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Decisions taken on new Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia

issue 08 | 2026
Date 2026-10-02

Joint press release from WR and DFG

Excellence Commission selects three Universities of Excellence and two University Excellence Consortia

The final decisions for the second round of the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments to strengthen world-class research at higher education institutions in Germany have now been taken. Today, Friday 2 October 2026, the Excellence Commission – comprising representatives from the academic and political spheres – selected five new sites from among eleven higher education institutions and university consortia for long-term funding under the ‘Universities of Excellence’ funding line.

They complete the list of Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia to be funded in future, following the renewal in March this year of funding for ten existing institutions, including one consortium. This means that, from January 2027, a total of 15 Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia will be funded under the Excellence Strategy.

The newly selected centres are (in alphabetical order):

  • University of Freiburg
  • Friedrich Schiller University of Jena
  • University of Cologne:
  • Rhine-Main Universities (Technical University of Darmstadt, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz)
  • Ruhr Innovation Lab (Ruhr University Bochum, Technical University of Dortmund)

The decisions of the Excellence Commission were announced at a press conference following the meeting at the Bonn Science Centre. Federal Minister for Research Dorothee Bär and Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science Falko Mohrs, as Chair and Deputy Chair respectively of the Joint Science Conference (GWK), as well as the Chair of the German Science and Humanities Council (WR), Prof. Dr Wolfgang Wick, and the President of the German Research Foundation (DFG), Prof. Dr Katja Becker – both of whom also serve as co-chairs of the Committee of Experts and the Commission for Excellence – as well as Prof. Dr Peter Wagner, a member of the Committee of Experts, paid tribute to the participating institutions and provided an overview of the results.

WR Chair Wolfgang Wick emphasised the far-reaching impact of the competition: “I congratulate the universities and consortia newly selected today. They embody what has characterised this funding programme from the very beginning: cutting-edge research requires the whole university – from teaching through knowledge transfer to career pathways. Anyone wishing to compete at the very top internationally nowadays has to take all these aspects into account together. Once again, this round of the competition has generated momentum and brought international prestige that extends far beyond the selected locations. We want to continue this success story. To this end, we will thoroughly evaluate the outcomes and consistently further develop the programme.”

Katja Becker, President of the DFG, highlighted the Excellence Commission's once again unanimous funding decisions, which were based on international peer reviews and consultations by the Committee of Experts: “The prioritisation of scientific excellence in both funding lines and the consistent international perspective on the German research system have proved to be extremely effective. All participating sites submitted highly innovative concepts that support not only the enormous scientific potential of the Clusters of Excellence but also that of other research areas. All this is only possible because the federal government, the federal states and the scientific community in our country are firmly committed to the principle of science-led research funding.”

Federal Minister for Research Dorothee Bär emphasized the contribution of high-performing and internationally attractive universities to economic development: “The Federal Government is pursuing a clear objective with the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments. We want to create new economic growth and new prosperity for Germany. To achieve this, we need strong universities that are internationally visible and offer excellent conditions for researchers. The Excellence Strategy makes a key contribution to this. Together with the state ministers for research and international experts, we have today decided to fund a further five Universities of Excellence and consortia of excellence. Congratulations to everyone involved in the successful applications on their impressive achievement. The funding decisions were not easy to make: all the locations demonstrated tremendous commitment during the application process.”

Falko Mohrs, Lower Saxony’s Minister for Research, explained the significance of the competition from the perspective of the federal states: “Universities of Excellence are beacons that shine far beyond state borders. They strengthen the international competitiveness of their regions and attract top researchers from all over the world. At the same time, we as federal states benefit collectively from a strong science system in Germany. Because even where applications were unsuccessful, valuable strategies, cooperations and prospects for development remain in place. The Excellence Strategy thus has an impact far beyond the sites that have been awarded funding.”

As a member of the Committee of Experts, Peter Wagner praised the international reputation of the ExStra: “With the Excellence Strategy, Germany has paved a path that is recognised internationally as a blueprint. The institutions are reflecting on their own performance with a depth and rigour that I find lacking in many other systems. This is an impact of this competition that extends far beyond the funding decision itself. This influence will continue to grow. Anyone wishing to attract the best minds internationally needs visible, high-profile institutions. That is precisely what the Excellence Strategy achieves.”

The official start of the second funding phase for all 15 Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia is 1 January 2027. With an additional 60 million euros per year on top of the 148 million euros previously allocated annually to fund the existing Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia, the federal and state governments have laid the foundations for the funding of up to five new Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia – in accordance with the administrative agreement and the GWK resolution of 30 June 2023. The federal and state governments are thus investing a total of 208 million euros per year in the Universities of Excellence funding line. This financial framework covers both the funding of the new Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia and the continued funding of the existing Universities of Excellence and the University Excellence Consortium.

Given that the maximum number of funding cases was selected in the second round of applications (five sites) and almost all universities and consortia applied for the maximum possible amounts (up to 15 million euros annually for individual universities and up to 28 million euros annually for consortia), it will be necessary to adjust the annual funding amounts applied for by each site by an average of around 21 per cent over the next seven years.

Following today’s final decisions in the second round of the competition, attention now turns to the possible future development of the Excellence Strategy, which is designed as a long-term funding programme. In June 2027, the Committee of Experts will submit a report on its experiences with both funding lines of the programme – the Clusters of Excellence and the Universities of Excellence – to the Joint Science Conference of the federal and state governments (GWK).

The GWK had already addressed issues relating to the programme’s further development during the first funding phase. In consultation with a wide range of actors, including the funded institutions, it is examining the various dimensions of the Excellence Strategy’s impact. Furthermore, the international experts are examining the impact the Excellence Strategy has had on Germany as a location of science and research to date, with a view to drawing up recommendations on how the two funding lines can achieve an even more targeted impact in future. Competition for cutting-edge research is to remain at the heart of the programme; its science-led processes lend it legitimacy and ensure broad international recognition.

On this basis, the federal and state governments intend to discuss the programme’s impact and possible adjustments that may be required.

Newly selected institutions (2 October 2026)

  • University of Freiburg
  • Friedrich Schiller University of Jena
  • University of Cologne
  • Rhine-Main Universities (Technical University of Darmstadt, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz)
  • Ruhr Innovation Lab (Ruhr University Bochum, Technical University of Dortmund)

List of locations receiving continued funding (March 2026)

Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia (listed alphabetically by location)

  • RWTH Aachen University (Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen)
  • Berlin University Alliance (Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin)
  • University of Bonn (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)
  • TU Dresden (Technische Universität Dresden)
  • University of Hamburg (Universität Hamburg, UHH)
  • Heidelberg University (Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg)
  • Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) (Karlsruher Institut für Technologie)
  • LMU Munich (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
  • Technical University of Munich (Technische Universität München)
  • University of Tübingen (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen)

Statements on the evaluation of the Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia (German only)

Background on the Excellence Strategy and the Universities of Excellence funding line

Background to the Excellence Strategy and the ‘Universities of Excellence’ funding line

How the programme is structured

In the first round of the competition in 2019, ten individual universities and one University Excellence Consortium were recommended for long-term funding under the ‘Universities of Excellence’ funding line. The requirements for the continuation of long-term funding were the successful acquisition of at least two – or, in the case of a University Excellence Consortium, three – Clusters of Excellence, as well as a positive evaluation of the funded Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia, which is carried out every seven years.

In accordance with the administrative agreement between the federal and state governments on the Excellence Strategy, the ‘Universities of Excellence’ funding line is administered by the German Science and Humanities Council (WR) and the ‘Clusters of Excellence’ funding line by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

After the Excellence Commission had selected 70 clusters of excellence in May 2025 for (continued) funding from 1 January 2026, it became clear that ten of the eleven Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia still met the requirements for funding under the ‘Universities of Excellence’ funding line.

The University of Konstanz had no longer met the required minimum number of Clusters of Excellence.

When the first round of evaluations began, the funded Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia submitted self-assessment reports in the summer of 2025 to demonstrate the extent to which the set objectives had been achieved during the first funding phase and what additional impacts had been realised. From September to December of the same year, site visits were carried out at all locations by international panels of experts. The centres were assessed solely against the objectives they had set for themselves and their individual strategic development. No direct comparison was made between the various centres.

The outcome of the evaluation of the nine Universities of Excellence and the University Excellence Consortium was entirely positive. On 11 March 2026, the Committee of Experts – comprising international researchers – reached its decision, which was unanimously confirmed by the Excellence Commission of the Excellence Strategy. To ensure the transparency of the review process and to provide impetus for a learning-oriented research system, the reports on the individual sites were published on the website of the WR.

How the competition's second round was conducted

The decision regarding the Clusters of Excellence funding line not only determined which of the existing Universities of Excellence would be evaluated but also meant that a total of eleven further sites were eligible to apply for funding as a University of Excellence or a University Excellence Consortium. Just like in the first round of calls for proposals, an individual university was eligible to apply if it could demonstrate that it had at least two Clusters of Excellence. A joint application by a consortium of two or three universities required that at least three Clusters of Excellence at these universities had received funding. In this context, each university participating in the consortium had to either have at least one Cluster of Excellence of its own or be involved as an applicant in a joint Cluster of Excellence.

As of the deadline of 12 November 2025, the WR had received eleven applications for the ‘Universities of Excellence’ funding line. Seven of these applications were submitted by individual universities and four by consortia comprising two or three universities respectively. All eligible institutions thus entered the competition for five available places in the ‘Universities of Excellence’ funding line

In a subsequent stage, between April and June 2026, international panels of experts assessed the universities and consortia that had applied for the title of ‘University of Excellence’ or ‘University Excellence Consortium’ during on-site visits lasting several days. In contrast to the evaluation procedure, the new application round – as in 2019 – involved a competitive assessment and thus a selection process. The basis for evaluating the new applications was the coherence of strategic approaches against the backdrop of the initial conditions and the objectives set out.

What happens next following the decision

The official start date of the second funding phase for all Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia is 1 January 2027. With an additional 60 million euros per year on top of the 148 million euros previously allocated annually to fund the established institutions, the federal and state governments have laid the foundations for funding up to a maximum of five new Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia – in accordance with the administrative agreement and the GWK resolution of 30 June 2023. The federal and state governments are thus investing a total of 208 million euros per year in the Universities of Excellence funding line. This funding framework covers both the funding of the new Universities of Excellence and University Excellence Consortia and the continuation of funding for the established institutions.

The Excellence Strategy is designed as a long-term funding programme and is continuously being improved. The Committee of Experts has already been addressing the ongoing development of the programme during the first funding phase. Through dialogue with a wide range of actors, including the funded institutions, it is examining the various dimensions of the Excellence Strategy’s impact.  In addition, the committee is examining the impact the Excellence Strategy has had so far on Germany as a location of science and research, with a view to drawing up recommendations on how the funding lines can be made even more targeted in the future. At the heart of the programme, the focus will remain on science-led competition for cutting-edge research, whose science-led processes lend it its legitimacy and ensure broad international recognition.

Taking these various aspects into account, the Committee of Experts of the Joint Science Conference (GWK) will present a report on the experience gained with both funding lines – Clusters of Excellence and Universities of Excellence – in June 2027. On this basis, the federal and state governments will then discuss the programme’s impact and any necessary adjustments.

Media contact:

Georg Scholl, Head of Communications and Public Relations at WR,
Tel. +49 221 3776 243, georg.scholl(at)wissenschaftsrat.de

Marco Finetti, Head of Press and Public Relations at DFG,
Tel. +49 228 885-2230, marco.finetti(at)dfg.de

Contact persons at the WR and DFG offices:

For the Universities of Excellence funding line

Dr Inka Spang-Grau, Head of Excellence Strategy,
Tel. +49 221 3776-281, inka.spang-grau(at)wissenschaftsrat.de

For the Clusters of Excellence funding line:

Dr Christine Petry, Head of Excellence Strategy and Research Impulses,
Tel. +49 228 885-2355, christine.petry(at)dfg.de

Further detailed information on the Excellence Strategy is also available at:

www.wissenschaftsrat.de/EN/excellence_strategy

https://www.dfg.de/en/research-funding/funding-initiative/excellence-strategy

https://www.exzellenzstrategie.de/en/