Press Releases

Lectures for the winter semester 2026/27 begin at the University of Würzburg on 12 October. At the annual press conference marking the start of the semester, President Paul Pauli provided updates on current developments at the university.

Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) achieves an excellent position in the international comparison. It performs particularly strongly in research quality and knowledge transfer.

Würzburg Professor Georg Nagel (73) has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries in optogenetics. He conducted research at JMU for more than 20 years.

The University of Würzburg does not receive funding as a University of Excellence. Nevertheless, the university intends to continue pursuing its strategy developed during the application process.

The Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy has awarded an honorary doctorate to Jarugu Narasimha Moorthy, Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, in recognition of his achievements.

The Tropilaelaps mite has reached Turkey, thereby crossing the border into Europe. Experts have now been discussing in North Macedonia how this dangerous bee mite can be contained.

Chlamydia organise their genetic material with the help of lipids. This is shown by a new study from the University of Würzburg. This unexpected alliance could change our current understanding of how bacterial DNA is organised.

From North America to Patagonia: Researchers at the University of Würzburg have reconstructed how New World blackbirds spread across the Americas over millions of years.

During his Frühstudium at the University of Würzburg, Veit Lang achieved something quite remarkable: he completed all the requirements for a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics before he was even eligible to enrol as a regular student.

Researchers at the University of Würzburg have shown that plants communicate root injuries in milliseconds via mechanical signals. A drop in hydraulic pressure serves as a rapid alarm system for neighboring roots.

How do speech and language development disorders manifest in children, and what can help those affected? To explore these questions, JMU is organising hands-on activities and discussions in the city centre on 16 October.

In the subject rankings compiled by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, Würzburg’s research has achieved top positions in nine subject areas. Three areas have performed exceptionally well.

For the development of the virtual laser laboratory simulator ‘femtoPro’, three Würzburg researchers have been awarded the 2026 Teaching Prize by the German Physical Society.

The new UniWein is on its way: to mark the end of the grape harvest, representatives from the University of Würzburg and the Staatlicher Hofkeller, along with the Franconian Wine Queen, gathered at the Würzburger Stein.

There are still a few places available on several degree programmes with restricted intake at the University of Würzburg.