famous faculty member is Pope Benedict XVI, who taught from 1969 until he was appointed Cardinal and Archbishop of Munich in 1977. In 2006, one year following his election to the papacy, Benedict XVI returned to the University of Regensburg to make a highly controversial lecture that garnered the university international attention. The Pope is still listed as a professor of the university. Another famous former faculty member, Karl Stetter, worked as head of the Archaea Center and the Department of Microbiology between 1980 and 2002. Among his discoveries were Pyrococcus furiosus in 1986, Aquifex aeolicus, Aquifex pyrophilus, and Nanoarchaeum equitans, discovered in 2002. Location and staff Situated entirely on one central campus, the university is located south of Regensburg's inner city on a small incline south of the Danube River, and directly adjacent to the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences and the A 3 autobahn. The university itself consists of 150 hectares (280 acres) of land. Including the affiliated university hospital, the University of Regensburg has approximately 4,200 employees including 312 professors, and teaches more than 20,000 students (summer term 2015). The university's reputation and attractiveness is enhanced by the 2,000-year-old town of Regensburg, its scenic countryside, the Donautal (Danube Valley), a high density of bars and the nearby heights of the Bavarian Forest. Brisk cultural life both in the city and on campus provide great recreational opportunities, enhanced by a number of nearby lakes. Faculties The university is structured into eleven faculties: Faculty of Catholic Theology Faculty of Law Faculty of Business, Economics and Management Information Systems Faculty of Medicine Faculty of Philosophy, Art History, History, and Humanities Faculty of Psychology, Education, and Sport Science Faculty of Languages, Literature, and Cultures Faculty of Mathematics Faculty of Physics Faculty of Biology and Pre-Clinical Medicine Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy On 31 March 2010, the mayor of Regensburg made an official application to the Bavarian government that an additional Technical University suggested by the government should go to Regensburg. Moreover: preceding to the necessary measures the existing university could simply get an additional Technical Faculty as some universities in Bavaria have, e.g. the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. In any case, the addition of such a faculty would also make sense for the Regensburg university, since in the city and its surroundings there exists a lot of engineering industry. Degree Courses With its eleven faculties, the university employs a wide variety of