Questions and Answers on the Excellence Strategy

70 Clusters of Excellence will be funded as of 2026, each with 3 to 10 million euros, including three clusters of the University Alliance Ruhr. The number of funded clusters has increased: In the previous round of the Excellence Strategy, 57 clusters had been approved; their funding will continue until the end of 2025.

On February 1, 2024, the panel of experts selected 41 draft proposal that were allowed to submit a full proposal for the funding phase from 2026. All previously funded Clusters of Excellence were able to submit renewal applications. Of the 70 Clusters of Excellence selected, 45 are continuations of previously funded clusters and 25 are new clusters.

Up to 15 universities or university consortia will be funded as of 2027. Universities can receive 10 to 15 million euros per year, university consortia 15 to 28 million euros.

Ten individual universities and one consortium currently receive funding from the Excellence Strategy’s “Universities of Excellence” funding line; they have been funded since 2019 and will be until the end of 2025. One of these universities cannot submit a renewal application as it has not acquired the necessary number of Clusters of Excellence. The remaining ten existing universities/consortia will be evaluated in 2025/2026.

In addition, seven currently unfunded universities and four consortia will apply for the first time. A list can be found on the website of the German Council of Science and Humanities.

If Universities of Excellence that have already received funding are assessed negatively in the evaluation at the end of 2025, the vacant places can be filled. The vacancies will be filled as part of the planned call for up to four new applications.

The Committee of Experts and the Excellence Commission for the Excellence Strategy decide on draft proposals and applications.

The Committee of Experts consists of a total of 39 people who are renowned in various scientific fields and represent the entire spectrum of disciplines. They have many years of experience abroad, in university management, in teaching or in business.

The Chairperson of the German Council of Science and Humanities and the President of the German Research Foundation are members of the Committee of Experts without voting rights and chair the committee.

The Excellence Commission consists of the Committee of Experts and the federal and state ministers responsible for science. The Excellence Commission decides on the funding of Clusters of Excellence and Universities of Excellence based on the recommendations of the Committee of Experts.

• Members of the Committee of Experts

Important funding criteria for Clusters of Excellence are

• Excellence in research
• Outstandingly qualified scientists and academics
• High quality of the supporting structures in the Cluster of Excellence
• Supportive and efficient environment for the Cluster of Excellence

Further information can be found on the website of the German Research Foundation.

Important funding criteria for the Universities of Excellence are:

• Overarching criteria such as objectives and long-term sustainability of the overall strategy
• Status quo and previous achievements
• Planning and potential
• In the case of university consortia, synergies of the alliance and added value for the individual universities, among other things

Further information can be found on the Science Council website.

An overview can be found online.

The Excellence Competition has entered its fourth round in 2023/2024 and this is the fourth time Ruhr University Bochum has taken part. Even though it has narrowly missed out on the title of University of Excellence so far, it has been successful each time in the other funding lines: with the campus-wide graduate school RUB Research School and the Clusters of Excellence RESOLV and CASA.

In the past, every application to become a University of Excellence has had positive effects on Ruhr University Bochum. In particular, the strategic development of the university has been significantly advanced by these applications – regardless of the outcome.

Together we are stronger! Many researchers from the University Alliance Ruhr are already working together on projects and appreciate the additional diversity of research areas created by our partnership with the Technical University of Dortmund and the University of Duisburg-Essen. It is perceived as a valuable enrichment for the development of joint project ideas. We see the joint application as a unique opportunity to achieve a critical mass in many areas; this is necessary to increase our visibility internationally and among prospective students and it helps to be well positioned for larger funding applications.

Irrespective of the Excellence Strategy, we consider the partnership with our neighboring universities – TU Dortmund University and the University of Duisburg-Essen – to be valuable and forward-looking. The efforts to submit a joint collaborative application in the University of Excellence funding line are a driving force for advancing various topics and developing common goals, strengths and strategies. The aim is to maintain the profile of the individual universities and to use synergies. Some measures, such as the proposals to optimize governance within the University Alliance Ruhr, will certainly be implemented in the medium term independently of the Excellence Strategy.

The Excellence Strategy is an extremely competitive project, and failure is of course possible. Nevertheless, even in this case, we do not consider our work to have been in vain: Building on the ideas that were developed as part of the applications in previous rounds, many effective measures have been developed and implemented at our university. Examples include the Research School and the Research Departments.

For administrative staff: The necessary considerations regarding the strategic orientation of the university, which must be made as part of the application process, have already provided important impetus for change in the past. In the event of a successful application, many ongoing projects and restructuring processes could be supported by additional financial and personnel resources and advanced more quickly.

For academic staff: Academic staff have also benefited from the strategic considerations and the measures that were implemented even independently of the funding. For example, researchers in the early career phase still benefit from the Research School today. Some of the professors were appointed to Ruhr University Bochum via the Open Field program. In case of funding, the university would like to support researchers with various measures in the areas of teaching, research, transfer, networking and internationalization.

As a student at Ruhr University Bochum, you will benefit in particular from the measures that will be implemented in the area of teaching if Ruhr University is successful in the Excellence Strategy. In addition, the funding enables the recruitment of (international) top researchers, which enriches teaching and improves your international networking and career opportunities.