Previous Successes and Plans for the Excellence Strategy

All information on previous successes in the excellence competitions and the plans for the current round.

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Collage aus dem Audimax der Ruhr-Universität Bochum und dem Mathetower der TU Dortmund

RUB/TU Dortmund

Consortium of Excellence application

Ruhr University Bochum and TU Dortmund university will jointly apply to become a University Consortium of Excellence. The two universities, which have been cooperating since 2007 as part of the University Alliance Ruhr, submitted a letter of intent to the German Council of Science and Humanities on June 27, 2025.

Originally, the University Alliance Ruhr – consisting of Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund University and the University of Duisburg-Essen – had intended to apply as a three-site consortium. Due to the decisions in the Clusters of Excellence funding line, however, the Alliance did not meet the requirements. In order to do so, a consortium needs three approved Clusters of Excellence, whereby each university must be a co-applicant for one of the funded clusters. The rectorates of the three partner universities carefully weighed up all possible options and came to the conclusion that Ruhr University and TU Dortmund should jointly apply in the second funding line. The partners can build on many ideas that the three universities have developed together in the University Alliance Ruhr.

Funding lines and schedule

More information

Clusters of Excellence at Ruhr University Bochum and TU Dortmund University

On May 22, 2025, the German Research Foundation announced that three Clusters of Excellence will be funded in the Ruhr region in the future. In addition to the existing RESOLV and CASA clusters, the “Color meets Flavor” cluster will be funded from 2026 on.

RESOLV: Ruhr Explores Solvation – Understanding and Design of Solvent Controlled Processes
In this cluster, sientists from Ruhr University Bochum and TU Dortmund University conduct research in order to understand, predict and control solvation processes, with the participation of colleagues from the University of Duisburg-Essen and other partners outside the university context.
CASA: Securing the Digital Society, IT security
The CASA Cluster of Excellence has been developing solutions in order to enhance the security that is indispensable in our digital society. The cluster is hosted by Ruhr University Bochum; researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen are also involved.
Color meets Flavor
Scientists from TU Dortmund University strive to discover new phenomena in the interaction between elementary particles, cooperating with the University of Bonn, the University of Siegen and Forschungszentrum Jülich

Previous successes of Ruhr University Bochum in the Excellence Strategy

Ruhr University Bochum has acquired funding in all three previous excellence competitions.

Competition is an essential part of cutting-edge research. It helps us to constantly reinvent ourselves and get the best out of ourselves.

– Prof. Dr. Martin Paul, Rector of Ruhr University Bochum

Research School and Clusters of Excellence

Ruhr University Bochum was already successful in the first Excellence Initiative in 2006 with the campus-wide graduate school RUB Research School. In the second round of the Excellence Initiative 2012, the Research School was further promoted as Research School PLUS and has now been consolidated. In 2012, additionally the Cluster of Excellence Ruhr Explores Solvation, or RESOLV for short, successfully competed for funding. RESOLV has continued to receive funding in the Excellence Strategy since 2019, which is when funding also started for the CASA Cluster of Excellence.

Our Clusters of Excellence

Two Clusters of Excellence are currently being funded at Ruhr University Bochum: “RESOLV” in solvent chemistry and “CASA” in IT security.

Ein rotes Pulver löst sich in einer gelben Flüssigkeit.

Cluster of Excellence

Ruhr Explores Solvation

Most chemical reactions, important industrial processes, and almost all biological processes take place in the liquid phase. In the Cluster of Excellence RESOLV, scientists work in the field of solvation science.

Cluster of Excellence

Cyber Security in the Age of Large-Scale Adversaries

IT security has become a central societal issue since networked devices have permeated our world. This is what the Cluster of Excellence CASA is concerned with.

University Alliance Ruhr

Since 2007, the University Alliance Ruhr has stood for technical and social change through cutting-edge research. We study, research and teach together in Bochum, Dortmund, Duisburg and Essen.

Excellence Strategy

Overview