German University of Digital Science (German UDS) was founded by Prof. Dr. Christoph Meinel and Prof. Dr. Mike Friedrichsen, two computer scientists who spent decades preparing the ground for Germany's first AI-affine and fully digital university.

Prof. Dr. Christoph Meinel has led the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Engineering in Potsdam for almost twenty years, during which time he developed openHPI.de - Europe's first and largest MOOC platform, with over 16.5 million registrations. This reinforced his belief that university degree programs could also be offered digitally. 

Prof. Dr. Mike Friedrichsen was a professor of business informatics and digital media at Stuttgart Media Universit for 25 years, and first established the concept of a startup university in 2017. In 2023 they joined forces, relocated to Potsdam's Media City Babelsberg. On 1 April 2025, they opened Germany's first fully digital, non-profit university.

Their shared vision democratize access to high-quality university education worldwide, and equip students not just with technical knowledge in Digital Science - AI, Cybersecurity, Advanced Reality, Media, Law, Quantum Computing,... - but with future skills and a design-thinking and entrepreneurial mindset built to master the challenges of the 21st century.