Chronologically, the University of Ulm is the ninth university to be founded in Baden-Würtemberg. The original idea of founding a university in Ulm dates back to the '50s. In 1959 local action committee called "University of Ulm" was formed, which in March 1961 put forward a petition for the founding of a university. Initially Ulm found itself in a competitive situation with Konstanz, but it was eventually decided that both cities could be the seat of universities. An important factor was the realisation that due to its position of the border to Switzerland and the resulting small catchment area for patients, the work opportunities for a medical department in Konstanz would be impractical. Thus the idea of founding a university for medicine and the and natural sciences in Ulm began to take shape.

In July 1965 the foundation committee presented it "Report on a University for Medicine and Natural Science in Ulm" to the government of Baden-Wьrttemberg, which then ratified the decision in January 1966. Only two months later the "Provisional Constitution for the University of Medical and Natural Sciences in Ulm" came into effect.

• Department of Quantum Physics, University of Ulm
• Institute of Telecommunications and Applied Information Theory, Ulm University
• Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Ulm