medical research institutes in germany

Research for Health

New vector vaccine against COVID-19 provides long-term protection

Register now for the 2nd dzg science & career day, interactive map of the dzg, the eight research areas, infectious diseases.

Infectious diseases are among the great medical challenges of our time.

Lung Diseases

Every 4 minutes, a person dies in Germany as a result of lung and respiratory disease.

Mental disorders

Almost one in three people experience a mental illness in the course of a year.

Neurodegenerative Diseases

So far, there is no cure for neurodegenerative diseases.

It is estimated that up to 12 million people in Germany could suffer from diabetes by 2040.

There are approximately 1.4 million cancer patients in Germany – and the number is rising.

Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases continue to increase and are still the number one cause of death in Germany.

Child and Adolescent Health

During childhood and adolescence, the decisive course is set for health throughout life.

The magazine of the DZG

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German Centers for Health Research

Pacesetters in health research

Successful translational research at the DZG

The main aim of the German Federal Government's health research programme is to be able to combat major widespread diseases more effectively. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is creating the prerequisites for this by establishing the German Centers for Health Research (DZG) as long-term, equal partnerships of non-university research institutions with universities and university hospitals.   The eight German Centers for Health Research work closely together to exchange experiences and use synergies of co-operation. The goal of all of them is translation : a fast and effective transfer of research results into clinical application and medical care.

Four of six German Centers for Health Research celebrated their 10th anniversary in 2022: the German Center for Lung Research , the German Center for Infection Research , the German Center for Cardiovascular Research and the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research . The German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) already celebrated their 10th anniversary in 2019. 

The German Center for Mental Health (DZPG) started its work on 1 May 2023 with a two-year start-up phase. The German Center for Child and Adolescent Health (DZKJ) joined the German Centers for Health Research on 1 June 2024.

SYNERGIE — the magazine of the DZG

RESEARCH FOR HEALTH — under this motto the German Centers for Health Research publish the SYNERGIE magazine twice a year and report on projects and successes in translational research. The research magazine SYNERGIE shows how this interdisciplinary and networked research can bring people better health.

SYNERGIE is published by the German Centers for Health Research as both a print and online magazine. Here you can find all issues published so far (German only).

Cross-DZG structures

Dzg innovation fund—promoting cross-disease research.

The DZG Innovation Fund (DZGIF) is a joint research funding program of the German Centers for Health Research. With the help of the fund, interdisciplinary synergies between the DZGs are to be exploited and promising cross-disease research projects advanced. The prerequisite for the funding of a project on jointly agreed research topics is the participation of scientists from at least three of the six DZGs. Researchers from five of the six DZGs joined forces and submitted the successful proposal entitled "Cell type-specific targeting for future in vivo delivery in cell & gene therapy ".

The topic of the first call was cell and gene therapy. Researchers from five of the six DZGs joined forces and submitted the successful proposal entitled "Cell type-specific targeting for future in vivo delivery in cell & gene therapy". Prof. Tobias Feuchtinger and Prof. Boris Fehse are involved in the project as DZIF scientists.

To DZG press release of 20.03.2023

Cross-DZG working groups—Stronger together

Whether genetics, digitisation or drug development—many aspects and methods of research into common diseases are similar within the various DZGs. DZG scientists organise themselves in six working groups to exchange their knowledge and establish joint structures:

• Global Health
• Patient Participation
• Promotion of Young Scientists
• Public Relations
• Regulatory Aspects of Clinical Trials
• Research IT

German Cancer Consortium (DKTK)

German Center for Child and Adolescent Health (DZKJ)

German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD)

German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK)

German Center for Infection Research (DZIF)

German Centre for Lung Research (DZL)

German Center for Mental Health (DZPG)

German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)

• StudyFinder

Medical Universities and Med Schools in Germany (2024)

Terminology: university vs. med school, complete list of public medical universities to study medicine in germany, private medical universities to study medicine in germany, what is the best medical school in germany, the role of university hospitals in germany, distribution of specializations and expertise throughout germany, the next step: getting access to medical universities.

Video Course

Get Accepted into Your Dream German University — with the Perfect Letter of Motivation!

If you are thinking about studying medicine in Germany , it is important you familiarize yourself with the institutions that provide you with the training to become a medical doctor. To support you with this process, this article answers the following questions for you:

How is the German higher education landscape structured to train students of medicine? And: At which universities in Germany can I study medicine?

Before we get to the 43 German medical universities and schools, here are the most important information you should know about studying medicine in Germany:

Medical degree

Unlike almost all other subjects, which have a two-tier system (undergraduate/Bachelor + Graduate/Master), medical studies are traditionally structured. The university course of study lasts 6 years and 3 months (standard period of study) and concludes with the so-called state examination.

German as language of study

If you want to do the full training in Germany and become a doctor here, you must be able to speak German. The only exceptions are some Bachelor’s and Master’s programs in the field of health sciences that are conducted in English but do not lead to approbation to work as a physician. So please read the article about the  German language requirements .

Medical studies are among the most competitive subjects - because the demand of students who want to become medical doctors is much bigger than the number of places available. The application procedure is rather complex. As a rule of thumb, you need to have an excellent GPA in your A-Levels and/or meet one of the alternative application requirements that allow you to get admitted (e.g. admission test, interview, several years of work experience).

Tuition fees

At the public universities the study is basically free of charge (exception: non-EU foreigners in Baden-Württermberg and certain Masters). At the private universities the fees are about 50,000 - 100,000 € in total.

Further Reading

Depending on where you are from, you may know different terms for higher education institutions and facilities that train people to become doctors. No matter if you call it medical university or med school, or if you use MBBS as synonymous to ‘training to become a doctor’, when you transfer to the German system it is usually the medical faculty of a university that will offer your medical training. The few exceptions are the universities that are specialized in medical subjects only, such as the Hannover Medical School (MHH) which is the medical university located in the capital of Lower Saxony.

If you come from a university system in which you can start your training to be a doctor by transferring to a medical school after finishing an undergraduate degree in a more or less related subject, you should also be aware that training to become a doctor in Germany starts after a student’s A-Levels, meaning after they finish high school. Medical education in Germany is not separated into an undergraduate and graduate degree. Rather, it is one comprehensive training.

In Germany, a term that is frequently used to capture the interrelated academic and practical parts of the German doctoral training as well as the structure of the German health system is university medicine (German: Hochschulmedizin ). This term refers to the cooperation of the medical faculties of public universities offering medical studies in Germany, the 32 university hospitals, and the research facilities.

The majority of universities that offer medical studies in Germany are public. Some of the great upsides of that are that they have comprehensive infrastructures and research networks in Germany, that they are free of charge (no tuition fees), and offer the opportunity to engage in doctoral studies as well. All medical studies at public universities underlie certain federal regulations, influencing the course structure as well as application processes. To get admitted at one of Germany’s public universities, students typically need outstanding GPAs.

The regular courses of study all have a similar structure. The uniform structure of the regular study programs doesn’t mean that the training at different public universities looks exactly the same. It is recommendable to check out the module descriptions and specializations of each program in Germany to learn about their differences and identify a program that fits best to your interests and plans.

Furthermore, there are certain model study programs (German: Modellstudiengang ) that are offered by 13 universities (in the following table marked with an [*] asterisk) including two German private universities presented below. These model programs are attempts to innovate the German study course structure and can include features such as earlier contact to patients.

List of public universities to study medicine in Germany

*reformed model programs: Structure of studies differs from that offered in the more common regular programs.

Source: Hochschulstart (Winter semester 2019/20) or website of the university.

Main building of the Brandenburg Municipal Hospital.

©  Gregory Rome . Type of license:  CC BY-SA 4.0 .

There are four private German universities that offer medical studies. Unlike the public universities, they are not subject to the nation-wide NC and, therefore, the application process differs and is not only dependent on the applicants’ GPAs. You can still expect, however, to undergo some rigorous testing system in order to get admitted to these universities. On the downside, students need to pay fees to the private universities, which currently amount to 5,700€ - 15,000 € per semester, depending on which university you choose.

Regarding the quality of training that can be obtained at the private universities, the proximity to hospitals and focus on practical experiences in early stages of the career are praised. Partially, it is criticized that these universities are not as strongly focused on research as the public ones since they lack access to the German university hospitals.

When it comes to the students’ ability to practice as physicians in Germany after their studies they, as of now, should not be experiencing problems if they study at one of the private universities in Germany. These four private schools are German institutions and offer medical training that leads to the state examination, just like the German public universities do. Therefore, students have the approbation to work as doctors in Germany after their studies:

• Universität Witten/Herdecke .
• Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane (MHB) .
• Health and Medical University Potsdam (HMU) .
• Medical School Hamburg - University of Applied Sciences and Medical University (MSH) .

Foreign medical schools with campus in Germany - an alternative

There are other private options that are subsidiaries of other European universities. Students of these universities study in Germany under the regulations of the cooperating university’s local regulations. This means that, despite studying in Germany, they are trained as doctors according to the university’s country’s definition.

Often, the training at these foreign medical schools includes stays abroad at the respective superordinate universities. Because of an EU regulation, graduates from these universities, which are located in (former) EU countries, are able to work as doctors in Germany after their graduation:

• Kassel School of Medicine , subsidiary of British Southampton University.
• Asklepios Campus Hamburg , subsidiary of Hungarian Semmelweiß-University in Budapest.
• Paracelsus Universität Nürnberg , subsidiary of Austrian private university in Salzburg.
• Universitätsmedizin Neumarkt am Mieresch Campus Hamburg , subsidiary of Romanian public university in Neumarkt am Mieresch.

To find the best university in Germany to study medicine as an international student, you might be interested in finding out how different universities and medical faculties fare in rankings. Overall, rankings can be a useful tool to compare certain aspects of different universities and you can obtain an overview of various rankings in our article .

If you are looking for the best German universities to study medicine in international rankings, we advise you to check out the subject rankings that are published by the different ranking agencies. For example, the QS World Universities Ranking , the Shanghai Ranking , and the THE World University Ranking allow you to compare the top universities around the world for medical studies and medical subjects. In these three rankings, Heidelberg University fares best.

Additionally, you can take into consideration national rankings that only compare German universities. The CHE subject ranking allows you to compare German universities that offer medical studies. After registering for free on the website, you can select criteria that are most important for you. This can be a broad array of things, such as how many students use their bike in that town, the number of seats available in the library, the amount of students graduating in time, or the research output. We recommend you have a look at this ranking, because it is partially based on student surveys and can give you a good idea on what it’s like to be a student in a certain city.

In summary, rankings can be a good way to get an overview over your options, or may sway your decision to choose one university over another. Still, we recommend to not overrate rankings. Especially when it comes to studying medicine in Germany, there is a fairly homogeneous level of quality. In fact, because of a system of cooperation and specialization, each faculty is known and leading in different disciplines, so informing yourself on areas of specializations of different faculties might be an even more promising strategy to identify the best medical university in Germany for your interest. Furthermore, no matter where you study, the employment rate for medical practitioners in Germany is very high.

Top 10 Biggest Medical Faculties in Germany

Ranked according to number of enrolled students in all medical programs of that faculty (as of August 2020):

• Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin -  8,077 .
• LMU - Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München -  6,911 .
• Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf -  4,366 .
• University of Tübingen -  4,140 .
• Heidelberg University -  4,033 .
• University of Cologne -  3,600 .
• Hannover Medical School -  3,521 .
• Universität Hamburg -  3,450 .
• University of Freiburg -  3,300 .
• Ulm University -  3,234 .

Learning about the way that medical training in Germany is organized can furthermore help you to make a decision on where to study. Universities cooperate with certain hospitals for the practical portions of the medical studies. The 32 university hospitals (German: Universitätsklinikum ) in Germany are some of the most important places for the exchange of theory and practice for medical students in Germany.

University hospitals are the flagships within the German health system, since they possess the highest technology and the highest degrees of specialization. They combine the practical care of patients with research and therefore provide a great environment for medical students who are looking to engage in research throughout their studies and acquire a doctoral degree. With support of other teaching hospitals (German: Lehrkrankenhäuser ) university hospitals provide and organize most of the practical training for medical students in Germany.

With these features, university hospitals are the best equipped and highest performing health care facilities in Germany. To operate at such a high level, specializations and expertise are distributed to different university clinics throughout Germany. Therefore, each university hospital with the associated research institutions and medical faculties is a hub for improving and researching certain illnesses or treatments. For an easy to grasp and interactive overview over, inter alia, research focuses of different locations, make sure to check out the Landkarte Hochschulmedizin .

Informing yourself on the research foci of different universities can be supportive of your decision on where to apply to study medicine, since being in a location that sets a focus on a topic close to your interests and beneficial for your planned career is a smart move. This can also be a very useful strategy for students who are not looking to finish their training to become a physician in Germany, but would rather engage in research activities and pursue doctoral studies or a master’s degree in health sciences.

Especially doctoral candidates might want to check out the so-called competence networks medicine which are locations for excellent and globally recognized research. For example, German nobel prize of medicine winner Harald zu Hausen is organized in one of them.

Knowing about the German higher education landscape is a very important first step to starting your medical studies in Germany. As a next step, you can find out more on how and if you can get access to one of the universities presented above.

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Research organisations

Find out about Germany’s different types of research institutions: universities, universities of applied sciences, non-university research institutes, companies and federal as well as state (Länder) institutions. You can find profiles of each type of research organisation here. 

Federal institutions

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft based in Germany is the world’s leading applied research organisation. Prioritising key future-relevant technologies and commercialising its findings in business and industry, it plays a major role in the innovation process. A trailblazer and trendsetter in innovative developments and research excellence, it is helping shape our society and our future.

The 18 Helmholtz Centres develop, build and operate complex research infrastructures. This includes accelerator facilities, telescopes, research ships and supercomputers that are available to Helmholtz users from around the world. Helmholtz thus pursues long-term research projects that aim to help find solutions to key challenges facing society, science and business.

The Leibniz Association is the umbrella organisation under which 97 research institutions address scientific problems that have societal and international relevance. They are characterised by the great variety of their research topics in the humanities and social sciences, as well as in the natural and engineering sciences. Leibniz institutions, universities and industry partners work together on interdisciplinary issues in Leibniz Research Alliances and Leibniz ScienceCampi.

A physicist, Nobel prize winner and the founder of quantum physics, Max Planck was driven by a desire to research and understand. And this is precisely what the research organisation that bears his name has made its guiding philosophy. The Max Planck Society has been very successful with its top-level basic research: it has produced 29 Nobel prize winners who were scientific members of the Max Planck Society or its predecessor, the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, in the year in which they received their prize, two of which were women.

This is where the leading scholars of our time work together on behalf of society to regularly discuss scientific questions of an interdisciplinary nature. The primary objective of the academies is to coordinate in particular long-term foundational research projects, to advise policy-makers and the general public on issues relevant to the future, and to promote interdisciplinary dialogue through symposia and other events.

Germany has 44 federal research institutions that focus specifically on research issues relevant to politics and government. Their scientists work on fundamental research projects and make up-to-date information available on a service-oriented basis. They compile forecasts to draw attention to future challenges at an early stage, or explore the effects of initiatives that have already been implemented. They therefore provide key scientific findings that Germany’s Federal Government needs for its decision-making processes. 

Germany’s federal states also run research institutions. They provide advice to policymakers, pursue research projects and are responsible for activities required by law, such as approvals, testing and the laying down of regulations. Across Germany there are almost 140 state-level institutions covering a broad range of research areas.

PhD Programs

You are creative, curious and passionate about basic research? You would like to live in the oldest university town in Germany and work at one of the famous Max Planck Institutes? You would enjoy doing research in a supportive, stimulating and diverse environment?

We welcome graduate students from all over the world and a wide range of disciplines. Because Max Planck Institutes cannot confer PhD degrees, our students are simultaneously enrolled at Heidelberg University and receive their doctorate from one of the university’s faculties (  Biosciences Faculty ,  Chemistry Faculty ,  Physics Faculty ). These faculties have their own specific requirements, which students must fulfill.

PhD students at the institute perform research work and write a thesis under the supervision of a scientist who leads a research group in one of the institute’s departments. Students are usually enrolled in a graduate program. We offer access to a number of graduate schools, such as the  Max Planck School Matter to Life , the IMRPS-QD or other graduate schools of Heidelberg University. Most group leaders are associated with one or more of these graduate schools. Joining a graduate school makes you part of the Heidelberg life science community and gives you opportunities for scientific and social exchange outside of the institute.

For students who are not enrolled in a structured PhD program we offer support and guidance through individual Thesis Advisory Committees (TAC). The TAC monitors the progress and development of the PhD student and provides advice to both the student and his/her supervisor. The TAC members are also available for one-to-one consultations with the student and can become an important networking partner. Our PhD students can contact their committee members for personal discussions at any time.

For more information about the different PhD programs and the application procedure, please follow the links provided below. Alternatively, you may also directly contact the head of the department or group leader of the program you’re interested in. Just send an e-mail including your CV and a short description of your interests and expertise to establish first contact. Feel free to contact the PhD representatives or scientific coordinator with any general questions about working at our institute.

PhD Life at the Institute

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IMPRS Quantum Dynamics in Physics, Chemistry and Biology

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German Cancer Research Center

The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) is the largest biomedical research institution in Germany. With over 3,300 employees, the Helmholtz Center, headquartered in Heidelberg, researches how cancer develops, how the disease can be diagnosed and treated - and how cancer can be prevented. In more than 90 divisions and research groups, researchers are looking for agents that specifically target cancer-driving mutations and thus adapt the therapy to the individual disease. They are researching ways to activate the immune system, which is inhibited by cancer. They are using new methods to get an idea of the aggressiveness of tumors and are targeting radiation more and more precisely to the cancer. They determine factors that increase the risk of developing cancer and investigate how each individual can minimize their risk of developing the disease. At DKFZ the scientific basis was developed for the vaccination against human papillomaviruses, which protects against cervical cancer and other tumors. The DKFZ attaches particular importance to the rapid transfer of knowledge into clinical practice and the provision of scientifically sound information to patients and their families. The aim of the DKFZ is to carry out cutting-edge research for a life without cancer.

DKFZ in figures

employees has the DKFZ in total (as of November 2023)

nationalities work at the center (as of November 2023)

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Prospects for the Medicine of the Future

What opportunities will arise for medical research and the healthcare system of the future? To discuss this question, researchers from the Helmholtz Association met with decision-makers from science,…

"ChatGPT for Medical Professionals"

What does an artificial intelligence (AI) model look like that can answer a wide variety of medical questions using radiological image data? The Human Radiome Project aims to set the gold standard.

Fighting cancer at the root

Researchers at the DKFZ Site Dresdenn are working on tiny robots. These are designed to act autonomously in the body and fight cancer directly at its root.

Prevention - our most powerful weapon against cancer

Michael Baumann, Director of the German Cancer Research Center, explains why we are lagging so far behind in terms of prevention and what we need to do to drive research and application forward.

Cancer researchers to market crayfish

By studying marbled crayfish, Sina Tönges and Frank Lyko, from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), were able to gain new insights into the development of cancer. Now the researchers want to…

Pioneer in the fight against cancer

Stefan Pfister of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) is developing new methods to diagnose tumors in children and adolescents more precisely and treat them more effectively.

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