RWTH Aachen University is an elite German public research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With more than 47,000 students enrolled in 144 study programs, it is the largest technical university in Germany. RWTH Aachen in 2019 emerged successfully from the final of the third federal and state excellence strategy. The university will be funded as a university of excellence for the next seven years. RWTH Aachen was already part of the federal and state excellence initiative in 2007 and 2012. Since 2007, RWTH Aachen has been continuously funded by the DFG and the German Council of Science and Humanities as one of eleven (previously nine) German Universities of Excellence for its future concept RWTH 2020: Meeting Global Challenges and the follow-up concept The Integrated Interdisciplinary University of Science and Technology: Knowledge, Impact, Networks, also receiving grants for associated graduate schools and clusters of excellence. The university regularly accounts for the highest amount of third-party funds among all German universities, placing first per faculty member and second overall in the most recent survey from 2018. RWTH Aachen is a founding member of IDEA League, a strategic alliance of five leading universities of technology in Europe, as well as its German counterpart TU9. It is also a member of DFG and the Top Industrial Managers for Europe network.

Faculties

The RWTH is divided into ten faculties:

• Faculty of Mathematics, 
• Computer Science and Natural Sciences
• Faculty of Architecture
• Faculty of Civil Engineering
• Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Faculty of Georesources and Materials Engineering
• Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
• Faculty of Arts and Humanities
• School of Business and Economics
• Faculty of Medicine

The RWTH Aachen took 3rd place in 2018 based on the number of top managers in the Germany economy measured by the number of DAX board of management members. In 2019, RWTH Aachen took 2nd place. The top 3 universities in 2019 with the most top managers were the LMU Munich, the RWTH Aachen and the Technische Universität Darmstadt. Double degrees and student mobility are promoted with other technology universities through the TIME (Top Industrial Managers for Europe) network. Furthermore, the RWTH is member of the IDEA League, which is a strategic partnership among four of Europe's leading research universities, including TU Delft, Chalmers University of Technology, and ETH Zürich, and was the first German university starting an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program in 2008.