Consortium of Excellence application “Ruhr Innovation Lab”
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. The Bochum-Dortmund alliance called “Ruhr Innovation Lab” outlines the concept of an innovation laboratory for the Ruhr region, in which new forms for cross-university structures in cutting-edge research can be tested. This bilateral experimental space is intended to produce models for cooperation that can be transferred indirectly to the entire University Alliance Ruhr and other partnerships.
Press release
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.
