Germany has five new centres of excellence
More money to boost top-class research and international profile: three universities and two university consortia included in German excellence funding.
Bonn (dpa, d.de) – Students at many German universities will be beginning their winter semester next week. This year, the universities of Freiburg, Jena and Cologne have been awarded an additional accolade: they have been newly named Universities of Excellence.
Two higher education consortia have also been included in the excellence funding line: the Rhine-Main Universities, which includes the universities of Darmstadt, Frankfurt am Main and Mainz, and the Ruhr Innovation Lab of the universities of Bochum and Dortmund. As such, a total of 15 universities and higher education consortia will receive funding as centres of excellence from 2027.
Top-class research with international reach
Through the Excellence Strategy, Germany’s federal and state governments want to boost top-class research and make German universities more internationally competitive. An international panel of experts evaluated the institutions in terms of their research achievements, future strategies and international networks, among other things.
From 2027, 208 million euros will be available each year in the Universities of Excellence funding line. Individual universities receive an additional ten to 15 million euros per year, while higher education alliances get an extra 15 to 28 million euros each year.
Students generally only benefit indirectly from the funding because the additional monies are primarily earmarked for research. At the same time, the title University of Excellence raises the international profile of the institution in question and is intended to help make them more attractive to top-class and young researchers from both Germany and abroad.
