Excellence Strategy | Press Conference on October 2, 2026, 4.00 p.m.

Which institutions will be newly selected as Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia? On 2 October 2026, the Excellence Commission will decide on the new applications under the Universities of Excellence funding line. Up to five further Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia may be included in the funding programme.

Following the meeting of the Excellence Commission, the German Science and Humanities Council and the German Research Foundation are hosting a press conference on

Friday, 2 October 2026, at 4 p.m., at the Wissenschaftszentrum Bonn, Ahrstraße 45, Conference Room S1/S2.

The press conference will be streamed live on YouTube (German only): youtu.be/IF_zbJHbZSM

Note for members of the media: You may attend in person or online, with an opportunity to ask questions (see below for accreditation details). Questions cannot be asked via the YouTube stream.

The new Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia will be announced by Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space Dorothee Bär and Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science Falko Mohrs, in their capacities as Chair and Deputy Chair of the Joint Science Conference (GWK). The results will then be discussed on the panel, and there will be an opportunity for your questions.

The sites in the new application round on the Universities of Excellence funding line (in alphabetical order):

• Ruhr Innovation Lab (Ruhr University Bochum, Technical University of Dortmund) | "An ecosystem for a future proof society"
• Northwest Alliance (University of Bremen, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg) | "Connecting for Tomorrow"
• Rhine-Main Universities (Technical University of Darmstadt, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) | "EXCITE – Excellent. Collaborative. Transformative."
• University of Freiburg | "Sparking Change That Matters"
• Justus Liebig University Giessen, Philipps University Marburg | "H_CORE – Hessian Collaboration for Research Excellence"
• Leibniz University Hannover | "Excellence. Impact. Change! United in the Spirit of Leibniz"
• Hannover Medical School | "INSPIREfutureHealth"
• Friedrich Schiller University Jena | "LIGHT. LIFE. LIBERTY – Connecting People and Ideas"
• Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel | "Connecting Horizons. From the Baltic Perspective to Global Impact"
• University of Cologne | "NEUE UNIVERSITÄT – Continuous Change. Successful Renewal."
• Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg | "Empowering for Change"

Participants (on-site panel)

Professor Dr Wolfgang Wick | Chair of the German Science and Humanities Council | Chair of the Committee of Experts and of the Excellence Commission | Professor of Neurology and Medical Director of the Department of Neurology at Heidelberg University Hospital

Professor Dr Katja Becker | President of the German Research Foundation | Chair of the Committee of Experts and of the Excellence Commission

Dorothee Bär | Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space | Chair of the Joint Science Conference (GWK)

Falko Mohrs | Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science and Culture | Deputy Chair of the GWK

Professor Dr Peter Wagner | Member of the Committee of Experts | ICREA Research Professor of Social Sciences, University of Barcelona

Moderators

Georg Scholl | Spokesperson of the German Science and Humanities Council
Marco Finetti | Spokesperson of the German Research Foundation

Accreditation

Please register by Wednesday, 30 September 2026, 4.00 p.m., providing your name, the media organisation / institution and specifying whether you will be attending online or in person, at pressekonferenz@wissenschaftsrat.de. You will receive the dial-in link for online participation via Zoom on Thursday, 1 October 2026.