The university thus emphasises its high competitiveness in research, teaching and development in a national and international context. The high third-party funding income reflects the successful acquisition of research and project funding at TU Bergakademie Freiberg and confirms the strategic orientation of TU Bergakademie Freiberg as a STEM university with a strong research focus.

Contrary to the general trend, federal funding continues to account for the largest share at around 40 per cent. The share of funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) also remains at a high level at just under 14 per cent of total third-party funding. TU Bergakademie Freiberg was also able to slightly increase its third-party funding income from industry in 2025, which accounts for more than 10 per cent of total third-party funding income in 2025. This development underlines the high relevance and practical relevance of research at TU Bergakademie Freiberg in the region and nationwide; TU Bergakademie Freiberg also scored highly internationally in 2025: There was a significant increase in third-party funding income from international organisations (particularly EU, ESF and ERDF funding) to around 11 per cent of total third-party funding income. Other sources of third-party funding included the public sector, foundations and others.

International rankings confirm research strength

The result of the research made possible by third-party funding is also a high number and quality of scientific publications by researchers at TU Bergakademie Freiberg, which are referenced very frequently. This ensures top positions in international rankings, such as the World University Ranking CWUR 2025 or the QS World University Ranking 2024. With 67.7 points, TU Bergakademie Freiberg is among the world's best 7.5 per cent of the 21,462 participating universities (CWUR 2025). The QS World University Ranking 2024 even sees TUBAF in first place in Germany in the citations category.