FAU Webrelaunch

With over 275 degree programs, around 40,000 students, and excellent research, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), founded in 1743, is one of Germany’s largest universities. For a long time, this strength was not reflected digitally: around 1,100 websites that had grown independently, fragmented structures, and inconsistent user experiences.

In 2025, FAU decided on a fundamental reboot. FAU.de, university’s central website, was reimagined in collaboration with creative partners Studio Good and Mondula. Not as an endpoint, but as a blueprint: The resulting mobile-optimized design system, will be rolled out to all standalone websites by summer 2026. An infrastructure decision for the future.

At the heart of this transformation is the shift from a standard institutional website to a platform that showcases FAU in all its strength. The design brings the guiding principle “Moving Knowledge” to life: lines and shapes inspired by the FAU logo create visual connections and open up new perspectives. Almost all images feature real people from FAU—students, researchers, and staff. Proximity and authenticity instead of generic stock photos. A newly developed information architecture provides guidance for everyone: prospective students find their way more quickly, while researchers delve deeper into topics.

Technically, the platform is based on one of Europe’s largest WordPress multisite installations and is enhanced by a modular design system, which features clear design guidelines, accessible structures, and flexible components. This provides decentralized editorial teams with clear guidelines without restricting their autonomy. What German universities have long failed to achieve, FAU is solving systematically: a consistent digital brand across the entire institutional spectrum. Starting in the summer of 2026, it will be one of the first major German universities to have a seamless digital presence.