Scientific Institutions
The Berlin University Alliance has won funding as a group in the Universities of Excellence funding line of the German federal and state governments’ Excellence Strategy. The German Council of Science and Humanities announced the decision on July 19, 2019, in Bonn. The four Berlin partners – Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin – submitted a joint proposal entitled Crossing Boundaries toward an Integrated Research Environment and in a highly competitive process were able to convince the reviewers of its feasibility. As of November 1, 2019, they will receive up to 196 million euros at first over a seven-year period. The Berlin Senate will contribute an additional 6 million euros annually through the Einstein Foundation Berlin to support top-level appointments and research projects.
Clusters of Excellence are major collaborative research projects that bring researchers from different disciplines together to work on a promising topic. The aim is to promote top-level research in fields where universities already have proven strengths or which they specifically wish to develop over the medium term.
Graduate Schools provide structured PhD programmes that use targeted measures, such as binding supervision agreements, to support students and create outstanding conditions for doctoral study.
Integrative Research Institutes (IRIs) allow outstanding researchers from different disciplines to collaborate on and further the development of a research field in which the University strives to international leadership. In addition to their potential for academic innovation, IRIs also have a structural impact on the University’s governance and create new models of academic collaboration beyond the boundaries of individual disciplines.
The Centres are to conduct interdisciplinary project work in teaching, research, the promotion of young academics and in the field of continuing education for academic staff. They are established according to the resolution passed by the University Senate on 17.02.2004.