Egyptology at Cologne is embedded in a dense landscape of institutions and resources for the study of the ancient world. It is part of the Institute of African Studies and Egyptology and offers joint degrees with the Institute of Archaeology, the Prehistory department and the Department of Classics. Further cooperation exists with the Centre of the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean world (ZAKMIRA), the Cologne Centre of eHumanities (CCeH), the Cologne African Studies Centre (CASC), and the Network of archaeological institutions in Cologne and Bonn (VarI). The Egyptology department is a member of the Research Training Group Archaeology of premodern economies, hosted jointly by Cologne and Bonn universities.

The Egyptology department has a good library and holds a papyrus collection. Students, staff and visiting researchers benefit from its good cooperation with the Egyptology department and the Egyptian museum at Bonn University.

Research at the Egyptology department centres on social archaeology, Egyptian society and culture from late prehistory to the New Kingdom, the religion of ancient Egypt, theories and models in Egyptology, and cultural heritage.

Current long-term projects at the department include an archaeological fieldwork project in Zawyet Sultan that explores life of a provincial community in Middle Egypt over the past five thousand years, the epigraphic documentation and interpretation of the Ptolemaic temple inscriptions at Kom Ombo,  the investigation of early administrative practices in Egypt through the seals from Hierakonpolis, a synthesis of Egyptian society and culture during the Old and Middle Kingdoms, and a heritage summer school held annually in Cologne and Aswan.

Egyptology teaching offers training in philology, archaeology and art history. It spans the period from late prehistory to the Roman period and covers the area from the modern Sudan and Egypt to the Eastern Mediterranean.

Egyptology is offered as a major subject in the BA and MA Archaeology, the BA and MA Ancient World Studies, the BA Languages and Cultures of Africa and the MA Egyptology and African Studies. The department also contributes to the MA Culture and Environment in Africa. Students can choose from courses in Cologne and Bonn universities to develop their individual study profile.

The department is supported by Uschebti e.V., the friends of Egyptology at the University of Cologne. Both Uschebti and the department regularly invite speakers from Germany and abroad. Lectures, workshops, student excursions and a dense program of academic events at the university contribute to the vibrant life at the department.