The Gotha Research Library, which has one of Germany's largest collections of early modern manuscripts, is part of the university.

Shortly afterwards, the Rector who had overseen the founding, Peter Glotz, a politician in the Social Democratic Party, left the university.

The University of Erfurt has no tuition fees and represents the first institution of higher education to receive the family-friendly certificate for employers.

The University of Erfurt has five faculties and three academic institutes: The academic institutes are: Currently following colleges and research teams are part of the Erfurt doctoral and postdoctoral program (EPPP): In the summer semester of 2003, a project group was formed at the university to take part in the National Model United Nations (NMUN) in New York City in April 2004.

In 2018, the university's Gotha Research Centre launched FactGrid as a joint venture with Wikimedia Germany and the German National Library.