Universities shortlisted for excellence clusters

A total of 88 project teams at 41 universities have been invited to submit full proposals in the first round of Germany’s Excellence Strategy, the successor to the Excellence Initiative.

The 88 projects, chosen from 195 draft proposals submitted earlier this year, are aiming to become the first clusters of excellence under the scheme. They were chosen by the Excellence Strategy’s committee of experts and announced by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Germany’s largest public research funder, on 29 September.

Full proposals are now due by 21 February 2018. The Excellence Commission, comprising members of the committee of experts alongside state and federal research ministers, will then make a final decision on 27 September 2018. About €385 million will be available annually for the 45 to 50 clusters selected for funding, starting on 1 January 2019.