt. The Startup & Innovation Day takes place once a year, where startups from the founding scene of the Rhine-Main-Neckar region present their innovations from a wide variety of areas and development stages. For cooperation with companies, TU Darmstadt set up a collaboration with Hessenmetall, the regional association of the machinery, electronic and automotive industry.

The Technische Universität Darmstadt is one of the few German universities that have a high-performance computer. The high-performance computer Lichtenberg is named after Georg Christoph Lichtenberg and has a computing power of about 1 PetaFLOPS. For comparison, the currently fastest high-performance computer Summit owns 148.6 PetaFLOPS (As of June 2019). In 2015 Lichtenberg was listed in the TOP500 at rank 410. In 2017, TU Darmstadt received 15 million euros from the federal government and state for the expansion of the Lichtenberg high-performance computer, the Lichtenberg II. This should have more than twice the power. Lichtenberg II will be used especially in the field of computational engineering, which is a profile topic of TU Darmstadt.

TU Darmstadt is also a member of the Competence Center for High Performance Computing in Hessen (HKHLR), an association of the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, the Justus Liebig University Giessen, the Philipps University Marburg, the University of Kassel and the Technische Universität Darmstadt. Each of the members has a high-performance computer. As a voting member TU Darmstadt represents Hessian interests in the Gauß-Allianz, the union of all supercomputers at the state level in Germany.

The Technische Universität Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt) is also internationally known for its robot research. The search and rescue robot Hector (Heterogeneous Cooperating Team Of Robots), developed by the department of computer science, competed in the Rescue Robot League 2014 of RoboCup, the oldest and world's largest competition for intelligent robots in various application scenarios, and won the first place. The robot Hector won 1st place in the category Best in Class Autonomy, the most intelligent robot, in the Rescue Robot League in the years from 2012 to 2015 and 2018 to 2019.

In 2015, a team around Oskar von Stryk competed in the DARPA Robotics Challenge. The team made it to the final with two robots in two different teams Hector and ViGIR. Team Hector competed with the robot Johnny 05 and Team ViGIR with the robot Florian.

In 2017, the Argonaut robot, developed by a team led by Stryk, won the ARGOS Challenge for intelligent inspection robots on oil and gas platforms, which the company Total S.A. had launched. The prize was half a million euros. Argonaut is a variant of Taurob tracker and the first fully autonomous, mobile inspection robot for oil and gas plants.

In 2018, Hector competed at the World Robot Summit in Tokyo in the Plant Disaster Prevention Challenge and won 1st place. The research team of Stryk has been building the German Rescue Robotics Centre since 2018.

• 
  Robot Florian at the DARPA Robotics Challenge 2015
• 
  Robot Johnny 05 at the DARPA Robotics Challenge 2015
• 
  Robot Argonaut at the ARGOS Challenge
• 
  Hector UGV identifies a victim using a probabilistic world model, based on information from heterogeneous sensors.

The university, with 164 Buildings and an area of property of 600 acres (2.4 km), is concentrated at three campuses, Inner City, Lichtwiese and Botanical Garden. But individual facilities can be found in other parts of Darmstadt and in Griesheim, a neighboring town.