Excellence Initiative
The Excellence Initiative aims to promote top-level research and to improve the quality of German universities and research institutions in general, thus making Germany a more attractive research location, making it more internationally competitive and focussing attention on the outstanding achievements of Germany universities and the German scientific community.
After the Excellence Initiative was passed by the German federal and state governments in 2005, the DFG was given responsibility for running the initiative together with the German Science Council.
Excellence Initiative: 143 Proposals for the Final Round
Competition between projects already receiving funding and new projects / Decisions due in June 2012
In the second phase of the Excellence Initiative by the German federal and state governments universities have submitted a total of 143 proposals by 1 September. 84 of which are from projects that are already receiving funding in the first round of the Excellence Initiative and 59 from projects that successfully completed the preliminary selection of the second phase in March 2011. In terms of the three funding lines, 63 of the 143 proposals submitted are for graduate schools, 64 for clusters of excellence, and 16 for institutional strategies to promote top-level research. The proposals will be reviewed until the end of February 2012, with the funding decisions, which will allocate a total of more than €2.5 billion, being made in June 2012.
Between 2006 and 2011 the DFG will receive a total of €1.9 billion in additional funding for the three funding lines of the initiative. In May 2009 the federal and state governments decided to continue the Excellence Initiative beyond 2012.
Graduate schools play a key role not only in developing internationally competitive centres of top-level research and scientific excellence in Germany but also in increasing their recognition and prestige. They serve as an instrument of quality assurance in promoting young researchers and are based on the principle of training outstanding doctoral students within an excellent research environment.
Clusters of excellence will enable German university locations to establish internationally visible, competitive research and training facilities, thereby enhancing scientific networking and cooperation among the participating institutions.
The Excellence Initiative provides funding for institutional strategies that are aimed at developing top-level university research in Germany and increasing its competitiveness at an international level.
