Editing Thuringia (section)

== Universities ==
[[File:Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Hauptgebäude, Jena.jpg|thumb|right|[[Friedrich Schiller University Jena]] is the largest university in Thuringia and one of the best in Germany.]]
The German higher education system comprises two forms of academic institutions: [[university|universities]] and polytechnics ({{lang|de|[[Fachhochschule]]}}). The [[University of Jena]] is the biggest amongst Thuringia's four universities and offers nearly every discipline. It was founded in 1558, and today has 21,000 students. The second-largest is the [[Technische Universität Ilmenau]] with 7,000 students, founded in 1894, which offers many technical disciplines such as engineering and mathematics. The [[University of Erfurt]], founded in 1392, has 5,000 students today and an emphasis on humanities and teacher training. The [[Bauhaus University, Weimar|Bauhaus University Weimar]] with 4,000 students is Thuringia's smallest university, specialising in creative subjects such as architecture and arts. It was founded in 1860 and came to prominence as Germany's leading art school during the inter-war period, the [[Bauhaus]].

The polytechnics of Thuringia are based in [[Fachhochschule Erfurt|Erfurt]] (4,500 students), [[Ernst-Abbe-Fachhochschule Jena|Jena]] (5,000 students), [[Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences|Nordhausen]] (2,500 students) and [[Fachhochschule Schmalkalden|Schmalkalden]] (3,000 students). In addition, there is a civil service college in [[Thüringer Fachhochschule für öffentliche Verwaltung|Gotha]] with 500 students, the [[Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar|College of Music "Franz Liszt"]] in Weimar (800 students) as well as two private colleges, the [[Adam-Ries-Fachhochschule]] in Erfurt (500 students) and the SRH College for nursing and allied medical subjects (''[[SRH Fachhochschule für Gesundheit Gera]]'') in Gera (500 students). The most recent institution of higher education in Thuringia is the [[Duale Hochschule Gera-Eisenach]] (1400 students), a cooperative state college founded in 2016 through a merger of the colleges (''Berufsakademie'') in Gera and Eisenach.

=== Research ===
Thuringia's leading research centre is [[Jena]], followed by [[Ilmenau]]. Both focus on technology, in particular life sciences and optics at Jena and information technology at Ilmenau. [[Erfurt]] is a centre of Germany's horticultural research, whereas [[Weimar]] and [[Gotha]] with their various archives and libraries are centres of historic and cultural research. Most of the research in Thuringia is publicly funded basic research due to the lack of large companies able to invest significant amounts in applied research, with the notable exception of the optics sector at [[Jena]].