Competition for Excellence in Research
In a combined effort of the German federal and state governments, the
<a
href="http://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/coordinated_programmes/excellence_initiative/general_information.html">
Excellence Initiative</a> aims to strengthen science and research in
Germany over the long term, improve its international competitiveness
and raise the profile of the top performers in academia and research.
Although competitive funding of research projects is not new to German
universities, the current initiative to promote world-class research in
Germany is unprecedented in respect to the amount of funding available
and the scope of the project. <br />
The total budget of the initiative will be 1.9 billion Euro for the
period from 2006 to 2011, which will be split between three Funding
Lines:<br />
<ul>
<li><a
href="http://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/coordinated_programmes/excellence_initiative/graduate_schools/index.html">
Graduate Schools to promote young researchers</a></li>
<li><a
href="http://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/coordinated_programmes/excellence_initiative/clusters_of_excellence/index.html">
Clusters of Excellence to promote world-class research</a></li>
<li><a
href="http://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/coordinated_programmes/excellence_initiative/top_level_university_research/index.html">
Institutional Strategies to promote top-level university
research</a></li>
</ul>
The establishment of approximately 40 Graduate Schools and
approximately 30 Clusters of Excellence is planned within the framework
of the Excellence Initiative. Graduate Schools will have an average
annual budget of 1 million Euro, Clusters of Excellence will receive an
average of 6.5 million Euro annually. The third Funding Line
(Institutional Strategies) is contingent on the successful
establishment of at least one Cluster of Excellence and at least one
Graduate School.<br />
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Humboldt-Universität has succeeded
with two proposals in the first funding period of Excellence
Initiative: Our graduate schools <a
href="http://www.mind-and-brain.de">“Mind and Brain”</a> and <a
href="http://www.berlin-mathematical-school.de">“Berlin Mathematical
School”</a> (conjoint proposal with TU Berlin and FU Berlin) will both
be funded with approximately € Mio.1 per annum.</span> <br />
<a
href="http://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/coordinated_programmes/excellence_initiative/index.html">
<br />
</a>
<ul>
<li><a
href="http://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/coordinated_programmes/excellence_initiative/index.html">
DFG internet portal on the Excellence Initiative</a></li>
<li><a
href="http://www.wissenschaftsrat.de/exini_start.html">Wissenschaftsrat
internet portal on the Third Funding Line (Institutional
Strategies)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bmbf.de/de/1321.php">Federal Ministry of
Education and Research</a></li>
<li><a
href="http://www.exzellenz.hu-berlin.de/award-en/projects/">Draft
proposals (sorted by funding lines)</a><br />
</li>
</ul>
<br />