Excellence Initiativeat a Glance

The Programme by the German Federal and State Governments
To Promote Top-level Research at Universities

The Second Phase 2012 – 2017
Graduate Schools – Clusters of Excellence – Institutional Strategies

Published by:
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
in charge
German Council of Science and Humanities (WR)Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Ministries, Senate Administrations and Authorities for
Science and Research in the States
Coordinated by:
Marco Finetti
Karin Friedsam
Dr. Beate Konze-Thomas
Dr. Oliver Wiegner
all DFG, Kennedyallee 40, 53175 Bonn
Tel.: +49 228 885-1, Fax: +49 228 885-2777
Email: postmaster@dfg.de, www.dfg.de
Edited by:
Katja Spross
Trio Service GmbH, Bonn
www.trio-medien.de
Translated by:
ResearchComm Ltd., Canterbury
Dr. Lynda Lich-Knight
www.researchcomm.eu
Layout, typesetting and title page by:axeptDESIGN
www.axeptdesign.de
Basic layout title page by:besscom, Berlin/Tim Wübben, DFG
Printed by:
Brandt GmbH
Druckerei und Verlag, Bonn
Print-run:
5th, revised edition
2,500, November 2013

Excellence Initiativeat a Glance

The Programme by the German Federal and State Governments
To Promote Top-level Research at Universities

The Second Phase 2012 – 2017
Graduate Schools – Clusters of Excellence – Institutional Strategies
3This publication has been prepared with the greatest possible care and attention. However, neither the publisher nor the authors can accept
any liability for the correctness of the information contained or for any misprints or errors.
All the information on Graduate Schools (GSC), Clusters of Excellence (EXC), and Institutional Strategies (ZUK) funded under the Excellence Initiative
is based on the funding proposals submitted by the institutions and on their own profiles published on their respective websites and other sources.
The content of this publication is subject to change without notification. Please contact the respective institution for further information.

4

Contents
Current Graduate Schools

Words of Welcome by Federal Minister of Research
Professor Dr. Johanna Wanka
Outstanding General Conditions for Top-Level Research

12

Words of Welcome by State Minister of Science ofRhineland-Palatinate Doris Ahnen
Internationally Visible and Recognised

13

Preface by DFG President Professor Dr. Peter Strohschneider
and WR Chairman Professor Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt
The Excellence Initiative – A Success Story, Part Two

14

The Excellence Initiative
The First Phase 2005–2012

16

The Second Phase 2010 –201717

The Three Funding Lines18

Map of Germany: Impact of the Excellence Initiative

19

5

RWTH Aachen University
Aachen Institute for Advanced Study in Computational
Engineering Science (AICES)

22

University of Bamberg
Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences (BAGSS)

23

University of Bayreuth
Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies

23

Freie Universität Berlin
Graduate School of North American Studies (GSNAS)

25

Freie Universität Berlin
Graduate School of East Asian Studies (GEAS)

26

Freie Universität Berlin/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Berlin-Brandenburg School for Regenerative Therapies (BSRT)

27

Freie Universität Berlin/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies

28

Freie Universität Berlin/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies

29

Contents
Freie Universität Berlin/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Berlin Graduate School of Integrative Oncology (BSIO)

30

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Berlin School of Mind and Brain

31

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
SALSA School of Analytical Sciences Adlershof

32

Technische Universität Berlin/

Technische Universität Darmstadt
Darmstadt Graduate School of Excellence Energy Scienceand Engineering (ESE)38

Technische Universität Dresden
Dresden International Graduate School for Biomedicine
and Bioengineering (DIGS-BB)

39

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies

40

Freie Universität Berlin/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Berlin Mathematical School (BMS)

33

University of Freiburg
Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine

41

Bielefeld University
Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology (BGHS)

34

Justus Liebig University GiessenInternational Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture

42

35

University of Göttingen
Göttingen Graduate School for Neurosciences, Biophysics,
and Molecular Biosciences (GGNB)

43

Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Ruhr University Research School (RUB-RS)
University of Bremen/Jacobs University Bremen
Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences

36

Heidelberg University
Heidelberg Graduate School of Fundamental Physics

44

Technische Universität Darmstadt
Graduate School of Computational Engineering

37

Heidelberg University
The Hartmut Hoffmann-Berling International Graduate School ofMolecular and Cellular Biology Heidelberg (HBIGS)

45

6

Contents
Heidelberg University
Heidelberg Graduate School of Mathematical andComputational Methods for the Sciences

46

Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Jena School for Microbial Communication (JSMC)

47

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Karlsruhe School of Optics & Photonics (KSOP)

48

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Karlsruhe School of Elementary Particle and Astroparticle Physics:
Science and Technology (KSETA)

49

Kiel University
Graduate School “Human Development in Landscapes”

University of Konstanz
Graduate School of Decision Sciences
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz/
University of Kaiserslautern
Materials Science in Mainz (MAINZ)

54

55

University of Mannheim
Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences: Empirical andQuantitative Methods (GESS)

56

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences

57

50

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Distant Worlds: Munich Graduate School for Ancient Studies

58

University of Cologne
a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne (AGSHC)

51

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Graduate School of Quantitative Biosciences Munich (QBM)

59

University of Cologne/University of Bonn
Bonn-Cologne Graduate School of Physics and Astronomy (BCGS)

52

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München/
Universität Regensburg
Graduate School for East and Southeast European Studies

University of Konstanz
Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology

53

Technische Universität München
International Graduate School of Science and Engineering (IGSSE)

7

60
61

Contents
Saarland University
Saarbrücken Graduate School of Computer Science

62

University of Stuttgart
Graduate School of Excellence advanced
Manufacturing Engineering (GSaME)

63

64
University of Tübingen
LEAD Graduate School: Learning, Educational Achievement, and Life
Course Development

Freie Universität Berlin/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
NeuroCure – Towards a Better Outcomeof Neurological Disorders

70

Freie Universität Berlin/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
71
Topoi – The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in
Ancient Civilizations
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Image Knowledge Gestaltung. An Interdisciplinary Laboratory

72

University of Ulm
International Graduate School in Molecular Medicine Ulm

65

Technische Universität Berlin
Unifying Concepts in Catalysis

73

University of Würzburg
Graduate School of Life Sciences (GSLS)

66

Bielefeld University
Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC)

74

Ruhr-Universität Bochum
RESOLV: Ruhr Explores Solvation

75

Current Clusters of Excellence
RWTH Aachen University
Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries

68

University of Bonn
Mathematics: Foundations, Models, Applications

76

RWTH Aachen University
Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass

69

University of Bonn
ImmunoSensation: The Immune Sensory System

77

8

Contents
University of Bremen
The Ocean in the Earth System –MARUM, Center for Marine Environmental Sciences

78

Goethe University Frankfurt/
Justus Liebig University Giessen
Cardio-Pulmonary System (ECCPS)

Chemnitz University of Technology
Merge Technologies for Multifunctional
Lightweight Structures (MERGE)

79

University of Freiburg
BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies –From Analysis to Synthesis

87

Technische Universität Dresden
Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD)

80

University of Freiburg
BrainLinks-BrainTools

88

Technische Universität Dresden
Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed)

81

University of Göttingen
Nanoscale Microscopy and Molecular Physiologyof the Brain (CNMPB)

89

Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf/University of Cologne
Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS)

82

Universität Hamburg
Integrated Climate System Analysis and Prediction (CliSAP)

90Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Engineering of Advanced Materials –Hierarchical Structure Formation for Functional Devices (EAM)83

Universität Hamburg
The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging (CUI)

91

Goethe University Frankfurt
Macromolecular Complexes in Action

84

Goethe University Frankfurt
The Formation of Normative Orders

85

Hannover Medical School/
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover
From Regenerative Biology to Reconstructive Therapy (REBIRTH)
Heidelberg University
Cellular Networks

9

86

92
93

Contents
Heidelberg University
Asia and Europe in a Global Context:
The Dynamics of Transculturality

94

Kiel University
The Future Ocean

95

Kiel University/Universität zu Lübeck
Inflammation at Interfaces

96

University of Cologne
Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD)

97

University of Konstanz
Cultural Foundations of Social Integration

98

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Physics, Fundamental Interactions andStructure of Matter (PRISMA)

99

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München/Technische Universität München
SyNergy – Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology

102

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München/Technische Universität München/University of Augsburg
Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM)

103

Technische Universität München/
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Origin and Structure of the Universe

104

The University of Münster
Religion and Politics in Pre-Modern and Modern Cultures

105

The University of Münster
Cells in Motion (CiM): Imaging to Understand Cellular
Behaviour in Organisms

106

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München/Technische Universität München
Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics (MAP)

100

University of Oldenburg/Hannover Medical School/
Leibniz Universität Hannover
Hearing4all

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München/Technische Universität München
Munich Center for Integrated Protein Science (CiPSM)

101

Saarland University
Multimodal Computing and Interaction

10

107
108

Contents
University of Stuttgart
Simulation Technology (Sim Tech): From Isolated
Numerical Approaches to an Integrative Systems Science

109

University of Tübingen
Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN)

110

Current Institutional Strategies
RWTH Aachen University
RWTH 2020: Meeting Global Challenges

112

Freie Universität Berlin
Veritas – Iustitia – Libertas. International Network University

113

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Bildung durch Wissenschaft – Educating Enquiring Minds

114

University of Bremen
Ambitious and Agile

115

Technische Universität Dresden
The Synergetic University

116

11

Heidelberg University
Heidelberg: Realising the Potential of aComprehensive University

117

University of Cologne
Meeting the Challenge of Change and Complexity

118

University of Konstanz
Modell Konstanz – Towards a Culture of Creativity

119

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
LMUexcellent

120

Technische Universität München
TUM. The Entrepreneurial University

121

University of Tübingen
Research, Relevance, Responsibility

122

Words of Welcome
Outstanding Conditions for Cutting-Edge Research

Professor Dr. Johanna Wanka
Federal Minister of
Education and Research
Deputy Chairperson of the
Joint Science Conference (GWK)

An internationally competitive science and ­researchlandscape is an expression of a country’s future viability. This is why the Federal Government andthe Länder decided in favour of stepping up investments in education and research in the face of the2009 financial crisis. They also agreed to continue
the “Higher Education Pact”, the “Joint Initiativefor Research and Innovation” and the “Excellence
Initiative”.
The Excellence Initiative, which is implemented by the DFG and the German Council of Scienceand Humanities, has inspired not only those universities that are receiving funding but also the German higher education sector as a whole. Apart frompromoting outstanding research, the Excellence Initiative is also helping to generate new structures
such as doctoral procedures involving transparent
recruitment and supervision agreements or attractive new staffing structures alongside ­conventional

12

professorships. Furthermore, the Initiative also
supports collaborations, thus providing outstanding
conditions for cutting-edge research, coordinatedcareer pathways between the various partner institutions and the efficient use of research infrastructures to the advantage of all those concerned. In
addition, strategic research collaborations involving eminent global partners attract attention to ourcountry, as do researchers with a German doctoratein their role as science ambassadors.
The Excellence Initiative has revitalized the German higher education landscape. The Federal Government and the Länder must continue down thispath together if Germany wants to maintain its position in the global race for research and innovation
leadership and further improve its future viability.
The Federal Government is willing to continue thiscourse!

Internationally Visible and Recognised
In the context of their long-term joint researchfunding, the Federal and State Governments wantto consolidate Germany’s sustainable position asa science location, enhance its international competitiveness and present its top-class university research more visibly. All of these are explicit goalsof the Excellence Initiative for which the Federal
and State Governments are providing 4.6 billion euros in two phases between 2006 and 2017.
The Excellence Initiative has sparked a pioneering spirit at universities, along with new ideas anddiverse new forms of cooperation between universities and non-university research institutions. The
Initiative has thus made a significant contribution to
overcoming the frequently lamented pillarisation of
the German science system. Both research performance and the excellence competition itself havereceived international recognition; our European
neighbours have since introduced similar c­ ontests.

The Clusters of Excellence and Graduate Schools
enable universities to increase their power to attract researchers from abroad and drive their profiling and differentiation strategies. Inter-institutional
cooperation is one way of magnifying the visibilityof university locations and research regions.
In the first phase of the Excellence Initiative, theprojects presented in this brochure developed into
remarkable success stories for the respective science and research institutions. I am convinced thatthey will continue to augment their innovative capacities in the second funding phase and amalgamate with the newly-selected projects to enhance
the profile of science and research as important potential for the future.

13

Doris Ahnen
State Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate
for Education, Science,
Further Education and Culture
Chairperson of the
Joint Science Conference (GWK)Preface
The Excellence Initiative – A Success Story, Part Two

Professor Dr. Peter Strohschneider
President of the Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

Professor Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt
Chairman of the German Council of
Science and Humanities

This edition of “The Excellence Initiative at a
Glance” is the fifth in less than five years. Stocks ofthe four previous editions with a print run of morethan 35,000 were soon exhausted: public interest in
the Excellence Initiative as a tool that sets international benchmarks for funding research and developing universities continues unabated.
This completely revised, new edition of the brochure is also the first to present the projects – approved in June 2012 and funded since November
2012 – which competed successfully in the second phase of the competition to promote top-level university research in Germany. The entire programme was initiated by the Federal and State
Governments and is conducted by the Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the German
Council of Science and Humanities (WR).
Launched in 2005, the first phase of the Excellence Initiative very soon generated a dynamic

14i­nvigoration and modernisation of German universities and the system of Higher Education and research: the 85 institutions selected from more than
600 draft proposals in 2006 and 2007 and funded
for the following five years, stand for an impressive wealth of superb research ideas and themes
as well as for highly efficient forms of organisingresearch. At the same time, they also mark the replacement of the fiction that all universities areequal by the paradigm of functional differentiation– an explicit research policy objective. All of thisengendered a great deal of attention and recognition, both nationally and internationally.
The continuation of the Excellence Initiative – adecision taken by the Federal and State Governments in mid-2009 at the dogged insistence of research and as a clear demonstration of the politicalpriority assigned to Higher Education and research inthe ­aftermath of the global financial crisis – broughtthe institutions funded in the first phase into
direct competition with new proposals.
This very competition revealed once again
what lies at the heart of all structural issues,
not just in the Excellence Initiative, but in research in general: the quality and complexity, the originality and novelty of research insights.
On 15 June 2012, at the end of a rigorous
academic-driven review and decision-making
process, a total of 99 projects at 44 universities were selected for continued or first-timefunding: 45 Graduate Schools which train junior researchers, 43 Clusters of Excellence,in which universities, often in cooperation
with non-university research institutions, advance knowledge-driven basic research, and,­finally, eleven so-called Institutional Strategies through which entire universities seek tocontinue positioning themselves in the international domain.
The brochure presents all 99 institutionsof excellence which will receive funding until
2017 in the same compact form that has already proved so popular: one page each withinformation on the core research focus areas
and themes, the universities and other institutions involved, as well as the spokespersons
and most important contact information. The
publishers of this brochure should like, once
again, to invite in particular decision makers
in the political, business and social arenas, themedia, and, last but not least, the general public to witness for themselves the inspiration andperformance of university research in Germany.
This glance at the current status of the Excellence Initiative is, of course, even now not unrelated to the question of its future. From the15

point of view of research, the basic political
will to continue financing successful projects
is both gratifying and consistent.
How this should and could happen, how it
can be integrated into the continued development of the system of Higher Education andresearch in Germany and into its overall politico-constitutional, financial and social general conditions – to address these issues the
DFG and the German Council of Science andHumanities have drawn up strategies whichshape political debate. The projects presented in this brochure impressively illustrate why
this debate is so extraordinarily important.

The First Phase 2005 – 2012
The Initiative

The Competition

The Decisions

It was in 2004 that science and policy-makers in Germany started to develop the idea
for an Excellence Initiative; the decision to
go ahead was made by the Federal and State
Governments in June 2005. The aims of theInitiative are to strengthen top-level researchin Germany and to enhance its competitiveness in the international domain. Thus a competition was launched to identify and reward
outstanding projects in three areas:• Graduate Schools to promote young
scientists and researchers• Clusters of Excellence to promote toplevel research• Institutional Strategies to develop
project-based, top-level university
research
The competition was organised by theDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and
the German Council of Science and Humanities. The Federal and State Governments provided a total of 1.9 billion euros to fund thesuccessful projects until the end of 2012.

The first phase consisted of two rounds heldin 2005/2006 and 2006/2007, each involving
a preliminary and a final round.
In the preliminary rounds universities submitted draft proposals which were reviewed
by internationally appointed panels of experts. The reviews of the Graduate Schools
and Clusters were discussed by an “Expert
Commission” appointed by the DFG, thosereferring to the Institutional Strategies by
a “Strategic Commission” appointed by theGerman Council of Science and Humanities.
Pre-selection was conducted by a “Joint
Commission” in which both commissions
were represented.
The universities selected at this stage
subsequently presented their full proposals which were evaluated using the sameprocedure as in the preliminary rounds. The“Grants Committee” composed of the Joint
Commission and the Federal and State Ministers of Science and Research then selected
the projects for funding.

The first round of the Excellence Initiative
saw 319 draft proposals submitted by 74 universities. 90 drafts (39 Graduate Schools, 41
Clusters of Excellence, ten Institutional Strategies) were nominated for the final round. On
13 October 2006, the Grants Committee selected 38 of these projects for funding; they
were located at 22 universities: 18 Graduate
Schools, 17 Clusters of Excellence and three
Institutional Strategies. These projects were
funded up to November 2011 with a total of
873 million euros.
305 draft proposals were received in thesecond round, of which 92 (44 Graduate
Schools, 40 Clusters of Excellence, eight Institutional Strategies) reached the final roundof the competition. On 19 October 2007, theGrants Committee selected 47 of these projects for funding at a total of 28 universities:
21 Graduate Schools, 20 Clusters of Excellence and six Institutional Strategies. Altogether, they received a good billion euros by
November 2012.

16

The Second Phase 2012 – 2017
The Continuation

The Preliminary RoundThe Final RoundIn June 2009, the Federal and State Governments decided to extend the Excellence Initiative from 2012 until the end of 2017. The
core principle in the second phase was to engender competition between new projects
and those already receiving funding.
The Federal and State Governments
backed their continuation of the programmewith a significant increase in funding of 1.9
billion euros, bringing the total to 2.7 billion
euros.
In contrast to the first phase, only one
round was held, which again was divided into a preliminary and a final round. The modalities remained essentially unchanged, except that more flexible funding amounts were
specified: Graduate Schools from one to 2.5
million euros annually, Clusters of Excellencefrom 3 and to 8 million euros (each including
a 20 per cent programme allowance). In theInstitutional Strategies, greater emphasis
was placed on elements of research-relatedteaching.

By 1 September 2010, a total of 227 draft
proposals had been received in the second phase of the competition for new projects from 64 universities: 98 for Graduate
Schools, 107 for Clusters of Excellence and22 for Institutional Strategies.
The 205 draft proposals for new Graduate Schools and Clusters of Excellence werereviewed under the supervision of the DFG,
firstly in 20 international peer review panels
and then in the DFG’s “Expert Commission”.
The 22 drafts for new Institutional Strategies
were reviewed individually and comparatively by the “Strategic Commission” appointed by the German Council of Science and­Humanities.
Following this procedure, on 2 March 2011
the Expert and Strategic Commissions met
as the “Joint Commission” and selected 59
draft proposals at 32 universities for the final
round, of which 25 drafts were for new Graduate Schools, 27 for new Clusters of Excellence and 7 for new Institutional Strategies.

In the final round, the 59 successful draft
proposals for new projects competed withthe projects that had been funded in the firstphase. Both groups of applicants had until 1
September 2011 to submit full funding proposals or extension proposals. These werethen reviewed by the spring of 2012, again
initially under the supervision of the DFG and
the German Council of Science and Humanities.
In June 2012, the final decisions were taken by the Commissions of the DFG and German Council of Science and Humanities, followed by the Joint Commission and finally by
the Grants Committee. On 15 June 2012, it
selected a total of 99 projects at 44 universities for funding: 45 Graduate Schools (33extensions, 12 new projects), 43 Clusters of
Excellence (31 extensions, 12 new projects)
and eleven Institutional Strategies (six extensions, five new strategies). They will receive
approximately 2.4 billion euros up to November 2017.

17

The Three Funding Lines
The Graduate Schools

The Clusters of Excellence

The Institutional Strategies

Graduate Schools aim to improve the promo-

Clusters of Excellence bundle research potential at university locations in Germany and,hence, increase their international visibility
and competitiveness. The core principle is toengage in scientific networking and collaboration in research fields of particular promisefor the future. In addition to various university
institutions, non-university research institutions and industrial partners are involved in
the Clusters across the board.
For the universities a Cluster of Excellence
constitutes an important component in theirstrategic planning and accelerates the process of setting thematic priorities.
In the second phase of the Excellence Initiative, a total of 43 Clusters of Excellence
have been granted funding for a period offive years, with each Cluster of Excellence
receiving between 4.2 and 10,8 million euros
per year, including a 20 per cent programmeallowance.

Institutional Strategies aim to strengthen auniversity as a whole, allowing it to compete
successfully with the leading players in theinternational science arena: an Institutional Strategy calls for a university to develop a
long-term strategy on how it can consistently
expand and enhance its top-level researchand improve the promotion of young scientists and researchers. This means identifying
existing strengths and setting priorities.
To qualify for the third funding line, universities had to develop an outstanding Institutional Strategy and already have at least
one Graduate School and one Cluster of Excellence.
In the second phase, eleven universities
will each receive between 9.6. and 13.4.
million euros per annum for a period of five
years, including a 20 per cent programmeallowance, to implement their Institutional
Strategies.

tion of young scientists and researchers andto raise the profile of research at the sametime. They offer an excellent research environment in which to train highly qualified doctoral students.
Each Graduate School is established in awide area of science, addresses innovative
questions, and is headed by leading academics. They are designed to provide the ideal
conditions for a doctorate, encourage doctoral students to identify with the location,and generally contribute to the developmentof internationally competitive science locations.
In the second phase of the Excellence Initiative, 45 Graduate Schools will each receive
funding of between 1.2 and 1.8. million euros per year for five years, including a 20 per
cent programme allowance.

18

Impact of the Excellence Initiative

Graduate Schools
Applicants – speakers
Co-applicants
Clusters of Excellence
Applicants – speakers
Co-applicantsInstitutional Strategies

Projects funded from 2012 to 2017 –the numbers in the boxes refer to the pages
on which the projects are presented.

19

Current Graduate Schools21Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

RWTH Aachen University

Aachen Institute for Advanced Study in Computational
Engineering Science (AICES)Interdisciplinary support teams

Coordinator

Professor Marek Behr Ph.D.
RWTH Aachen
Lehrstuhl für Computergestützte Analyse
Technischer Systeme
Schinkelstraße 252062 Aachen/Germany
Tel.: +49 241 80-99131
Fax: +49 241 80-628498

Computational engineering science plays a keyrole in developing methods for areas like process
and product design. The AICES Graduate Schoolbuilds on existing activities in this field at RWTH
Aachen University, such as the Centre for Computational Engineering Science. The Graduate School
focuses on the analysis and synthesis of technicalsystems. Research is divided into three areas: application and modelling, mathematical and numerical methods, as well as computational tools andinfrastructure.
Doctoral students work on the use of innovative
computational methods which embrace model development and identification, model interaction onvarious scales, as well as the optimal design, regulation and operation of complex technical processes. Fields of application include materials sciences,

E-Mail: office@aices.rwth-aachen.dewww.aices.rwth-aachen.de

22

process engineering, transport systems, electricalengineering, biomedical technology and engineering, as well as geosciences.
Partners:• RWTH Aachen University (applicant – speaker)• Forschungszentrum Jülich
• Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung,

Düsseldorf

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

University of Bamberg

Graduate School

Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences (BAGSS)
Promoting young talent in the Social Sciences
The Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences(BAGSS) is training a new generation of first-rate
researchers, preparing PhD candidates for the greatchallenges of modern knowledge-based societiesthat are now interconnected and difficult to control. Students explore complex connections basedon four pillars: The first pillar encompasses education, personal development and learning from earlychildhood to adulthood. The second pillar comprises education and social inequality across the entire
life course. The third pillar explores the impact of
the aforementioned developments as well as demographic trends on labour markets and corporations as they compete globally for market shares,

investments and human resources. The fourth pillar focuses on governance, institutional change
and political behaviour in internationalised knowledge-based societies.
In order to guarantee multidisciplinary support,
BAGSS gathers together Sociologists, Psychologists, Educationalists, Political Scientists and Economists as well as Demographers and Statisticians.
Intensive one-to-one coaching is coordinated witha structured learning programme that is customised in written agreements between supervisors
and PhD candidates.

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Thomas Saalfeld
Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg
Fakultät Sozial- undWirtschaftswissenschaften
Lehrstuhl für Vergleichende
Politikwissenschaft
Feldkirchenstraße 21
96052 Bamberg/Germany
Tel.: +49 951 863-2605
Fax: +49 951 863-2606
E-Mail: thomas.saalfeld@uni-bamberg.de
www.uni-bamberg.de/bagss

23

Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

University of Bayreuth

Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies
Stemming the brain drain in Africa

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Dymitr Ibriszimow
Universität Bayreuth
Lehrstuhl Afrikanistik II
95440 Bayreuth/Germany
Tel.: +49 921 55-3581
Fax: +49 921 55-3641
E-Mail: dymitr.ibriszimow@uni-bayreuth.dewww.bigsas.uni-bayreuth.de/en

The Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS) focuses on cooperation between African and non-African junior researchers.
One of the Graduate School’s goals is to promote
the growing number of alumni networks between
African universities and to strengthen cooperation
with European institutions. In so doing, BIGSAS
seeks to counteract Africa’s scientific brain drainand, in the long term, to create the preconditions
and structures for top-level doctoral training in Africa itself. Training at BIGSAS is concentrated inthree research areas:

Closely interlinked research and teaching, intensive
mentoring of doctoral students, as well as continual cross-faculty exchange on the Bayreuth Campus
create the foundations for excellent doctoral training in African Studies.

• Uncertainty, innovation and competing orders in• Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo/

Africa• Knowledge, communication and communities inmotionPartners:• University of Bayreuth (applicant – speaker)• University Mohammed V-Agdal, Rabat/Morocco• Moi University, Eldoret/Kenya• Université d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC), Cotonou/

Benin
Mozambique• University of KwaZulu-Natal/South Africa• Addis Ababa University/Ethiopia• Negotiating change: discourses, politics andpractices of development

24Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Freie Universität Berlin

Graduate School

Graduate School of North American Studies (GSNAS)
North America in transformation
The idea of freedom, a quintessential value ofAmerican society, has been driving social and cultural change since the nation was founded. In thecontext of progressing globalisation since the endof the Cold War and the “Triumph of Democracy”,
however, the vulnerability and limitations of democracy have begun to emerge. The United Statesfind their fate increasingly determined by forcesthat are beyond the control of one single state.
Social opportunities and economic stresses are
spread unequally. The economic ascent of China,
India and Brazil heralds a multipolar world in which
the United States wields only limited influence. Domestically, radical movements like the “Tea Party”
are polarising the population. New media have an
increasing impact on cultural production. The artsand the entertainment industry are in transformation, and, in addition, new forms of information andpolitical participation are evolving.

The objective of the Graduate School’s research
programme is to attain a well-grounded, interdisciplinary understanding of the crisis-laden transformation American society is undergoing in politics,
economic development, the media, the arts, culture
and religion. Research and curriculum at the Graduate School rest on six Social Studies and Humanities disciplines: Cultural Studies and Literature,
History, Political Science, Sociology and Economics. The teaching language is English.
Coordinator

Professor Dr. Ulla HaselsteinFreie Universität Berlin
John-F.-Kennedy-Institut für
Nordamerikastudien
Lansstraße 7–914195 Berlin/Germany
Tel.: +49 30 838-52868
Fax: +49 30 838-52891
E-Mail: office@gsnas.fu-berlin.dewww.gsnas.fu-berlin.de25Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Freie Universität Berlin

Graduate School of East Asian Studies (GEAS)
A focus on change

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Verena
Blechinger-Talcott
Freie Universität Berlin
Fachbereich Geschichts- undKulturwissenschaften
Ostasiatisches Seminar –Fachrichtung Japanologie
Hittorfstraße 1814195 Berlin/Germany
Tel.: +49 30 838-57104
Fax: +49 30 838-451906
E-Mail: vblechin@zedat.fu-berlin.dewww.geas.fu-berlin.de

East Asia is undergoing a profound political, social, economic and cultural transformation, whichis the focus of this Graduate School. Its course programme combines regional studies on China, Japanand Korea with other relevant disciplines in order toexpand knowledge on this increasingly influential
part of the world. In addition to extensive regional
expertise, PhD candidates also acquire substantial
methodological skills in History, Political Science,
Legal Studies and Economics as well as Ethnology
and Cultural Studies. An intensive study period in
East Asia is a vital component. The Graduate Schoolbuilds on already existing networks of FU with theregion’s key universities and research institutions,as well as major European and US i­nstitutions witha focus on East Asia. Dialogue is to be strengthened across continents and disciplines, elucidating
the transformation in East Asia.

26

Partners, amongst others:• Freie Universität Berlin (applicant – speaker)• Peking University/China• Chinese University of Hong Kong/China• Yonsei University, Seoul/South Korea• Seoul National University/South Korea• Tokyo University/Japan• Sophia University, Tokyo/Japan• Harvard University (Edwin O. Reischauer

Institute/Fairbank Center for East Asian
Research), Cambridge, MA/USA• Institute of East Asian Studies, University ofCalifornia, Berkeley/USA• Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia

University, New York/USA

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Freie Universität Berlin/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Graduate School

Berlin-Brandenburg School for Regenerative Therapies (BSRT)
Biologists and engineers collaborating for patients
Experts from biology, engineering, and the clinical sciences are working together on regenerative
therapies. They want to heal acute and chronic diseases by activating the body’s self-healing powers.
For this purpose, they use conventional implants
to develop novel combinations of cells, drugs andtechnical products. The projects conducted by junior researchers are indicative of a new type of scientist: engineers, chemists and physicists need tounderstand complex biological processes, whilst
biologists and biochemists have to comprehend
the technical components of therapy approaches.
Close cooperation with specialists from the clinicalsciences generates the understanding required tomeet the practical demands.

Partners, amongst others:• Freie Universität Berlin and HumboldtUniversität zu Berlin as sponsor universitiesof the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin(applicants – speakers)• Technische Universität Berlin• University of Potsdam• German Rheumatism Research Centre (DRFZ),
Berlin• Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering(IBMT)• Hasso-Plattner-Institut, School of Design
Thinking, Potsdam• Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Institute of
Biomaterial Science• Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB)• Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces,
Potsdam• Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics,
Berlin27

Coordinator

Professor Dr.-Ing. Georg Duda
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Campus Virchow-Klinikum
Julius Wolff Institut und Centrum für
Muskuloskeletale Chirurgie
Berlin-Brandenburg School for Regenerative
Therapies
Augustenburger Platz 1
13353 Berlin/Germany
Tel.: +49 30 450 559-048
Fax: +49 30 450 559-969
E-Mail: georg.duda@charite.dewww.bsrt.deGraduate School

Freie Universität Berlin/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies
Multifaceted Islam
The debate on Islam shapes the political sphereand influences social discourse. To meet the growing need for soundly-based knowledge in this area,
the Graduate School trains qualified specialists towork in academia, the media, politics, and international cooperation.

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Gudrun Krämer
Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures
and Societies
Freie Universität Berlin
Altensteinstraße 48
14195 Berlin/Germany

The Graduate School systematically and comparatively investigates the entire spectrum of what isreferred to both historically and currently as Islam.
Research emphasises in particular the inner diversity, historical changeability and global connectedness of Muslim cultures and societies as well as
relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. Interdisciplinary collaboration generates fascinatingchanges in perspective.

Tel.: +49 30 838-53417
Fax: +49 30 838-53244
E-Mail: office@bgsmcs.fu-berlin.dewww.bgsmcs.fu-berlin.de/en

28

Geographically, the Graduate School also covers
a broad spectrum, partly due to the international
composition of doctoral candidates, partly to thediversity of regions they study. In addition to theMiddle East, research focuses on sub-Saharan Africa, Central, South and Southeast Asia, as well as
the Muslim diaspora in Europe and North America.
Research projects investigate the role of Islam as aframe of reference for social, cultural and politicalphenomena in the past and the present.
Partners:• Freie Universität Berlin (applicant – speaker)• Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (co-applicant)• Zentrum Moderner Orient, BerlinFunding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Freie Universität Berlin/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Graduate SchoolFriedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies
Literature in the cultures of the world
The Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary
Studies supervises dissertations in the field of literary studies that address texts from the European,
American, Arabic and Asian cultural areas. Doctoral students combine, amongst other things, comparative text, media and cultural approaches withtheoretical questions and identify connections between literary texts and cultural processes. Fieldsof research include the relationship between literary texts, the interconnections between literarytexts and processes of linguistic reasoning, rhetoric and poetics, correlations between literatureand other aesthetic media, as well as the mutualinterdependence of literature and the discourseof knowledge. Through his work, the cultural philosopher, literary historian and translator Friedrich
Schlegel (1772–1829) laid the foundations for thedevelopment of theoretically demanding, methodologically innovative literary studies of the kind thathave been successfully conducted at Freie Universität Berlin for many years. Literary studies with aninternational focus that reflect comparative culturaland media issues are associated with the name ofFriedrich Schlegel.
Partners:• Freie Universität Berlin (applicant – speaker)• Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (co-applicant)Coordinator

Professor Dr. Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit
Freie Universität Berlin
Friedrich Schlegel Graduiertenschule
Habelschwerdter Allee 4514195 Berlin/Germany
Tel.: +49 30 838-52525
Fax: +49 30 838-52536
E-Mail: fsgs@fu-berlin.dewww.fsgs.fu-berlin.de/en29Graduate School

Freie Universität Berlin/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Berlin Graduate School of Integrative Oncology (BSIO)
Strategies to combat cancer

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Clemens A. Schmitt
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Campus Virchow-Klinikum
Molekulares Krebsforschungszentrum (MKFZ)
Augustenburger Platz 1
13353 Berlin/Germany
Tel.: +49 30 450 559-075
Fax: +49 30 450 559-975

Cancer is one of the major challenges facing Medicine and society: approximately 1.45 million people
in Germany currently suffer from cancer; each year,
about 450,000 new cases are diagnosed. Fighting
this disease is the focus of the Berlin Graduate
School of Integrative Oncology (BSIO). Its mission isto understand the individual molecular blueprint of
a tumour and develop customised therapy plans forpatients. Such “personalised cancer medicine” isone of the Graduate School’s core areas. Researchers from Haematology, Oncology, Genetics, Biochemistry, Surgery, Radiology, Computer Science
as well as Social Studies and Humanities collaborate closely to train tomorrow’s Molecular Oncologists and physicians. Intensive dialogue between
bio-scientific research and clinical application will
expedite the development of therapies. By thesame token, experimental lab research will receive
important input, driving it to give the highest priority to urgent problems of clinical cancer therapy.
Partners:• Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-

Universität zu Berlin as sponsor universitiesof the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin(applicants – speakers)• Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics,

Berlin• Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant

Physiology, Potsdam• Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine(MDC), Berlin• Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie(FMP), Berlin• Hertie School of Governance, Berlin

E-Mail: clemens.schmitt@charite.dewww.bsio-cancerschool.de

30

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Graduate School

Berlin School of Mind and Brain
Connecting mind and grey matter
Consciousness, perception, language and psychiatric diseases are the central research areas involved
in understanding the human mind. They can only be
explored by linking brain and mind research (mainly
Philosophy, Psychology, Linguistics and Neuroscience). Since 2006, the Berlin School of Mind andBrain has been preparing young scientists for thischallenging interdisciplinary work. During the second funding period, “Fundamentals of Social Thinking” will be added to the academic programme. By
integrating a new interdisciplinary Master’s anda post-doctoral programme, the Graduate School
makes a special contribution to promoting the scientific development of junior researchers at all career stages.

Partners, amongst others:• Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin(applicant – speaker)• Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin• Freie Universität Berlin• Technische Universität Berlin• Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg

Coordinators• University of Potsdam

Professor Dr. Arno Villringer
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin und
Max-Planck-Institut für Kognitions- und
Neurowissenschaften• Max Planck Institute for Human Development,

Berlin• Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive andBrain Science, Leipzig• Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine,

Berlin• Centre for General Linguistics (ZAS), Berlin

Professor Dr. Michael Pauen
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Institut für Philosophie
Berlin School of Mind and Brain
Luisenstraße 56
10117 Berlin/Germany
Tel.: +49 30 2093-1707
Fax: +49 30 2093-1802
E-Mail: mb-info@hu-berlin.dewww.mind-and-brain.de31Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

School of Analytical Sciences Adlershof (SALSA)
Get Moving with SALSA

Coordinators

Professor Dr. Janina Kneipp
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Professor Dr. Ulrich Panne
Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und-prüfung (BAM) und Humboldt-Universität zu
BerlinIRIS-Gebäude
Zum Großen Windkanal 6, Raum 005
12489 Berlin/Germany
Tel.: +49 30 2093-66362
E-Mail: salsa@hu-berlin.dewww.salsa.hu-berlin.de

How much chemical softener is there in plastic
toys? Does a food item really contain the ingredients listed on the label? And how much fine dustis there in the air? Analytical Chemistry provides
answers to these questions. Beyond solving many
scientific and technical problems of everyday life,
it is also behind innovations in fields such as Nanotechnology or Material Sciences. SALSA embraces the interdisciplinary nature and complexityof today’s analytical problems. Its multidisciplinary
research areas can be captured in three central thematic pairs: “Limits and Scales”, “Sensitivity and
Selectivity”, and “Make and Measure”. PhD candidates primarily learn by studying concrete problems and cases so they can contribute to modern
knowledge acquisition beyond traditional patternsof teaching and learning. SALSA is part of Berlin’s “Analytic City Adlershof”, which bundles the32

non-university, university and business expertise of
the Adlershof location in all things related to Analytical Chemistry.
Partners:• Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin(applicant – speaker)• Technische Universität Berlin• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich/

Switzerland• Federal Institute for Materials Research andTesting (BAM), Berlin• Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB)• Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces(MPIKG), Potsdam

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Technische Universität Berlin/
Freie Universität Berlin/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Graduate School

Berlin Mathematical School (BMS)International Mathematics in Berlin
The Berlin Mathematical School (BMS) is a joint
graduate school of the three major Berlin universities. Doctoral candidates at the BMS are fully integrated into Berlin’s active mathematical research
environment. For instance, they might do their thesis research at the mathematics institutes WIASor ZIB, at Matheon or the new Einstein Center for
Mathematics Berlin (ECMath), at one of three DFG
Research Training Groups, or at a Collaborative Research Centre such as the new CRC/TR “Discretization in Geometry and Dynamics”.
Its student body of almost 200, hailing from morethan 40 countries, proves that BMS’s structured
two-phase graduate programme can compete internationally for the best young mathematicians.

Students with a Bachelor’s degree are admitted
to Phase I (three to four semesters, emphasizing
course work) which prepares them for the qualifying exam.
Phase II involves four to six semesters of dissertation research. More than 80 professors as well
as 25 post-docs offer a broad spectrum of basic
and advanced graduate courses, held in English.
The course programme is complemented by a regular colloquium series, summer schools, soft-skills
training, conference travel support, and a strong
mentoring programme.
Partners:• Technische Universität Berlin(applicant – speaker)• Freie Universität Berlin (co-applicant)• Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (co-applicant)33

Coordinator

Professor John M. Sullivan, Ph.D.
Technische Universität Berlin
Straße des 17. Juni 136
10623 Berlin/Germany
Tel.: +49 30 314-78610/-78611
Fax: +49 30 314-78647
E-Mail: office@math-berlin.dewww.math-berlin.deGraduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Bielefeld University

Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology (BGHS)
Two faculties – one doctoral programme

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Thomas Welskopp
Universität Bielefeld
Bielefeld Graduate School in History andSociology (BGHS)
Universitätsstraße 25
33615 Bielefeld/Germany

Approximately 200 doctoral candidates study andconduct research together under one roof at the
Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology(BGHS). It is an institution run jointly by the Faculty of History, Philosophy and Theology and theFaculty of Sociology, which both have an excellent reputation at home and abroad. The Graduate
School’s unique hallmark is its interdisciplinary cooperation between Social Studies, History, Political
Science and Social Anthropology. BGHS considers
itself an international community of learners thatenables doctoral researchers to reflect not only on
their own topic, but on their academic disciplines,

Tel.: +49 521 106-3224
Fax: +49 521 106-2966
E-Mail: bghs@uni-bielefeld.de
www.uni-bielefeld.de/(en)/bghs

34

and engage in dialogue beyond the confines of theirsubject areas. Inequality, social change and global social developments are some of the main research fields. BGHS offers a bilingual programmeof studies as well as individual mentoring and financial assistance to support its young scholars intheir research.

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Graduate School

Ruhr University Research School (RUB-RS)
Going international with Research Schoolplus
At Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), all doctoral candidates and their supervisors are members of the
Ruhr University Research School (RUB-RS). Operated jointly by all faculties, the school advances doctorates and offers specialist as well as trans-disciplinary learning opportunities. In future, thisstrategy will include the project RSplus, which allows
doctoral candidates to take advantage of the international dimension of research stays, field studies, conference attendance, visits and symposia.
The project encourages new ideas and innovative
formats, provided that they serve the objective of
excellent, internationally-minded research of added value to both the individual doctoral work andRUB. RSplus makes doctoral candidates full stakeholders in the competition for research funding aswell as in review, decision-making and evaluation

processes. Doctoral candidates are invited to work
as expert evaluators for RSplus so that they can learn
and participate in peer review on interdisciplinary
selection committees in tandem with experienced
academics. RSplus thus enhances professionalism
in academia by creating an authentic environmentthat integrates the international components of individual dissertations and expressly enhances the
skills profile of RUB’s doctoral candidates.

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Roland Fischer
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Universitätsstraße 150
FNO 01/143
44801 Bochum/Germany
Tel.: +49 234 32-24840
Fax: +49 234 32-14912
E-Mail: Roland.Fischer@rub.dewww.research-school.rub.de35

Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

University of Bremen/Jacobs University Bremen

Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences
Changing patterns of social and political integration

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Steffen Mau
Universität Bremen
Bremen International Graduate School ofSocial Sciences (BIGSSS)
PO Box 330440
28334 Bremen/Germany
Tel.: +49 421 218-66420
Fax: +49 421 218-66353
E-Mail: smau@bigsss.uni-bremen.dewww.bigsss-bremen.de

BIGSSS conducts dissertation projects in three coreareas under the umbrella theme of “Changing Patterns of Social and Political Integration”: “Global
Governance and Regional Integration”, “WelfareState, Inequality and Quality of Life” and “Changing Lives in Changing Socio-Cultural Contexts”. The
core disciplines are Political Science, Social Studies and Psychology. Neighbouring disciplines such
as Law, Behavioural Health Economics, Economics,
History and Cultural Studies are also represented.
The school’s very own Methods Center for Social
Studies complements the core content areas.
The school encourages early academic independence and high scientific quality with its structured
curriculum in combination with intensive individual mentoring by a doctoral committee and the“in-house faculty”. Of the school’s more than 70
alumni (documented since 2002 with the GSSS at
the University of Bremen), nearly 70 per cent have36

embarked on successful academic careers. The
remaining graduates are pursuing other attractive occupations in the public or private sector orwith NGOs. BIGSSS is also very international: Of
the doctoral candidates who have been accepted since 2008, 45 per cent have an international background; in 2012, there were 31 applicants
per doctoral scholarship, hailing from a total of 90
countries.
Partners:• University of Bremen (applicant – speaker)• Jacobs University Bremen (co-applicant)Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Technische Universität Darmstadt

Graduate School

Graduate School of Computational Engineering
Computer simulation as a model of the future
To develop new technical solutions scientists are
increasingly using computational modelling, analysis, simulation and optimisation. This method effectively complements experimental studies which
are a great deal more expensive. When it comes toeconomically and socially relevant issues like theefficiency of power supply systems, the potentialof future mobile communications, or the continuing
development of medical equipment, computational
engineering is seen as the model of the future.

Partners:• Technische Universität Darmstadt (applicant –speaker)• Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics

Research, Darmstadt• Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and

System Reliability, Darmstadt

Coordinator

Training at the Graduate School focuses on an interdisciplinary environment based on the interaction between computer science, mathematics andengineering science. The research programme also
includes cross-sectional areas, such as high-performance computing and simulated reality.

Professor Dr. Michael Schäfer
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Fachgebiet Numerische
Berechnungsverfahren im Maschinenbau
Dolivostraße 1564293 Darmstadt/Germany
Tel.: +49 6151 16-2877
Fax: +49 6151 16-4459
E-Mail: schaefer@fnb.tu-darmstadt.de
www.graduate-school-ce.de37

Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Technische Universität Darmstadt

Darmstadt Graduate School of Excellence Energy Scienceand Engineering (ESE)Tomorrow’s energy supply

Graduate SchoolPetersenstraße 32
64287 Darmstadt/Germany
www.ese.tu-darmstadt.de
Coordinators

Professor Dr.-Ing. Johannes Janicka
Fachbereich Maschinenbau
Fachgebiet Energie- und Kraftwerkstechnik
Tel.: +49 6151 16-2157
E-Mail: janicka@ekt.tu-darmstadt.deProfessor Dr. Wolfram Jaegermann
Fachbereich Material- undGeowissenschaften
Fachgebiet OberflächenforschungSustainable energy supply is one of the top global issues of the future. Top-notch technologies areneeded – and thus energy engineers whose interdisciplinary expertise allows them to identify andmaster scientific, technological, economic and social challenges. PhD candidates at the Darmstadt
Graduate School of Excellence Energy Science andEngineering (ESE) work in multi-disciplinary dissertation project teams. They create a scientificfoundation for a continuous transition from today’s
dominantly fossil-based, non-renewable energy
sources to the energy supplies of the future, whichmeans renewable and environmentally-friendly energy resources. In addition to improved conventional energy technologies, we also need progressive
technologies for renewable energies that are competitive and safe. ESE offers four trans-disciplinary

Tel.: +49 6151 16-6304
E-Mail: jaegerw@surface.tu-darmstadt.de38

main research areas: Solar Fuels, Building Integration and Energy-self-sustaining Urban Settlements,
Smart Energy Networks as well as Flexible Energy
Converters with low CO2 emissions.
Partners:• Technische Universität Darmstadt(applicant – speaker)• GSI Helmholtzzentrum für

Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt• Fraunhofer-Institute for Structural Durability and

System Reliability LBF, Darmstadt

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Technische Universität Dresden

Graduate School

Dresden International Graduate School for Biomedicine
and Bioengineering (DIGS-BB)
Interdisciplinary and interactive
The international Graduate School DIGS-BB offers challenging English-language doctoral programmes in three areas, as well as access to theunique research infrastructure at TU Dresden andits non-university partner institutions. Doctoralcandidates research the complex molecular andcellular processes behind the development of tissues and organisms in the fields of Cell, Developmental and Systems Biology. In the programme“Regenerative Medicine”, research groups study
stem cells, analyse cellular processes in tissue regeneration, develop novel therapies in close collaboration with clinical experts, and more. Researchgroups in the field of Bioengineering and Biophysics
apply state-of-the-art biophysical and biochemical
methods to analyse individual molecules, explore
molecular motors, or describe the physical forcesat work in tissue development. Twice a year, theschool holds selection rounds to recruit excellent

young international scientists from the Life, Natural and Computer Sciences as well as Engineeringand Medicine.
Partners:• Technische Universität Dresden (applicant –speaker)• Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology

and Genetics (MPI-CBG), Dresden• Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex

Systems, Dresden• Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf• Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Gerhard Rödel
Technische Universität Dresden
Institut für Genetik
Zellescher Weg 20 b
01217 Dresden/Germany
Tel.: +49 351 463-36210
Fax: +49 351 463-37725
E-Mail: digs-bb@tu-dresden.dewww.digs-bb.de39

Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies
Optics shows the way

Coordinator

Professor Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Alfred Leipertz
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität
Erlangen-Nürnberg
Lehrstuhl für Technische Thermodynamik
Am Weichselgarten 891058 Erlangen/Germany
Tel.: +49 9131 85-29900
Fax: +49 9131 85-29901

From global positioning systems and internet via lasers and fibre optics to lithography for applications
in chip manufacturing and eye surgery – opticaltechnologies are of great benefit practically everywhere. In this respect, the border areas between
physics, engineering and medicine are starting toplay an ever more important role. Researchers fromthe fields of physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering often use similar methods, but they rarely cooperate and thus fail to achieve the desiredinterdisciplinary technology transfer. An enhanced
academic training programme aims to change this.
Along with the new Elite Master’s programme in
Advanced Optical Technologies, the Graduate
School is the second step on the path to creatinga leading international centre for academic training
in optical technologies.

E-Mail: sek@ltt.uni-erlangen.dewww.aot.uni-erlangen.de40

Partners:• Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-

Nürnberg (applicant – speaker)• Universitätsklinikum Erlangen• Bayerisches Laserzentrum, Erlangen• Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems andDevice Technology, Erlangen• Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light(MPL), ErlangenFunding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

University of Freiburg

Graduate School

Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine
Incubator for excellent young researchers
Interdisciplinary training at the Speman Graduate
School ranges from basic research to clinical application and pharmaceutical product development.
Students of Biology, Medicine, Molecular Medicine
and Chemistry work in the following core researchareas: Protein Structure and Function, Synthetic Biology and Signalling, Developmental Biology,
Neurosciences, Immunology and Virology, Molecular Medicine and Plant Sciences. Supplemental
interdisciplinary courses connect the programme.
The Graduate School was established as close
cooperation between the Freiburg research training groups, the International Max Planck Research
School, four Collaborative Research Centres of theGerman Research Foundation, as well as the Bernstein Center Freiburg. These research groups andcentres are led by internationally renowned scientists who are members of the Graduate School. In

addition, several of the school’s Principal Investigators are also involved in the Clusters of Excellence
BIOSS (Centre for Biological Signalling Studies) andBrainLinks-BrainTools. According to the German Research Foundation’s 2012 “Funding Atlas”, Biology
in Freiburg ranks second nationwide.
Partners:• University of Freiburg (applicant – speaker)• Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology andEpigenetics, Freiburg

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Christoph Borner
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität
Freiburg im Breisgau
Institut für Molekulare Medizin und
ZellforschungStefan-Meier-Straße 17
79104 Freiburg/Germany
Tel.: +49 761 203-9618
Fax: +49 761 203-9620
E-Mail: sgbm-info@sgbm.uni-freiburg.de
www.sgbm.uni-freiburg.de

41

Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Justus Liebig University GiessenInternational Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture
Multifaceted study of culture
The study of culture did not acquire its diverse social and socio-political relevance overnight. However, in the last 25 years, research in the study ofculture has made rapid advances. In North America,
Europe, and beyond numerous new theories, methods and models have been developed which havemade the entire field of everyday culture into an object of study. To a much greater extent than everbefore, social structures and human action are also
now understood and analysed as an expression ofculture.
Coordinator

Professor Dr. Ansgar Nünning
Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Institut für Anglistik
Otto-Behaghel-Straße 10 B
35394 Gießen/Germany

Against this backdrop, the researchers at the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture(GCSC) continue to develop new methods and approaches as well as transfer strategies between

Tel.: +49 641 99-30041
Fax: +49 641 99-30049
E-Mail: info@gcsc.uni-giessen.de
gcsc.uni-giessen.de42

various disciplines and science cultures. The thematic arch spans eight research areas:• Cultural Memory Studies• Cultural Narratologies• Cultural Transformation and Performativity

Studies• Visual and Material Culture Studies• Media and Multiliteracy Studies• Cultural Identities• Global Studies and Politics of Space• Cultures of Knowledge, Research, and Education

The GCSC builds on the Giessen Graduate Centre
for the Humanities (GGK) that was founded in 2001
and has been developed into a graduate schoolwith an international profile over the last few years.

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

University of Göttingen

Graduate School

Göttingen Graduate School for Neurosciences, Biophysics,
and Molecular Biosciences (GGNB)
Ideal conditions for doctoral students
The neurosciences, biophysics, and molecular biosciences can look back on a long tradition of excellent research in Göttingen. In this context, theGraduate School provides doctoral students with
ideal conditions for research and study, offering a
range of intensive mentoring and seminars to foster a new generation of excellent scientists. GGNB
pools the competencies of four life science and natural science faculties at the University of Göttingen as well as four non-university research institutions. Under one roof, they offer 12 international
doctoral programmes, some of which have alreadyreceived multiple prizes, amalgamating a variety ofsubjects from the neurosciences and biosciences,medicine, biophysics, and other related subject areas in one interdisciplinary doctoral training programme. Besides the supervision of dissertations,this support includes lectures and seminars, method courses, modules in which key qualifications

can be acquired, as well as other activities, suchas conferences organised by the doctoral students
themselves.
Partners:• University of Göttingen (applicant – speaker)• Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry,

Göttingen• Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-

Organisation, Göttingen• Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine,

Göttingen• German Primate Centre, Göttingen

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Reinhard Jahn
Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische
Chemie (Karl-Friedrich-Bonhoeffer-Institut)
Abteilung Neurobiologie
Am Faßberg 1137077 Göttingen/Germany
Tel.: +49 551 201-1634
Fax: +49 551 201-1639
E-Mail: rjahn@gwdg.de
www.ggnb.uni-goettingen.de43Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Heidelberg University

Heidelberg Graduate School of Fundamental Physics
A new generation of physicists
The Graduate School focuses on fundamental questions in astrophysics, cosmology, particle physics,
complex quantum physics, complex classical systems, mathematical and environmental physics.
Working within and at the boundaries between
these subjects, researchers hope to be able to answer many as yet unresolved questions. The goal
is to train a new generation of physicists with aninterdisciplinary eye.
Coordinator

Professor Dr. Rüdiger Klingeler
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Kirchhoff-Institut für Physik
Im Neuenheimer Feld 227
69120 Heidelberg/Germany
Tel.: +49 6221 549-199
Fax: +49 6221 549-869
E-Mail: ruediger.klingeler@kip.uniheidelberg.de
www.fundamental-physics.uni-hd.de

Each doctoral student has a team of three mentors
to ensure that he or she is able to complete the doctorate within three years. The modular structure of
the programme, which also includes soft skills, canbe tailored to the needs of the individual student.
Doctoral students are actively involved in the learning process and the organisation of the school itself.
Exchange programmes with ­globally recognised institutions promote international networking.

44

Partners:• Heidelberg University (applicant – speaker)• Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg• Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics,

Heidelberg• Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies(HITS)• GSI Helmholtzzentrum für

Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Heidelberg University

Graduate School

The Hartmut Hoffmann-Berling International Graduate School ofMolecular and Cellular Biology Heidelberg (HBIGS)
Fit for leadership
Molecular biology and cell biology research provides the foundations for numerous areas of thelife and biosciences: from structural biology to bioinformatics and from molecular medicine to immunobiology. The Graduate School is devoted tothe investigation of biological processes and theopportunities opened up by innovative medical andbiotechnological applications. In so doing, it concentrates on four core areas: molecular biology of
the cell, cell cycle regulation and development, biology of pathogenic organisms and their interaction
with the host, and molecular biotechnology. Besides the Faculties of Bioscience and Medicine, scientists from Chemistry and Mathematics have also
been integrated into the research programme. The
Graduate School has set itself the goal of preparing
young scientists for leading roles in the industrial
as well as the academic arenas.

Partners:• Heidelberg University (applicant – speaker)• European Molecular Biology Laboratory,

Heidelberg• German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg• Max Planck Institute for Medical Research,

Heidelberg
Coordinators

Professor Dr. Michael Lanzer
Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg
Hygiene-Institut
Professor Dr. Elmar Schiebel
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Zentrum für Molekulare Biologie Heidelberg(ZMBH)Im Neuenheimer Feld 282
69120 Heidelberg/Germany
Tel.: +49 6221 546-814
Fax: +49 6221 546-824
E-Mail: contact@hbigs.uni-heidelberg.de
www.hbigs-heidelberg.de

45

Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Heidelberg University

Heidelberg Graduate School of Mathematical andComputational Methods for the Sciences
The third pillar of science

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Peter Bastian
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Interdisziplinäres Zentrum fürWissenschaftliches Rechnen (IWR)Im Neuenheimer Feld 368
69120 Heidelberg/Germany
Tel.: +49 6221 54-4944
Fax: +49 6221 54-5444

How can we improve our understanding of the dynamics of cancer? What semantic connections are
there between illustrations in mediaeval manuscripts? Which new materials are ideal for storingenergy? The Graduate School is driving scientificcomputing as an approach to solving problems likethese. With its core areas of mathematical modelling, simulation, optimisation and visualisation, today, scientific computing is seen as the third path toscientific knowledge, complementing experimentation and theory.
Doctoral students learn how to develop even more
efficient scientific computing methods and to apply
this methodology to new scientific fields. The Graduate School is part of the Interdisciplinary Centre
for Scientific Computing at Heidelberg University
which has years of experience in interdisciplinary,

E-Mail: Peter.Bastian@iwr.uni-heidelberg.de
www.mathcomp.uni-heidelberg.de

46

structured doctoral programmes. It is globally networked with leading institutions in the field of applied mathematics as well as with industrial research facilities.
Partners:• Heidelberg University (applicant – speaker)• Centre for Modelling and Simulation in the

Biosciences, Heidelberg• German Cancer Research Centre, Heidelberg• Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies(HITS)

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017Friedrich Schiller University Jena

Graduate School

Jena School for Microbial Communication (JSMC)
Elucidating complex interactions
Microorganisms interact with other microorganisms, plants, animals, humans and environmental
processes by way of chemical signals. In order todecode this “communication” in all its facets, scientists must collaborate across the boundaries of
their disciplines. The Graduate School JSMC offers
excellent conditions for research and provides thenecessary network. Doctoral candidates and postdocs receive trans-disciplinary training as well as
individual coaching, both for careers in academia
and in industry. The school’s research fields lendthemselves to many biotechnological applications,for instance in medicine and environmental protection. Therefore, twelve industrial partners are actively involved in the Graduate School. JSMC is
also the central hub for numerous innovative largescale projects and an umbrella for research in “Microbial Communication”.

Partners:• Friedrich Schiller University Jena(applicant – speaker)• Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Researchand Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute(HKI), Jena
• Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology,

Jena• Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry,

Jena• The Institute of Photonic Technology, Jena
• Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics andPrecision Engineering, Jena
• Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research –UFZ, Leipzig

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Axel Brakhage
Jena School for Microbial Communication
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Jenergasse 807743 Jena/Germany
Tel.: +49 3641 9-30420
Fax: +49 3641 9-30422
E-Mail: JSMC@uni-jena.de
www.jsmc.uni-jena.de

47

Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Karlsruhe School of Optics & Photonics (KSOP)
Exploring the visible

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Ulrich Lemmer
Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
Lichttechnisches Institut (LTI)
Engesserstraße 13
76131 Karlsruhe/Germany

Companies generate an annual turnover of morethan 100 billion euros with lasers, innovative luminescent and fluorescent materials, optical components and devices, as well as high-resolution microscopes. German companies are world leadersin this market. In addition, Optics and Photonics
generate ideas for Physics, Chemistry, Biology, andElectrical and Mechanical Engineering. In university education, however, Optics and Photonics are
frequently assigned to other disciplines; as independent subjects they hardly play any role in Germany at present. The Karlsruhe Graduate School
wants to change this.

Doctoral students work on photonic materials
and components as well as biomedical photonics.
Moreover the research areas include advanced
spectroscopy, optical systems and solar energy.
Doctoral students are also introduced to management methods to help prepare them for careers inscience and industry.
Partners:• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology(applicant – speaker)• FZI – Research Centre for Information

Technology, Karlsruhe• ZSW – Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen

Research, Stuttgart

Tel.: +49 721 608-42530
Fax: +49 721 608-42590
E-Mail: uli.lemmer@kit.edu
www.ksop.de48

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Graduate School

Karlsruhe School of Elementary Particle and Astroparticle Physics:
Science and Technology (KSETA)
Research in international projects
A unique feature of the Graduate School KSETA isthe fact that physicists and engineers cooperate on
research and research training in large-scale projects of Elementary Particle and Astroparticle Physics. Using theoretical and experimental research,
the School pursues a trans-disciplinary approach,which optimally prepares young scientists for career paths in science and business. They participate in international and interdisciplinary projects,
for instance at the CMS detector at CERN’s “Large
Hadron Collider” in Geneva, at the Pierre Auger
Cosmic Ray Observatory in Argentina, and on the
Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino Experiment KATRIN.
Physicists and Computer Scientists develop solutions, ranging from data management in the World
Wide Grid to computer-algebraic calculations in

Theoretical Physics. The Graduate School also embraces the Collaborative Research Centre CRT/TR9,“Computational Particle Physics”, the Helmholtz Alliances “Physics at the Terascale” and “Astroparticle Physics”, the International School for Astroparticle Physics (ISAPP), and the Marie-Curie Initial
Training Network LHCPhenonet.
Partners, amongst others:• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology(applicant – speaker)• CERN, Geneva/Switzerland

Coordinator• KEK, High Energy Accelerator Research

Professor Dr. Johannes Blümer
Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
Institut für Experimentelle Kernphysik
Wolfgang-Gaede-Straße 176131 Karlsruhe/Germany

Organization, Tsukuba/Japan• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory/USA

Tel.: +49 721 608-23545
Fax: +49 721 608-23548
E-Mail: johannes.bluemer@kit.edu
www.kseta.kit.edu

49Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Kiel University

Graduate School “Human Development in Landscapes”
Humans and the environment

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Johannes Müller
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte
Johanna-Mestorf-Straße 224118 Kiel/Germany
Tel.: +49 431 880-3391
Fax: +49 431 880-7300

The surroundings in which people live shape theway they think, act and live together. Uncovering
the impact of interaction between humans and theenvironment over thousands of years is the goalthat the Graduate School has set itself. The concept is situated between cultural studies and natural sciences, and incorporates molecular biology
and archaeology as well as geoinformatics and art
history, geophysics and isotope research, archaeology and palaeoenvironmental research. Professorships in environmental archaeology, archeaozoology and isotope research as well as aDNA analysis
and modelling past societies – some of which are
new research fields in Germany – complement theportfolio of subjects taught at the Graduate School,
which is still the foundation of the new Johanna
Mestorf Academy.

E-Mail: johannes.mueller@ufg.uni-kiel.de
www.uni-kiel.de/landscapes

50

Doctoral students address three core topics: “Social Space and Landscape”, “Society and Reflection”, and “Mobility, Innovation and Transformation”. The focus is on the Baltic region, althoughsome of the topics extend beyond Central Europe
as far as Africa.
Partners:• Kiel University (applicant – speaker)• Archaeological State Museum Schleswig-

Hostein – Schloss Gottorf• Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics

Education, Kiel
• German Archaeological Institute, BerlinFunding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

University of Cologne

Graduate School

a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne (AGSHC)
An integrated Graduate School for international graduate training
The a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities
Cologne (AGSHC) at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Cologne adopts a broader
concept of the Humanities that goes beyond the dichotomy between Cultural Studies and traditional
Humanities (i.e. Geisteswissenschaften). This model is based on the core research areas and fields of
excellence of what is one of Europe’s largest Faculties of Arts and Humanities. A special emphasis
is placed on hermeneutical and historico-contextual models, including the genesis and invention ofknowledge as well as processes of reception andtransculturation under prevailing anthropologicaland ethical conditions. As an integrated Graduate School, AGSHC is in charge of all doctoral dissertations at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities,
pooling expert resources, core research areas andfields of excellence with regard to interdisciplinary

questions. Additionally, it offers a Research Master’s programme and a Research Lab for scholars
in the post-doctoral phase. With AGSHC, the Faculty of Arts and Humanities is positioning itself as
a “Graduate Faculty”, competing with the mosteminent Graduate Schools and attracting doctoralcandidates from around the world. This also makes
AGSHC a platform for the internationalisation of
graduate training with a varied palette of collaborations and support programmes for national andinternational exchange.

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Andreas Speer
Philosophische Fakultät der Universität
zu Kölna.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the
Humanities Cologne
Albertus-Magnus-Platz
50923 Köln/Germany
Tel.: +49 221 470-2309
Fax: +49 221 470-5011
E-Mail: andreas.speer@uni-koeln.de
www.artes.uni-koeln.de

51GraduiertenschuleFunding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

University of Cologne/University of Bonn

Bonn-Cologne Graduate School of Physics and Astronomy (BCGS)
Of lasers and black holes
The Graduate School builds on the strengths of thephysics departments at the universities of Bonn and
Cologne, which complement each other excellently in terms of content, supported by a Max Planck
Institute and a Helmholtz Centre. Accordingly, therange of subjects is very broad, extending fromparticle and nuclear physics via astrophysics tothe physics of condensed matter, statistical physics and photonics. Based upon the Anglo-Americansystem, graduates holding a Bachelor’s degree areable to complete a doctorate in five years.
Coordinator

Professor Dr. Martin Zirnbauer
Universität zu Köln
Institut für Theoretische Physik
Zülpicher Straße 77
50937 Köln/Germany
Tel.: +49 221 470-4302
Fax: +49 227 470-2189

The Graduate School has been conceived as a prototype for the future training of graduates at thetwo universities. Special features of this approach
include coherent coordination of teaching content
and timetabling, allowing students to benefit from

E-Mail: zirnbauer@uni-koeln.de
www.gradschool.physics.uni-koeln.de52

the courses and services offered by both universities, and joint mentoring. The outstanding experimental and theoretical facilities directly available
in the two departments provide the basis for research-driven training.
Partners:• University of Cologne (applicant – speaker)• University of Bonn (co-applicant)• Forschungszentrum Jülich
• Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

University of Konstanz

Graduate School

Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology
The Chemistry of LifeThe Konstanz Research School Chemical ­Biology(KoRS-CB) prepares the next generation ofscientists to face one of the greatest challengesof the future: to explain the process of life inchemical terms. This will only be possible if
various disciplines collaborate and overcome
the traditional boundaries between the Natural
Science disciplines.
Doctoral researchers at KoRS-CB acquire the ability
to understand complex biological processes on themolecular level and approach them experimentally.
They are supported by a thesis committee consisting of three members. Annual reports, interdisciplinary lectures, and a course programme that offers
scientific courses as well as transferable skills flankthe doctoral research. A strong network of national

and international collaborative partners from academia and industry facilitates scientific exchange
and professional networking.
KoRS-CB is an initiative of the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, and Computer and Information
Science.
So far, KoRS-CB has registered more than 130 interdisciplinary research projects. The graduate school
itself can award up to ten fellowships annually.
Calls are advertised twice per year in June and in
December.

Coordinators

Professor Dr. Andreas MarxProfessor Dr. Martin Scheffner
Universität Konstanz
Graduiertenschule Chemische Biologie
Universitätsstraße 1078464 Konstanz/Germany
Tel.: +49 7531 88-5139
Fax: +49 7531 88-5270
E-Mail: chembiol@uni-konstanz.de
www.chembiol.uni-konstanz.de

53

Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

University of Konstanz

Graduate School of Decision Sciences
Decision-Making – the Cornerstone of the Social Sciences
The Graduate School of Decision Sciences pools
the perspectives of the social science disciplines
into one elementary issue: How are decisions
made, how does decision-making influence humaninteraction and how does it shape collective processes in our society? The mission is to gain a comprehensive insight into human decision-making behaviour and its economic and political implications.

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Leo Kaas
Universität Konstanz
Graduiertenschule fürEntscheidungswissenschaften
Universitätsstraße 1078464 Konstanz/Germany
Tel.: +49 7531 88-3761
Fax: +49 7531 88-5193
E-Mail: gsds.office@uni-konstanz.de
www.gsds.uni-konstanz.de

Economics, political science and psychology are at
the heart of the Graduate School and are complemented by computer science, sociology and statistics. Each of these disciplines has its own viewon human decision-making behaviour. In the Graduate School of Decision Sciences, these different
perspectives are brought together to focus on four
central research themes:• Behavioural Decision Making• Intertemporal Choice and Markets

54• Political Decisions and Institutions• Information Processing and Statistical Analysis

In an open and communicative scientific environment, the Graduate School offers an ideal teaching
and research setting for doctoral candidates who
work on decision-making issues and their application to important social science problems.

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz/
University of Kaiserslautern

Graduate School

Materials Science in Mainz (MAINZ)
Multifunctional materials
The Graduate School “Materials Science in Mainz”(MAINZ) is dedicated to graduate training in thefield of Materials Science. Its innovative programme offers doctoral candidates excellent academic and hands-on training and promotes complementary core competencies as well as Materials
Science at the highest level. MAINZ unites research fields that were previously disjunctive, from
simple Model Systems and Correlated Matter via
Functional Polymers and Hybrid Structures to Biologically-Inspired Systems.
Building on its work during the first funding period,
which was geared towards basic research, MAINZ
will focus more on applying its know-how to thetargeted production of functional materials during
the second funding period. This shift towards practical application will be achieved by MAINZ withthe support of intensive industrial partnerships,
and by running specially designed courses. In thesecond funding period, MAINZ is thus building on
its successful strategy for connecting research areas that have traditionally been separate, hence creating an inspiring atmosphere that boosts creativity
and innovation for ground-breaking insights in thefield of ­Materials Science.
Partners:• Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz(applicant – speaker)• University of Kaiserslautern (co-applicant)• Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research,

Mainz

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Mathias Kläui
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Institut für Physik
Staudingerweg 755128 Mainz/Germany
Tel.: +49 6131 39-26984
Fax: +49 6131 39-26983
E-Mail: mainz@uni-mainz.de
www.mainz.uni-mainz.de

55

Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

University of Mannheim

Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences: Empirical andQuantitative Methods (GESS)
Three centres under one roof

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Klaus Adam
Universität Mannheim
Lehrstuhl für Volkswirtschaftslehre,Internationale Wirtschaftsbeziehungen68131 Mannheim/Germany

The Graduate School of Economic and Social
Sciences at the University of Mannheim provides
structured doctoral programmes in empirical andquantitative methods as well as their interdisciplinary application to Economics and the Social
Sciences. It has a strong focus on teaching according to best international practice and on excellence in research. GESS integrates the disciplines
involved into a coherent curriculum and comprises
three centres: the Center for Doctoral Studies in
Business (CDSB), the Center for Doctoral Studies
in Economics (CDSE) and the Center for Doctoral
Studies in Social and Behavioral Sciences (CDSS).
Teaching emphasises the central methodologicaland quantitative-empirical foundations that are ofuse to all the disciplines, as well as topic areas

Tel.: +49 621 181-2034
Fax: +49 621 181-2042

that address multiple branches of modern Economics and Social Sciences. This concept is unique to
GESS, making it one of the few graduate schools
worldwide that fosters exchange of methods andresearch approaches across the boundaries of
the individual disciplines in Economics and Social
Studies.
Partners:• University of Mannheim (applicant – speaker)• Mannheim Centre for European Social Research(MZES)• GESIS – Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences• Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW),

Mannheim• Central Institute of Mental Health (ZI),

Mannheim

E-Mail: gess@uni-mannheim.de
gess.uni-mannheim.de/GESS56

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Graduate School

Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences
In the depths of the brain
How does the brain work? Neuroscientists at theGraduate School are searching for answers to thisfundamental question of modern research. To thisend, a broad range of methods is being applied,
ranging from Neurobiology to Electrical Engineering and from Neuroinformatics and Theoretical Biophysics to Psychology, the Clinical Neurosciences and Neurophilosophy. Research focuses on the
Systemic Neurosciences. Doctoral students address topics such as “From individual cells to complex integrated circuits”, “From system analysis tomathematical models”, and “From biology to technical applications”. The Graduate School has been
established as a training platform at the Munich
Center for Neuroscience – Brain & Mind at LMU
Munich.

Partners:• Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München(applicant – speaker)• Technische Universität München• Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology,

Martinsried• Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich• Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen• Helmholtz Zentrum München• German Aerospace Center, Wesseling

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Benedikt Grothe
Coordination

Lena Bittl
GSN office
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Biozentrum Martinsried
Großhaderner Straße 282152 Planegg/Germany
Tel.: +49 89 2180-74178
Fax: +49 89 2180-74168
E-Mail: gsn@lmu.de
www.gsn.uni-muenchen.de57

Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Distant Worlds: Munich Graduate School for Ancient Studies
Distant worlds of antiquity

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Martin Hose
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Department II
Abteilung für Griechische und Lateinische
Philologie
Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 180539 München/Germany
Tel.: +49 89 2180-3558
Fax: +49 89 2180-2355
E-Mail: m.hose@klassphil.uni-muenchen.dewww.mzaw.uni-muenchen.de/dw

The Munich Graduate School for Ancient Studies
focuses on the basic principles that governed ancient cultures: How were norms and elites formedat the time, how did people live together, how did
they preserve their memories? In order to be able
to analyse such questions, the Graduate School
pools the core competencies in Ancient Studies at
LMU Munich and those of the Bavarian Academyof Sciences and Humanities as well as five Munich-based museums and collections. The School isthus developing a new strategy to promote young
Ancient Studies scholars with a focus on researchand early academic autonomy. Moreover, it offers
a flexible teaching programme organisationally linked with an interdisciplinary junior researchgroup. The teams conduct comparative analyses ofbasic perspectives of ancient cultures from sevendifferent thematic angles, thus creating a “research

58

laboratory” that will generate new ideas for research in Ancient Studies concentrated at the Munich Centre for Ancient Worlds.
Partners:• Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München(applicant – speaker)• Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities,

Munich• Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek,

Munich• Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, Munich• Staatliche Münzsammlung, Munich• State Museum for Ethnology, Munich• Bavarian State Archaeological Collection

Munich• Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, MunichFunding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Graduate School

Graduate School of Quantitative Biosciences Munich (QBM)
Concepts and methods for the future of bioscience
The molecular biosciences are undergoing a profound transformation: scientists no longer focus on
individual components such as genes or proteins,
but rather seek to understand biological systems
in their entirety. This requires improved techniques
for quantitative measurement and data analysis as
well as close cooperation between disciplines thathave traditionally been separated – from Biochemistry and Medicine to Physics and Mathematics.
The Graduate School QBM wants to equip young
scientists with the methodological and conceptual
skills they need to excel in this new multidisciplinary environment, in particular the ability to bridge
the divide between experimental and theoreticalfields. Thematically, the Graduate School focuses on the fundamental biological problem of gene
regulation in all its facets – a field in which LMU
has extensive expertise. QBM offers a structured,international PhD programme that combines an interdisciplinary research project with a targeted programme of interdisciplinary course work as well asactivities to strengthen communication skills.
Partners:• Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München(applicant – speaker)• Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Munich• Helmholtz Zentrum München
Coordinator

Professor Dr. Ulrike Gaul
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Gene Center
Feodor-Lynen-Straße 25
81377 München/Germany
Tel.: +49 89 2180-76878
Fax: +49 89 2180-76704
E-Mail: gaul@genzentrum.lmu.de
www.qbm.lmu.de

59

Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München/
Universität Regensburg

Graduate School for East and Southeast European Studies
Answers for Europe’s future

Coordinators

Professor Dr. Martin Schulze Wessel
Graduate School for East and Southeast
European Studies
Maria-Theresia-Straße 21
81675 München/Germany
Tel.: +49 89 2180-9596
Fax: +49 89 2180-17763
E-Mail: Martin.SchulzeWessel@lrz.unimuenchen.deProfessor Dr. Ulf Brunnbauer
Institut für Ost- und SüdosteuropaforschungLandshuter Straße 493047 Regensburg/Germany
Tel.: +49 941 943-5475
Fax: +49 941 943-5427
E-Mail: Ulf.brunnbauer@ur.de
www.gs-oses.deEastern and Southeastern Europe are of paramountsignificance to Germany and the European Union.
Since crucial European issues are linked to this region, we need expertise in the Humanities, Cultural
Studies and Social Sciences to explore these areas.
The joint Graduate School of Ludwig-­MaximiliansUniversität München and Universität Regensburg
offers ideal conditions for excellent doctoral dissertation projects on East and Southeast European
topics. The academic programme leads candidates
to pursue new enquiries into social, political andcultural developments in Eastern and Southeastern
Europe, with an emphasis on analysing the interdependence between these areas and other regionsof the world. A hallmark of the Graduate School is
its international focus. It also offers exchange programmes with international partners in Eastern andSoutheastern Europe as well as in North America.

60

Partners:• Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München(applicant – speaker)• Universität Regensburg (applicant – speaker)• Bavarian State Library, Special Collection on

Eastern Europe, Munich• Collegium Carolinum, Munich• Institute for German Culture and History inSouth East Europe, Munich• Institute for East European Law, Regensburg• Institute for East and Southeast European

Studies (IOS), Regensburg• Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte mit

Sammelschwerpunkt Ost- und Südosteuropa,
MunichFunding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Technische Universität München

Graduate School

International Graduate School of Science and Engineering (IGSSE)
Impetus for research and society
At the core of the TUM International Graduate
School of Science and Engineering (IGSSE) are its
interdisciplinary project teams, which address current research topics at the interface of the Natural Sciences and Engineering. Doctoral candidates
learn to forge new paths in science beyond theboundaries of subject areas. At the same time,they benefit from an extraordinary qualification programme that combines TU München’s academic
excellence with specialised career and soft skills
training opportunities. This includes multi-disciplinary exchange and a research stay of several
months abroad, as well as acquiring entrepreneurial know-how and building social skills. Funding programmes have been created specifically for postdocs who lead IGSSE junior research groups. IGSSE
offers its excellent Master’s students the opportunity to gain their first research experience in aninterdisciplinary environment. In 2012, the school

established focus areas that connect researchgroups working on related themes. These networks
act as incubators for new, future-oriented research
fields at TU München. In 2009, IGSSE served as amodel for the establishment of the TUM Graduate
School, which introduced international, qualityassurance standards for doctoral programmes
across the entire university.

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Ernst Rank
Technische Universität München
Boltzmannstraße 1785748 Garching/Germany
Tel.: +49 89 289-10630
Fax: +49 89 289-10606
E-Mail: info@igsse.tum.de
www.igsse.tum.de61

Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Saarland University

Saarbrücken Graduate School of Computer Science
Home to world-class computer science
The Saarbrücken university campus offers auniquely rich environment for research in computer science. More than 500 researchers covering almost all areas of computer science work at several
co-located research institutes. The academic andresearch training of young researchers is of great
importance to all and is seen as a collective responsibility. The Graduate School provides the common
basis for doctoral training.

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Raimund Seidel
Universität des Saarlandes
Fachrichtung 6.2 – InformatikCampus E1 366123 Saarbrücken/Germany
Tel.: +49 681 302-4513
Fax: +49 681 302-58094

The structured programme allows for early entry
into doctoral studies in keeping with international
practice. During the preparatory phase, graduate
students attend an extensive range of courses andparticipate in research projects, allowing them to
explore the full breadth of computer science whiledelving more deeply into special topics according
to their own interests. For their dissertation theses,

doctoral candidates pursue their research in internationally recognized research groups on topics asdiverse as computer science has to offer.
Partners:• Saarland University (applicant – speaker)• Max Planck Institute for Informatics,

Saarbrücken
• Max Planck Institute for Software Systems,

Saarbrücken
• German Research Center for Artificial

Intelligence (DFKI), Saarbrücken
• Intel Visual Computing Institute, Saarbrücken
• Center for IT-Security, Privacy and Accountability(CISPA), Saarbrücken
• Center for Bioinformatics, Saarbrücken
• Cluster of Excellence “Multimodal Computing

and Interaction” (MMCI), Saarbrücken

E-Mail: rseidel@cs.uni-saarland.degradschool.cs.uni-saarland.de62

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

University of Stuttgart

Graduate School

Graduate School of Excellence advanced
Manufacturing Engineering (GSaME)
The next generation factory
Research and training at GSaME revolve around acomprehensive system of technical, methodical andorganisational solutions and tools that will lead toa new paradigm of sustainable industrial production. As one of the foremost international centres
for training future leaders in advanced Manufacturing Engineering, the Graduate School has adopted
the tried and trusted principle of dual education anddeveloped it to meet the specific needs of doctoral candidates: the school trains junior scientists in
Engineering, Computer Science as well as Business Administration by combining challenging science-oriented and industry-relevant research andtraining, technology and management, as well aspractical application and theory.

The Graduate School has defined six research
fields:• Strategies and Factories’ Development• Management of Global Manufacturing Networks• Information and Communication for

Manufacturing• Equipment and Service Engineering• Material and Process Engineering• Intelligent Manufacturing Systems

GSaME’s outlook is interdisciplinary and international. The school cooperates closely with partners
from science and industry, such as renowned manufacturers, foundations, associations as well as
Fraunhofer institutes.

Coordinator

Professor Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. mult.
Alexander Verl
Graduate School of Excellence advanced
Manufacturing Engineering (GsaME)
Universität Stuttgart
Nobelstraße 1270569 Stuttgart/Germany
Tel.: +49 711 685-61801
Fax: +49 711 685-51801
E-Mail: Alexander.Verl@isw.uni-stuttgart.dewww.gsame.uni-stuttgart.de/EN63

Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

University of Tübingen

LEAD Graduate School: Learning, Educational Achievement, andLife Course Development
Key questions in educational research

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Ulrich Trautwein
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
LEAD Graduate School
Europastraße 672072 Tübingen/Germany
Tel.: +49 7071 29-73931
Fax: +49 7071 29-5371

While educational policy reveals an increasing
willingness to give greater consideration to evidence-based approaches, there is a lack of secured
knowledge and trained experts to implement them.
Therefore, the integrated research and training programme at the LEAD Graduate School offers doctoral candidates the opportunity to explore central
issues in Educational Science in an interdisciplinary
and international environment. About twenty new
doctoral students are admitted to the programmeannually. They collaborate closely with scientists
from six research fields: Educational Researchand Educational Psychology, Cognitive and Social
Psychology, Neuroscience and Informatics, Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry, Language and Linguistics as well as Sociology and Economics. Fiveinterfaces, called ‘LEAD Intersections’, have been

E-Mail: ulrich.trautwein@uni-tuebingen.dewww.lead.uni-tuebingen.de64

defined to facilitate their collaboration. On the basis of its large international network, LEAD fosters
connecting and working with outstanding expertsof each discipline in person. In addition, visits inlabs as well as conference attendance around theworld are welcome options for each PhD candidate.
The LEADing Research Center supports all LEAD
members in employing innovative research methods and meeting the highest quality standards intheir research.
Partners:• University of Tübingen (applicant – speaker)• Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

University of Ulm

Graduate School

International Graduate School in Molecular Medicine Ulm
Specialists for the interface between biology and medicine
Molecular medicine seeks to decode the causes ofhuman disease on the molecular level. The results
have led to pronounced improvements in the diagnosis, prevention and therapy of many diseases.
This work at the interface between medicine andbiology calls for special training of the kind provided by the International Graduate School in Molecular Medicine. Whether the focus is on cancer, stem
cells, infectious diseases or ageing processes – theyoung scientists are directly integrated in research
into the molecular and cellular origins of disease.
All the university’s faculties are involved, with a total of more than 40 institutes and clinics.

doctoral candidates in the natural sciences and the“Promotionsprogramm Experimentelle Medizin” fordoctoral candidates in medicine. Junior researchers benefit from the Graduate School’s international, interdisciplinary focus and intensive mentoring.
Visit• www.uni-ulm.de/einrichtungen/mm• www.uni-ulm.de/einrichtungen/mm/public-

relations/video.html
for additional information and a video on the
Graduate School.

The Graduate School has developed into an important centre for structured doctoral training, providing two structured training programmes: the International PhD Programm in Molecular Medicine for

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Michael Kühl
Universität Ulm
International Graduate School in Molecular
Medicine Ulm
Albert-Einstein-Allee 1189081 Ulm/Germany
Tel.: +49 731 500-23283
Fax: +49 731 500-23277
E-Mail: michael.kuehl@uni-ulm.de
www.uni-ulm.de/mm

65Graduate School

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

University of Würzburg

Graduate School of Life Sciences (GSLS)
Excellent personalised mentoring

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Caroline Kisker
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
Rudolf-Virchow-Zentrum
DFG-Forschungszentrum für Experimentelle
Biomedizin
Josef-Schneider-Straße 2/D15
97080 Würzburg/Germany
Tel.: +49 931 31-80381
Fax: +49 931 31-87320
E-Mail: caroline.kisker@virchow.uniwuerzburg.de
www.graduateschools.uni-wuerzburg.de/life_sciences

The Graduate School of Life Sciences (GSLS) encompasses the entire spectrum of the Life ­Sciences– from protein structures at atomic resolution tocomplete ecosystems. It is a joint initiative by the
Faculties of Biology, Medicine, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Physics and Philosophy (Psychology). It comprises the sections Biomedicine, Infection and Immunity, Integrative Biology, Neurosciences and the
newly added section Clinical Sciences.
Each doctoral candidate follows a personalised
training and mentoring plan, including academic
seminars, workshops on transferable skills, and international conferences. The GSLS also promotes
early autonomy for its students by granting scholarships that provide them with independent financial
funding and their own scientific budget.

66

In the second funding period, the GSLS is expanding its programme. A newly created fast-track Master’s programme “FOKUS Life Sciences” allows outstanding students to start their doctoral studies as
early as one year after obtaining their Bachelor’s
degree. The GSLS offers medical students a structured and research-oriented Dr. med. programme inorder to link basic medical research more closely topatient care. Finally, the PostDoc Plus programme
supports post-docs in taking their first steps towards scientific independence.

Current Clusters of Excellence67Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

RWTH Aachen University

Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries
Success with integrative production technologies
Competitive production engineering is particularly important for high-wage countries like Germany. RWTH Aachen University contributes in various
ways to ensuring that manufacturing, and thus jobs,
remain in these countries. Products that address
markets with a large number of customers are particularly relevant in economic terms. The particularfocus is on individualising, virtualising, integrating
and self-optimising the production process.

Coordinator

Professor Dr.-Ing. Christian Brecher
RWTH Aachen
Lehrstuhl für Werkzeugmaschinen
Steinbachstraße 19
52074 Aachen/Germany
Tel.: +49 241 80-27408
Fax: +49 241 80-22293

The Cluster enables companies from Germany andEurope to recognise where they have to develop expertise in order to succeed in a high-wage location.
The aim is to enable small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular, to act much more efficiently
and to conserve resources.
In the second funding period existing models andtechnologies are being extended and combined

E-Mail: xcluster@wzl.rwth-aachen.dewww.production-research.de68with a cybernetic approach to consider the unpredictable and complex nature of production systems
as a whole.
Partners, amongst others:• RWTH Aachen University (applicant – speaker)• ACCESS, Aachen• Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT,

Aachen• Fraunhofer USA – Center for Laser Technology,

Plymouth und Center for Manufacturing
Innovation, Boston• Industrial partners: BMW Group, Bosch, Deckel

Maho, EADS Deutschland, Festo AG, LANXESS
Deutschland GmbH, MAN, Philips Lighting B.V.,
Phoenix Contact, RKW AG, Siemens AG, SMS
Siemag, ThyssenKrupp, Trumpf u. v. m.

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

RWTH Aachen University

Cluster of Excellence

Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass
Biofuels for the future
Innovative biofuels offer a yet unexploited potential
for reducing pollutant emissions and greenhousegases. In doing so, it is important not to take any biomass out of the food value chain. Within these parameters, scientists from several disciplines havejoined forces in the Cluster of Excellence to explore
the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into innovative fuel molecules without encroaching upon thefood chain. The objective is to develop an interdisciplinary “Fuel Design” that improves the (bio-)catalytic conversion of biomass into fuel and, at thesame time, optimises combustion and engines. The
close interconnection of chemical, biological andtechnical fuel production on the one hand, and themechanical optimisation of combustion on the other, as practised at the newly founded “Fuel Design

Center” in Aachen, is unique in the Cluster of Excellence. As the Aachen-based researchers enter
the second funding period, they continue to makeimportant contributions to the future of sustainablemobility.
Partners:• RWTH Aachen University (applicant – speaker)• Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology andApplied Ecology, Aachen• Max-Planck-Institut für Kohleforschung,

Mühlheim an der Ruhr

Coordinator

Professor Dr.-Ing. Stefan Pischinger
RWTH Aachen University
Lehrstuhl für Verbrennungskraftmaschinen
Schinkelstraße 852062 Aachen/Germany
Tel.: +49 241 80-96200
Fax: +49 241 80-92169
E-Mail: office@vka.rwth-aachen.de
www.fuelcenter.rwth-aachen.de69

Cluster of Excellence

Freie Universität Berlin/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

NeuroCure – Towards a Better Outcomeof Neurological Disorders
Improving patients’ life situation

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Christian Rosenmund
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
NeuroCure
Charitéplatz 1
10117 Berlin/Germany
Tel.: +49 30 450 639-145
Fax: +49 30 450 539-920
E-Mail: neurocure-coordinator@charite.dewww.neurocure.de/en

Diseases of the nervous system can, in many cases, be treated but not cured. Some of these very
different diseases are based in part on the same orvery similar neurological mechanisms. By increasing understanding of the underlying mechanisms,
the Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure seeks to develop effective therapies and new diagnostic approaches. Building on its initial focus on neurological disorders such as stroke, multiple sclerosis andepilepsy, this interdisciplinary research consortium
now also conducts research on psychiatric disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, autism, depression and schizophrenia.
By closely linking basic research in neurologicaldiseases with clinical studies, the Cluster aims to
improve ­patients’ lives. Through this approach, newresearch findings and insights can be directly translated into clinical practice.

70

The structural objective of NeuroCure is to extend
and strengthen Berlin as a neuroscience research
location both by improving networking amongst ongoing research activities and establishing new professorships and junior research groups.
Partners:• Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-

Universität zu Berlin as sponsor universitiesof the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin(applicants – speakers)• German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin(DRFZ)• Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology(FMP), Berlin• Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine(MDC), BerlinFunding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Freie Universität Berlin/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Cluster of Excellence

Topoi – The Formation and Transformation of Space andKnowledge in Ancient Civilizations
Space and knowledge
The Topoi Cluster brings together experts from morethan 30 disciplines such as Archaeology, Geography, History, Philology, Theology and Philosophy.
They work together to investigate the connections
between space and knowledge in the civilisationsof the Near and Middle East as well as the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions between 7000 BC
and 500 AD.
Nowhere else in Germany are the cultures of theAncient World so strongly represented as in Berlin, and Topoi bundles this strength. A structure tosustain this successful model of transdisciplinary/transinstitutional collaboration was established in
May 2011 with the opening of the Berliner Antike
Kolleg (BAK). The Berlin Graduate School of Ancient Studies (BerGSAS) at BAK provides interdisciplinary programmes and generates new goals forthe future work of the Cluster of Excellence.

Partners, amongst others:• Freie Universität Berlin (applicant – speaker)• Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin(applicant – speaker)• Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences andHumanities, Berlin• German Archaeological Institute, Berlin• Max Planck Institute for the History of Science,

Berlin• The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation,

Berlin• Technische Universität Berlin• HTW University of Applied Sciences, Berlin

Coordinators

Professor Dr. Michael Meyer
Freie Universität Berlin
Institut für Prähistorische Archäologie
Altensteinstraße 1514195 Berlin/Germany
Tel.: +49 30 838-55078
Fax: +49 30 838-55873
E-Mail: michael.meyer@fu-berlin.de
Professor Dr. Gerd Graßhoff
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Institut für Philosophie
Unter den Linden 6
10099 Berlin/Germany
Tel.: +49 30 2093-99068
Fax: +49 30 2093-99080
E-Mail: gerd.grasshoff@topoi.org
www.topoi.org

71

Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Image Knowledge Gestaltung. An Interdisciplinary Laboratory
Complex problems cannot be solved within the boundaries
of a single scientific discipline
Complex problems require the knowledge andexpertise of researchers from various fields of­science.

Coordinators

Professor Dr. Horst Bredekamp
Professor Dr. Wolfgang Schäffner
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Sophienstraße 22 a
10117 Berlin/Germany
Tel.: +49 30 2093-66257
Fax: +49 30 2093-66255

The Interdisciplinary Laboratory “Image Knowledge
Gestaltung” is just such an alliance of Humanities,
Natural Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, and – afirst in basic research – the creative disciplines of
Design and Architecture. More than 25 different
disciplines study the fundamental Gestaltung processes of the sciences at the interdisciplinary laboratory. The individual disciplines themselves benefit
from the strengthening and enrichment that ensue.
The enormous diversity of universities, research institutions as well as excellent collections and museums in Berlin are the foundations on which the
project is to be carried out.

Partners, amongst others:• Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin(applicant – speaker)• Freie Universität Berlin• Technische Universität Berlin• Berlin University of the Arts
• Berlin Weißensee School of Art• Federal Institute for Materials Research andTesting, Berlin• Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces,
Potsdam• Max Planck Institute for the History of Science,
Berlin• Museum für Naturkunde Berlin• Bauhaus Dessau Foundation• The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation,
BerlinIbero-American Institute, Berlin
Museum of Decorative Arts, Berlin
Art Library, Berlin∙∙∙

E-Mail: bildwissengestaltung@hu-berlin.de
www.interdisciplinary-laboratory.hu-berlin.de/en72

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Technische Universität Berlin

Cluster of Excellence

Unifying Concepts in Catalysis
Fit for the change in raw materials: better customised catalysts
Modern Chemistry makes it possible: cars andplanes will burn fuels that generate fewer pollutants. Or drugs like antibiotics will be better tuned
to their area of application in the human body,achieving a more targeted impact. Catalysts are thekey to new developments like this. They facilitate
the targeted use of chemical reactions with minimum material and energy expenditure. Tailor-madechemical and biological systems of varying dimensionality and size are required. The scientists alsoutilise proven methods from nature: microorganisms regulate chemical reactions with the aid of enzymes whose functions have been optimised overthe course of evolution. The Cluster aims to develop and investigate new catalysts on the knowledge
base at the intersection of Chemistry and Biology
and to transfer their outcomes to industry more
quickly. One result is a joint laboratory that has
been set up with BASF, the BasCat.

Partners:• Technische Universität Berlin (applicant –speaker)• Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin• Freie Universität Berlin• Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society,
Berlin• Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces,
Potsdam• University of Potsdam• Industrial partners: BASF SE, Bayer HealthCare,
Evonik, PolyAn, Sanofi-Aventis, Siemens, Uhde
• Main cooperation partners in academia:
Northwestern University, Evanston/USA;
Argonne National Lab/USA; Rovira i Virgili
University & ICIQ, Tarragona/Spain; Swedish
Consortium for Artificial Photosynthesis; Leibniz
Institute of Catalysis, Rostock; Max Planck
Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion,
Mülheim an der Ruhr

73

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Matthias Driess
Technische Universität Berlin
Institut für Chemie, Sekr. C 2
Fachgruppe Anorganische und Analytische
ChemieStraße des 17. Juni 135
10623 Berlin/Germany
Tel.: +49 30 314-29731
Fax: +49 30 314-29732
E-Mail: matthias.driess@tu-berlin.de
www.unicat.tu-berlin.deCluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Bielefeld University

Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC)
Helpful machines with a heart

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Helge Ritter
Kognitive Interaktionstechnologie (CITEC)
Universität Bielefeld
PO Box 10 01 31
33501 Bielefeld/Germany
Tel.: +49 521 106-12123
Fax: +49 521 106-6011
E-Mail: helge@techfak.uni-bielefeld.de
www.cit-ec.de

From regular household appliances to robots: theresearchers at the Center of Excellence Cognitive
Interaction Technology (CITEC) at Bielefeld University envision intelligent technical helpers that canunderstand instructions and respond to their users
with empathy. Since 2007, CITEC researchers havebeen working with industrial partners on artificial
systems that make our daily lives more convenient.
Today, about 40 research groups belong to the globally interconnected Cluster. Some of Bielefeld’s creations have achieved international renown, suchas robot head Flobi, research on robot hands withmanual intelligence, and the virtual robots MAX
and Vince.
Computer Scientists, Biologists, Linguists, Mathematicians, Psychologists and Sports Scientists
cooperate at CITEC to explore the scientific fundamentals of how to impart cognitive abilities to74

machines. The Cluster of Excellence bundles its
transdisciplinary basic research in four key research areas: Motion Intelligence, Attentive Systems, Situated Communication as well as Memory
and Learning.
Partners:• Bielefeld University (applicant – speaker)• Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, Gütersloh• Honda Research Institute Europe, Offenbach• Miele & Cie. KG, Gütersloh• v. Bodelschwingh Foundation Bethel, BielefeldFunding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Cluster of Excellence

RESOLV: Ruhr Explores Solvation
Solvents – not just passive spectators
Many chemical reactions, including those that are
central to many important industrial and biological processes, take place in a liquid. However, thesolvent itself – the best known of them being water – has received little attention so far. In recent
years, research has shown that solvation processes
in chemical substances are more complex than had
hitherto been assumed.
The RESOLV Cluster views solvents as an active
part of chemical reactions and explores how they
influence the course of these chemical and biological processes. This is important for optimisingindustrial processes, improving their energy efficiency, reducing environmental stress and avoiding
corrosion processes.
To do this, RESOLV combines analytical and engineering procedures with theoretical concepts,

develops them further and generates ideas for applied research and industrial application. The Cluster also has new headquarters: one hundred researchers of various disciplines will collaborate at
the ZEMOS Center of Solvation Science in Bochum.
Partners:• Ruhr-Universität Bochum (applicant – speaker)• TU Dortmund University• University of Duisburg-Essen• Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety,

and Energy Technology, Oberhausen• Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy

Conversion, Mülheim an der Ruhr
• Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung,

Düsseldorf• Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung,Mülheim an der Ruhr

75

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Martina Havenith-Newen
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Fakultät für Chemie und Biochemie
Lehrstuhl für Physikalische Chemie II
RESOLV Office: NC02/30
Universitätsstraße 150
44801 Bochum/Germany
Tel.: +49 234 32-27361/-28019
Fax: +49 234 32-14027
E-Mail: resolv@rub.dewww.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/solvation

Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

University of Bonn

Mathematics: Foundations, Models, Applications
An international spotlight on Mathematics
With the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics, Bonnis consolidating its position as the leading German
Mathematics location and establishing itself as apremier international centre.

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Karl-Theodor Sturm
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität
Bonn
Institut für Angewandte Mathematik
Endenicher Allee 60
53115 Bonn/Germany

Mathematics is a vast and changing research field.
The Hausdorff Center tackles the entire range ofcurrent mathematical problems and issues. Ten
research areas cover a wide spectrum of Mathematics and Theoretical Economics, driving forward
topics of particular promise, from classical core areas of Mathematics via Mathematical Modellingand Numerical Simulation in the Natural and Social
Sciences to the transfer of Mathematics to technical applications.

Tel.: +49 228 73-4874/-62232
Fax: +49 228 73-62251
E-Mail: sturm@uni-bonn.de
www.hausdorff-center.uni-bonn.de

76

The Cluster of Excellence gathers together visiting
researchers from all over the globe to work on core
topics that change every trimester. The centre’s local base is being broadened by five new professorships. The appeal of Bonn for young scientists fromall over the world continues to grow as a result of
the Bonn International Graduate School in Mathematics, the Hausdorff Center’s PostDoc Programme,
as well as the Bonn Junior Fellow positions foryoung professors.
Partners:• University of Bonn (applicant – speaker)• Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, Bonn

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

University of Bonn

Cluster of Excellence

ImmunoSensation: The Immune Sensory System
New insight into the immune system as a sensory organ
The immune system keeps the organism safe fromharm by defending it from pathogen attacks. Yet theimmune system itself can cause disease, such as
inflammation, tumours or diabetes. Only in recent
years has biomedical research begun to understandthe reasons for this. The immune system’s ‘sensors’, which detect damaged self or foreign molecules, are closely linked to other body functions
such as metabolism or the nervous system.

as a special focus professorship. Other non-university institutions involved are the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) andthe Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (caesar). The Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation is also a partner in the newly foundedInternational Innate Immunity Consortium and conducts exchange and training programmes with international research partners.

The Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation studies
this broadened perspective on the immune system
by bundling the expertise of Immunology, Neurobiology, Molecular Sensor Systems and Mathematics
in Bonn. In the Faculty of Medicine and at the University of Bonn’s Life and Medical Sciences Institute (LIMES), five departments are exclusively dedicated to Immunology. Among them is the Institutefor Innate Immunity, the first of its kind in Germany,
which is funded by the state Nordrhein-Westfalen

Partners:

Coordinator• University of Bonn (applicant – speaker)• German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases(DZNE), Bonn
• Center of Advanced European Studies andResearch (caesar), Bonn

Professor Dr. med. Gunther Hartmann
ImmunoSensation
Universitätsklinikum Bonn
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität
Bonn
Sigmund-Freud-Straße 25
53127 Bonn/Germany
Tel.: +49 228 287-13670
Fax: +49-228 287-16094
E-Mail: office@immunosensation.de
www.immunosensation.de77

Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

University of Bremen

The Ocean in the Earth System – MARUM, Center for Marine
Environmental Sciences
The ocean in depth!
MARUM uses state-of-the art methods to elucidate
the role of the oceans in the Earth system, in particular in the context of global change. It examines
the interactions between the marine geosphereand biosphere and provides information on the sustainable use of the ocean.

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Michael Schulz
Universität Bremen
Zentrum für Marine Umweltwissenschaften(MARUM)
Leobener Straße
28359 Bremen/Germany
Tel.: +49 421 218-65500
Fax: +49 421 218-65505

One of its important taks is to provide research infrastructure services: MARUM maintains one of theworld’s three core repositories for the Integrated
Ocean Drilling Program IODP and operates the data
information system PANGAEA in cooperation with
the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for
Polar and Marine Research. It has a comprehensive pool of equipment for exploring the deep sea.
This includes the deep sea floor drill rig MARUMMeBo, as well as remotely-controlled and autonomous underwater vehicles. MARUM comprises the

E-Mail: mschulz@marum.de
www.marum.de78

DFG Research Centre and the Cluster of Excellence“The Ocean in the Earth System” and promotes junior scientists via GLOMAR, the integrated interdisciplinary graduate school for marine sciences.
Partners:• University of Bremen (applicant – speaker)• Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for

Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven• Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology,

Bremen• Forschungsinstitut und Naturkundemuseum

Senckenberg, Senckenberg by the Sea,
Wilhelmshaven• Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology,

Bremen• Jacobs University BremenFunding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Chemnitz University of Technology

Cluster of Excellence

Merge Technologies for Multifunctional
Lightweight Structures (MERGE)
Components on a diet
Components must be built lighter to conserve precious raw materials and energy, both in the manufacturing process and in using the finished product. Vehicles with lightweight bodies, for example,
use much less fuel. Even though good progresshas already been made in the production of lightweight metal, plastic and textile structures, there
is still considerable room for improvement, especially when various materials and manufacturing
processes are being combined – which is where“MERGE” comes in. The cluster amalgamates existing basic technologies to create new manufacturing processes for the hybrid construction of lightweight structures. In addition, active microsystems
such as sensors, actuators and electronics are integrated in these hybrid structures.
MERGE bundles core competencies in the field ofresource-efficient technologies for the constructionof lightweight structures and coordinates national

and international corporate collaboration. Moreover, the Free State of Saxony is investing in the construction of a new facility for the institute, which
will provide the necessary working environment forscientists, as well as expedite knowledge transfer
across disciplines.
Partners:• Chemnitz University of Technology (applicant –speaker)• Technische Universität Dresden• Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano

Systems, Chemnitz• Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools andForming Technology, Chemnitz• Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials

Research, Dresden• Three institutes affiliated with TU Chemnitz

79

Coordinator

Professor Dr.-Ing. habil. Lothar Kroll
Technische Universität Chemnitz
Institut für Strukturleichtbau
Professur Strukturleichtbau und
Kunststoffverarbeitung
Reichenhainer Straße 70
09126 Chemnitz/Germany
Tel.: +49 371 531-33732
Fax: +49 371 531-833732
E-Mail: lothar.kroll@mb.tu-chemnitz.de
www.tu-chemnitz.de/MERGE

Cluster of ExcellenceTechnische Universität Dresden

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 Dezember 2017

Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD)
Stem cells – a beacon of hope
In modern Biomedicine, the use of stem cells holds
great promise for regenerative therapies. Stemcell-based procedures of tissue engineering could
make controlled regeneration possible. However,
the mechanisms governing these processes are stilllargely unknown.

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Michael Brand
Zentrum für Regenerative Therapien Dresden(CRTD)
Technische Universität Dresden
Fetscherstraße 105
01307 Dresden/Germany
Tel.: +49 351 458-82051
Fax: +49 351 458-82309

The Cluster of Excellence applies a multidisciplinary approach to cell-based regenerative therapy.
Bioscientists identify the decisive cellular processes, and then manipulate them through genetic engineering, or by biochemical or mechanical means,to achieve controlled stem cell reproduction andregeneration. The outcomes should generate completely novel stem cell therapies for blood disorders, diabetes, neurodegeneration and bone
atrophy.

Partners, amongst others:• Technische Universität Dresden(applicant – speaker)• Biotechnology Center TU Dresden (BIOTEC)• German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases(DZNE), Dresden• Paul Langerhans Institute Dresden (PLID)• ZIK B CUBE – Center for Molecular

Bioengineering, Dresden• Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology

and Genetics (MPI-CBG), Dresden• Dresden International Graduate School for

Biomedicine and Bioengineering (DIGS BB)• University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden• Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials Dresden(Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden)• Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

E-Mail: michael.brand@crt-dresden.dewww.crt-dresden.de

80Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Technische Universität Dresden

Cluster of ExcellenceCenter for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed)
Electronics – smaller, faster, cheaper, different
Internet, smartphones and mobile communications
owe their rapid development to the incredible dynamics of CMOS semiconductor technology, thebase technology behind modern electronics. Now,
however, it is rapidly approaching its physical limitations. The Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed) therefore gathers scientists from Electrical Engineering, Computer Sciences, Physics,
Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology to explore
alternative materials, technologies, and systems
for tomorrow’s electronics: silicon nanowires, carbon nanotubes, organic materials, chemical information processing, self-assembling structures, andtheir integration into heterogeneous information
processing systems.
Dresden is just the right place for this task, because
the region is Europe’s largest microelectronics location. The Cluster unites the research and application know-how of Micro- and Nanoelectronics, Materials and Natural Sciences, as well as Information
Technology. This expertise is to be reinforced by

five new strategic professorships, three new openthemed professorships as well as ten researchgroup leadership positions. This expansion will beflanked and supported by a career programme unparalleled in science.
Partners, amongst others:• Technische Universität Dresden (applicant – speaker)• Chemnitz University of Technology• Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nanosystems,

Chemnitz• Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing
IZFP, Dresden• Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf• Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials
Research Dresden• Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden• Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex
Systems, Dresden• Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology andGenetics (MPI-CBG), Dresden

81

Coordinator

Professor Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c.
Gerhard P. Fettweis
Technische Universität Dresden
Institut für Nachrichtentechnik
Vodafone Chair Mobile Communications
Systems
Georg-Schumann-Straße 1101187 Dresden/Germany
Tel.: +49 351 463-41000
Fax: +49 351 463-41099
E-Mail: gerhard.fettweis@tu-dresden.dewww.cfaed.tu-dresden.deCluster of ExcellenceHeinrich Heine University Düsseldorf/University of Cologne

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS)
Understanding the adaptability of plants
Arable land, water and nutrients are becoming
scarce; at the same time the climate is warming
and the world population is on the rise. This calls
for new, sustainable strategies for plant production. The Cluster explores how plants adapt tochanging environments, how they are able to populate almost any habitat on earth, and how this insight can be used for agriculture.

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Andreas P. M. Weber
Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
Institut für Biochemie der Pflanzen
Universitätsstraße 140225 Düsseldorf/Germany
Tel.: +49 211 81-12347
Fax: +49 211 81-11718

The key to understanding this adaptability lies in
the plants’ genetic make-up: genes control annual or perennial life history of plants, the transformation of light energy into chemical energy by wayof photosynthesis, as well as their genetic andmetabolic interplay with microorganisms. CEPLAS
strives to decode these mechanisms and lay thefoundation for future, more productive food crops.

E-Mail: aweber@hhu.dewww.ceplas.eu

82

The Cluster bundles the internationally renowned
expertise of experimental and theoretical Biologists and establishes novel training programmes
for students, doctoral and postdoctoral researchersat the Cologne-Düsseldorf plant science centre.
Partners:• Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf(applicant – speaker)• University of Cologne (applicant – speaker)• Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding

Research, Cologne• Forschungszentrum Jülich

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Cluster of ExcellenceEngineering of Advanced Materials – Hierarchical Structure
Formation for Functional Devices (EAM)
From molecules to materials
Modern high-performance materials with tailormade properties promise breakthroughs and advances
in information and communications technology, catalysis as well as energy and automotive engineering. New materials and processes not only help tosecure industry’s competitiveness and economic
growth; they also improve the quality of life andcontribute to creating an environment worth livingin.
Researchers in the Cluster are developing hierarchically-organised materials with tailormade electrical, optical, catalytic and mechanical properties
with the aim of facilitating innovative applicationsin the fields of nanoelectronics, photonics, catalysis
and lightweight construction.

Partners:• Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-

Nürnberg (applicant – speaker)• Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light,

Erlangen• Bayerisches Laserzentrum, Erlangen• Neue Materialien Fürth GmbH• Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems andDevice Technology IISB, Erlangen• Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS,

Erlangen• ZAE Bayern, Erlangen

Coordinator

Professor Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Peukert
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität
Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
Engineering of Advanced Materials
Nägelsbachstraße 49 b
91052 Erlangen/Germany
Tel.: +49 9131 85-20845
Fax: +49 9131 85-20860
E-Mail: eam-administration@fau.dewww.eam.fau.de83

Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Goethe University Frankfurt

Macromolecular Complexes in Action
Protein complexes: structure determines function

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Volker Dötsch
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Institut für Biophysikalische Chemie
Max-von-Laue-Straße 960438 Frankfurt am Main/Germany
Tel.: +49 69 798-29631
Fax: +49 69 798-29632
E-Mail: vdoetsch@em.uni-frankfurt.dewww.cef-mc.deMacromolecular complexes play a decisive role inall the processes of living cells. They are made up
of a number of proteins or RNA molecules that perform jointly-defined functions in a cell. The function
depends largely on their three-dimensional structures. Insights into the structure of these complexes are seen as a milestone in understanding life
processes. However, many questions remain about
how these complexes act. The isolation and precise
investigation of the major protein and RNA complexes are the goals that the Cluster of Excellence
has set itself. It continues to build on previous close
collaborations between Goethe University and the
Max Planck Institutes in Frankfurt. The scientists
want to find out how macromolecular complexes
are organised, what impact this has on their function and what role they play in the cell. These insights will help to understand diseases and develop
new treatments.

84

Partners:• Goethe University Frankfurt (applicant –speaker)• Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am

Main• Max Planck Institute for Brain Research,Frankfurt am Main

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Goethe University Frankfurt

Cluster of Excellence

The Formation of Normative Orders
Justifying Political Rule
Normative orders play a decisive role in conflicts
over a just and fair economic order and the realisation of peace, human rights and democracy. Theseorders serve to justify a system of political rule anda specific distribution of goods and life chances.
The Cluster investigates how such orders are handed down, modified, institutionalised and practisedover long periods of time. In the second funding
phase, researchers from the fields of philosophy,
history, political science, legal studies, anthropology, economics, theology and sociology will focus
greater attention on the question of how justifications assert themselves in the reality of social power relationships. The Cluster is divided into threeresearch areas:

Partners:• Goethe University Frankfurt(applicant – speaker)• Technische Universität Darmstadt• Peace Research Institute, Frankfurt am Main
• Max Planck Institute for European Legal History,

Frankfurt am Main
• Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law

and International Law, Heidelberg• Institute for Social Research, Frankfurt am Main
• Frobenius Institute, Frankfurt am Main
• Point Sud, Centre for Research on Local

Knowledge, Bamako/Mali• The Normativity of Normative Orders

Coordinators

Professor Dr. Rainer Forst
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Professur für Politische Theorie undPhilosophie
Professor Dr. Klaus Günther
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Professur für Rechtstheorie, Strafrecht undStrafprozessrecht
Normative Orders
Goethe-Universität
Grüneburgplatz 160323 Frankfurt am Main/Germany
Tel.: +49 69 798-31401
Fax: +49 69 798-31402• The Dynamics of Normative Orders• The Plurality of Normative Orders

E-Mail: office@normativeorders.net
www.normativeorders.net/en

85

Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Goethe University Frankfurt/
Justus Liebig University Giessen

Cardio-Pulmonary System (ECCPS)
Innovative research for cardiac patients

Coordinators

Professor Dr. Werner Seeger
Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Professor Dr. Andreas Zeiher
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Geschäftsstelle des ECCPS
Aulweg 13035392 Gießen/Germany

Cardio-pulmonary disease is one of the most common causes of death. It is also responsible for thehighest costs in public health care. The Cluster of
Excellence investigates vascular and parenchymal
heart and lung diseases. It combines basic researchwith pre-clinical and clinical studies in order to examine the causes and development of these diseases using an interdisciplinary approach. In so doing, the researchers address the question of how
vascular remodelling processes, for example, canbe prevented or reversed, or how to stop the excessive formation of connective tissue. They also study
the role played by stem cells in the development
and repair processes of cardiac and lung tissues.
Their aim is to produce tailormade novel therapies.

Tel.: +49 641 99-42411/-42422/-42428
Fax: +49 641 99-42419
E-Mail: sylvia.weissmann@ugmlc.de
www.eccps.de

86

Partners:• Goethe University Frankfurt(applicant – speaker)• Justus Liebig University Giessen (applicant –speaker)• Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung

Research, Bad Nauheim• Kerckhoff Klinik, Bad Nauheim• Universitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg GmbH

(UKGM)

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

University of Freiburg

Cluster of Excellence

BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies –From Analysis to Synthesis
The language of cells
Signalling processes within and between cells control all biological processes. They are the driving
force of the organism. Hence, a more precise understanding of these processes is underlying importantbiological and medical questions. Many human diseases are caused by faulty or deregulated signalling pathways. The interdisciplinary cluster aims to
explain the molecular bases and principles of biological signal processing. Biologists and engineers
work together to develop and to use new machines
and methods in order to analyse the highly complex
and dynamic biological signal processing.
In the second funding phase, research will focus
on “Deregulated signalling processes in tumour­deve­lopment” and “The organisation of biologicalmembranes at the nanoscale level”.

Partners, amongst others:• University of Freiburg (applicant – speaker)• Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement

Techniques IPM, Freiburg• Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology andEpigenetics, Freiburg• Biozentrum of the University of Basel/

Switzerland• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich/

Switzerland• Ecole Supérieure de Biotechnologie, UniversitéLouis Pasteur, Illkirch-Strasbourg/France• University of Toronto/Canada• Nanyang Technological University/Singapore• Industrial partners: BioPro GmbH, Carl-Zeiss-

Microimaging GmbH, BioFluidix GmbH,ibidi GmbH

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Michael Reth
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
BIOSS Zentrum für Biologische Signalstudien
Signalhaus Freiburg
Schänzlestraße 18
79104 Freiburg/Germany
Tel.: +49 761 203-97373/-97374
Fax: +49 761 203-97419
E-Mail: kontakt@bioss.uni-freiburg.de
www.bioss.uni-freiburg.de87Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

University of Freiburg

BrainLinks-BrainTools
Interfacing with the brain
No other organ of our body is as complex, as fascinating and at the same time as delicate as thebrain. Diseases of and injuries to the nervous system can have serious, life-long consequences.
Drugs and conventional rehabilitation measures
cannot always alleviate symptoms. In such cases,
there is great potential in new therapies based on
Neurotechnology and Robotics.
Coordinator

Professor Dr. Wolfram Burgard
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Institut für Informatik
Arbeitsgruppe Autonome Intelligente
SystemeGeorges-Köhler-Allee 79
79110 Freiburg/Germany
Tel.: +49 761 203-8026
Fax: +49 761 203-8007

In the Cluster of Excellence BrainLinks-BrainTools,
scientists from Biology, Microsystems Engineering, Computer Science and Medicine work on connecting technical elements to the nervous system.
Freiburg is unique in amalgamating the necessary
knowledge and skills for this: basic research on the
nervous system is combined with developing microsystems and autonomous robots. The vision is toachieve two developments:

E-Mail: burgard@informatik.uni-freiburg.de
www.brainlinks-braintools.uni-freiburg.de

88• Systems that can read a patient’s intentions

and commands from his or her brain activity andthus control external devices. These could beprosthetics or communication aids for paralysed
patients, or systems that facilitate the rehabilitation of stroke patients.
• Intelligent, autonomous implants that harvest

their own energy, and which interface with thebrain to detect and counteract brain dysfunction.
BrainLinks-BrainTools is designed as a long-term
project that will grow into one of Germany’s largest
neurotechnological research centres.

Funding period:
1 November 2006 — 31 October 2017

University of Göttingen

Cluster of Excellence

Nanoscale Microscopy and Molecular Physiology of the Brain(CNMPB)
Unravelling the brain’s secrets
Fluorescence microscopy with diffraction-unlimited
resolution (nanoscopy) is currently revolutionising
the neurosciences. In the process, new frontiers
have become apparent that challenge the full exploitation of the nanoscale resolving power. Thesebarriers lie, among others, in the size, specificity,and distinguishability of fluorescent labels and in
the limits imposed by biological samples. The Cluster of Excellence Nanoscale Microscopy and Molecular Physiology of the Brain (CNMPB, formerly: Microscopy at the Nanometer Range) explores
novel optical concepts and techniques to further
open up the nanometer scale imaging of biologicalsamples and to apply novel imaging tools to basic
and clinical neuroscience. The basis for this translational effort is the DFG Research Center Molecular Physiology of the Brain (CMPB), which aims at
a better understanding of the molecular processes
that underlie some prototypes of neurological andpsychiatric diseases. The overall vision is that therevolutionary development in advanced microscopy
techniques and labelling will allow new diagnostic
tools and therapeutic strategies for the prevention
and treatment of such disorders to be developed.
Partners:

Coordinators• University of Göttingen (applicant – speaker)

Professor Dr. Mathias Bähr
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Universitätsmedizin Göttingen
Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Stefan W. Hell
Max-Planck-Institut für Biophysikalische
ChemieProfessor Dr. Dr. Detlev Schild
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen• German Primate Center, Göttingen• Laser-Laboratorium Göttingen• Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry,

Göttingen• Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine,

Göttingen• XLAB – Göttinger Experimentallabor für Junge

Leute• Abteilung Neuropädiatrie, Klinikum Kassel

CNMPB
Humboldtallee 2337073 Göttingen/Germany
Tel.: +49 551-7065
Fax: +49 551-91246
E-Mail: cmpb@gwdg.de
www.cnmpb.de

89Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Universität Hamburg

Integrated Climate System Analysis and Prediction (CliSAP)
Tracking down climate change
Is the Arctic sea ice melting? Will the Gulf Stream
still bring enough warmth to Europe in the future?
How will economies and societies react to climatechange – and what conflicts over land, water andother resources will we have to face? Scientists in
the Hamburg Climate Cluster study natural as wellas man-made climate change and generate important scientific foundations for political and social
decision-making.
Coordinator

Professor Dr. Martin Claußen
Universität Hamburg
Institut für Meteorologie und
Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie
Bundesstraße 55
20146 Hamburg/Germany
Tel.: +49 40 42838-5077
Fax: +49 40 41173-350

Global change raises many questions that transcend the scope of individual disciplines. CliSAP
has successfully built vital bridges between Meteorologists, Oceanographers, Geophysicists andEcologists who collaborate closely with Social
Scientists, Economists, Media Experts and Peace
Researchers.

E-Mail: martin.claussen@zmaw.de
www.clisap.de

90

At the core of its interdisciplinary basic research
are climate variability and predictability, regionalvariations in climate change, economic and social
developments and possible “climate conflicts”.
Partners:• Universität Hamburg (applicant – speaker)• Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg• Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht – Centre forMaterials and Coastal Research• German Climate Computing Center, Hamburg

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Universität Hamburg

Cluster of Excellence

The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging (CUI)
Live transmission from the atomic circus
Atoms, molecules and electrons move, form bonds
between each other and break apart unimaginably
fast. Scientists at the Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging (CUI) want to observe and understandthese ultrafast processes directly on the atomic level, so that maybe, one day, they will even be able
to control them systematically. The world is notstatic but dynamic. Things are constantly changing.
Being able to watch atoms move in real time during such changes would be a great leap forward
for Physics and Chemistry, but also for Biology andMedicine. The CUI scientists hope, for instance, togain a more precise understanding of high temperature superconductivity, magnetism, and the development of ordered molecular structures. This typeof insight could result in new high-tech materials.
The novel X-ray and electron sources on the Bahrenfeld Campus are an important tool for scientists.
Since this undertaking will require the expertise ofmany disciplines, scientists from Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Medicine have joined forces under
the umbrella of the Cluster of Excellence, to study
the fundamental chemical, biological and physicalprocesses in the field of Photon and Nano Science.
An additional important feature is the promotion ofjunior researchers with a clear focus on gender andfamilies.
Coordinators

Partners:• Universität Hamburg (applicant – speaker)• Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Hamburg• European Molecular Biology Laboratory,

Hamburg• European XFEL GmbH, Hamburg• Max Planck Research Department for Structural

Dynamics at Universität Hamburg

91

Professor Dr. R. J. Dwayne Miller
Professor Dr. Horst Weller
Professor Dr. Klaus Sengstock
Universität Hamburg
Institut für Laserphysik
Luruper Chaussee 149
22761 Hamburg/Germany
Tel.: +49 40 8998-5201
Fax: +49 40 8998-5290
E-Mail: Klaus.Sengstock@physnet.unihamburg.de
www.cui.uni-hamburg.de/enCluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Hannover Medical School/
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover

From Regenerative Biology to Reconstructive Therapy (REBIRTH)
Studying healing at the level of cells and molecules

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Axel Haverich
Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
Klinik für Herz-, Thorax-, Transplantationsund Gefäßchirurgie
Carl-Neuberg-Straße 130625 Hannover/Germany
Tel.: +49 511 532-5207(Office REBIRTH Management)
Fax: +49 511 532-5205
E-Mail: haverich.axel@mh-hannover.de
www.rebirth-hannover.de/en

What exactly stimulates the healing process in living organisms? To what extent are the processes
that take place in cells and organs controlled bygenes? And how can we grow human tissue? Scientists in the REBIRTH Cluster collaborate acrossthe various different disciplines involved to develop innovative therapeutic strategies for the organsystems of the heart, lung, liver and blood. Building on the outcomes REBIRTH has achieved in basic
research and translation to experimental medicine,
new approaches and technologies are being developed that will later be applied to clinical practicefor the benefit of patients.
The cluster combines excellent education andtraining with innovative science, plus experimental and clinical medicine. It prioritises innovative
approaches to regenerative therapies based on
novel cell sources. Medical expertise is complemented by Engineering and Technology, Chemistry,

92

Biophotonics, Nanotechnology, Imaging as well as
ethical aspects.
Partners:• Hannover Medical School(applicant – speaker)• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover(co-applicant)• Laser Zentrum Hannover• University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover,Foundation• Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology andExperimental Medicine, Hannover• Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research,

Braunschweig• Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine,

Münster• FLI Federal Research Institute for Animal Health,Mariensee

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Heidelberg University

Cluster of Excellence

Cellular Networks
How biological systems organise themselves
Our knowledge of molecules, genomes and proteomes has progressed at great pace. However, thequestion of how complex biological networks are
regulated still often remains unclear. Within thecells, within a whole organism or in the interaction
between organisms, they ensure that the biologicalsystems are able to do their work and adapt to theirenvironment. The Cluster wants to use quantitative
analysis to explain how such networks function andhow they change.
Comprehensive insights into the regulation of biological systems will facilitate their mathematical modelling and simulation. To achieve this, theCluster is working on four mutually constructive research areas:• Protein Machines – Biogenesis, Interaction andRegulations• Dynamics of Cell Architecture• Information Processing in Complex Multi-

cellular Networks• Alteration of Networks by Infectious Pathogens

Partners:• Heidelberg University (applicant – speaker)• German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg• The European Molecular Biology Laboratory,

Heidelberg• Max Planck Institute for Medical Research,

Heidelberg• Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim• C.H.S. Foundation, Heidelberg• Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies –HITS• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

93

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Hans-Georg Kräusslich
Department für Infektiologie, Virologie
Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 324
69120 Heidelberg/Germany
Tel.: +49 6221 54-51201
Fax: +49 6221 54-51481
E-Mail: cellnetworks@bioquant.uniheidelberg.de
www.cellnetworks.uni-hd.deCluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Heidelberg University

Asia and Europe in a Global Context:
The Dynamics of Transculturality
Cultural relations as interconnected processes

Coordinators

Professor Dr. Thomas Maissen
Professor Dr. Axel Michaels
Professor Dr. Barbara Mittler
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Karl Jaspers Centre
Voßstraße 269115 Heidelberg/Germany

Europeans and Asians have a long history of intensive cultural, political and economic relationships.
The Cluster explores these relationships, balancing their historic depth with their present-day significance for processes of global transformation.
It connects the rich expertise in Asian Studies at
Heidelberg University with the broad range of Humanities and Social Studies disciplines, which tend
to be focussed on Europe. This collaboration acrosssubject lines makes it possible to explore cultural interactions beyond the limitations of national,
Eurocentric and subject-bound categories. It also
allows scholars to capture the contradictory relationship between culture as a factor that shapes
identity, and culture as a product of interweaving(global) processes.

Projects are allocated to the areas of “Governanceand Administration”, “Public Spheres”, “Knowledge Systems”, or “Historicities and Heritage”. The
Heidelberg Research Architecture is a special research environment that facilitates new digital developments as well as the study of previously neglected sources by integrating a great variety ofmaterials and media.
Partners, amongst others:• Heidelberg University (applicant – speaker)• Harvard University, Asia Center, Cambridge/USA• Hong Kong University, Institute for the

Humanities and Social Sciences/China• Jawaharlal Nehru University, School of Arts andAesthetics, New Delhi/India

Tel.: +49 6221 54-4098
Fax: +49 6221 54-4012• Kyoto University, OPIR and GCOE “Intimate andE-Mail: info@asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de
www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de• Peking University, Department of History/China

Public Spheres”/Japan94

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Kiel University

Cluster of Excellence

The Future Ocean
The ocean’s potential and risks
To a significant extent, our future depends on developments in our oceans. They have a huge impact on
global climate and provide us with food and natural
resources, yet also harbour risks that are caused,
for instance, by rising sea levels, overfishing or
acidification. What are the right approaches toachieving the sustainable use of the habitat ocean?

In addition to research, the Cluster of Excellence
supports knowledge transfer to the general public, industry and politics. It also promotes international collaboration and supports junior scientists
in its Graduate School, Integrated School of Ocean
Sciences (ISOS), and in its Integrated Marine Postdoc Network (IMAP).

Researchers at the Cluster of Excellence studychanges in the oceans using a multi-disciplinary
approach that is unique in its scope, pooling theexpertise of Marine Scientists and Geoscientists,
Economists, Life Scientists, Mathematicians, Computer Scientists as well as Scholars from Politics,
Philosophy and International Law. A fundamental understanding of the oceans will allow themto develop substantiated predictions and scenarios, which, in close dialogue with decision-makers,
could contribute to sustainable management of theoceans.

Partners:• Kiel University (applicant – speaker)• GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research

Kiel

Coordinator• Kiel Institute for the World Economy – IfW(Leibniz Association)• Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts and Design,

Kiel

Professor Dr. Martin Visbeck
GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum fürOzeanforschung Kiel
Düsternbrooker Weg 2024105 Kiel/Germany
Tel.: +49 431 600-4100
Fax: +49 431 880-2539
E-Mail: speaker@futureocean.org
www.futureocean.org

95

Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Kiel University/Universität zu Lübeck

Inflammation at Interfaces
Understanding and controlling inflammation

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Stefan Schreiber
Institut für Klinische Molekularbiologie
und Klinik für Innere Medizin I
Schittenhelmstraße 1224105 Kiel/Germany
Headquarters
Tel.: +49 431 880-4850
Fax: +49 431 880-4894
E-Mail: info@inflammation-at-interfaces.de
www.inflammation-at-interfaces.de/en

Inflammation is a central medical problem and considered the cause of many chronic conditions such
as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, asthma andneurodermatitis. Chronic inflammation can be triggered by congenital malfunctions at the interfacesof body organs, skin and mucous membranes, or byenvironmental influences on the body. Scientists at
the Cluster of Excellence pursue a holistic approachin their research: they want to discover molecular signatures beyond the focus on single organs
and explore them in genetically modified models
in order to derive individualised anti-inflammatory
therapy.
In its quest for early detection and control of inflammatory processes, the Cluster pools the expertiseof approximately 300 scientists from fields such as
Medicine, Genetics, Biochemistry, Biology, Physics
and Nutritional Science.

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Partners:• Kiel University (applicant – speaker)• Universität zu Lübeck (co-applicant)• University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein• Research Center Borstel – Leibniz-Center for

Medicine and Biosciences• Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology,

Plön• Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts and Design,

KielFunding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

University of Cologne

Cluster of Excellence

Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD)
Exploring the ageing process
In November 2012, the CECAD Cluster of Excellence
embarked on its second funding period with promising results. More than 400 international scientists
from the University of Cologne, the University Hospital Cologne, the Max Planck Institute for Biologyof Ageing and the Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research, as well as the German Center for
Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) work together
in close interdisciplinary cooperation. CECAD does
research at the molecular level to detect the causesof the ageing process and of ageing-related diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes,
stroke, kidney failure or cancer. It is CECAD’s vision
to work together to find new therapeutic approaches towards treating such diseases.
Successful modern cutting-edge research relies on
close cooperation and communication. The new
CECAD Research Center, due to open in 2013, isdesigned to set up close interaction between basic researchers and clinicians, with access to stateof-the-art molecular research methods and in theimmediate vicinity of the Max Planck Institutes.
­CECAD is thus creating a worldwide unique centreof aging research in Cologne.
Partners:• University of Cologne (applicant – speaker)• University Hospital Cologne• Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing,

Cologne• Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research,

Cologne• German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases(DZNE), Bonn

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Jens C. Brüning
CECAD – Exzellenzcluster fürAlternsforschung
Universität zu Köln
Joseph-Stelzmann-Straße 26
50937 Köln/Germany
Tel.: +49 221 470-5287
E-Mail: jens.bruening@uni-koeln.decommunication-cecad@uni-koeln.dewww.cecad.uni-koeln.de

97Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

University of Konstanz

Cultural Foundations of Social Integration
Rethinking integration
Integration is a topic at the forefront of the political agenda. Key concepts like European integration,
migrant flows, failed states, and the significance ofreligion for processes of social integration and exclusion demonstrate both the relevance and the explosive potential of this issue.

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Rudolf Schlögl
Universität Konstanz
Kulturelle Grundlagen von Integration
Universitätsstraße 1078464 Konstanz/Germany
Tel.: +49 7531 88-2489
Fax: +49 7531 88-4410
E-Mail: Rudolf.Schloegl@uni-konstanz.de
www.exc16.de

How do patterns of social order evolve between
the poles of integration and disintegration? This iswhat researchers at Konstanz are investigating on
all social levels, from antiquity to the present. In
this context, their premise is not that integration isa norm from which disintegration deviates. Rather,
they see both processes as sharing the same origins and being of equal value for understandingsocial problems. In the face of advancing globalization, it is becoming ever more important to describe and understand de-centered social processes as well.

98

Scholars working in the humanities and social
sciences who are active in the Center share theirknowledge for the sake of developing a theory ofculture: a theory that understands culture in all its
facets as a constitutive element of integration.
Launched in 2006, the Center concentrates on four
research fields: Identification and the Politics ofIdentity; Practices of Knowledge and Non-Knowledge; the Cultural Modeling of Hierarchy and Violence; and the Cultural Dynamics of Religion.

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

Cluster of Excellence

Physics, Fundamental Interactions and Structure of Matter(PRISMA)
Decoding the mysteries of Particle Physics
What is the glue that holds the universe together?
Even after the discovery of the Higgs boson, there
is still no final answer to this question. PRISMA
means to get to the bottom of some of these mysteries and to shed light on the dark matter in theuniverse or find out what is the origin of mass.
The physicists involved need excellent infrastructure for their research. Therefore, the energy-recovering, superconducting accelerator (MESA) is being
developed and constructed specifically for the cluster. An international user facility is to be added tothe existing TRIGA reactor. Moreover, PRISMA is apartner in large-scale international projects suchas the ATLAS experiment at CERN and the XENON
project in search of dark matter. One of the cluster’s
key initiatives that has already been implemented is the establishment of an international centre,
the Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics (MITP),

where leading international visiting researchers
host scientific programmes and workshops.
The cluster gives young scientists the opportunity
to contribute new ideas. Six tenure-track positions
and three W3 professorships are being instituted.
The cluster awards performance-based grants fromthe PRISMA research fund, which also includes abudget to finance child care and measures to encourage dual careers.
Partners:• Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz(applicant – speaker)• Helmholtz Institute Mainz• GSI Helmholtzzentrum für

Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt• Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien

und Energie (HZB)

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Coordinators

Professor Dr. Matthias Neubert
Professor Dr. Hartmut Wittig
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
PRISMA
Duesbergweg 10 –14
55099 Mainz/Germany
Tel.: +49 6131 39 21-840
E-Mail: prisma@uni-mainz.de
www.prisma.uni-mainz.de

Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München/Technische Universität München

Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics (MAP)
Exploiting the technical potential of light
Whether the issue is miniaturising electronic devices, or improving microscopy or cancer diagnosis andtherapy, photonics play a crucial role in everything.
The goal is to generate tailor-made light in previously unattained field strengths and frequencies.

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Ferenc Krausz
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik/Laserphysik
und Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik
Hans-Kopfermann-Straße 185748 Garching/Germany
Tel.: + 49 89 289-14013
Fax: + 49 89 289-14141
E-Mail: krausz@lmu.de
www.munich-photonics.de

MAP uses an interdisciplinary approach involving
Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Medicine, creatinga unique research infrastructure and an extensive
cross-disciplinary network for the development andapplication of lasers.
Besides the theoretical and experimental principles, MAP is also developing a number of applications, such as the structural elucidation of biological molecules, the course taken by electronic
processes and chemical reactions at nuclear level, and new imaging methods for clinical diagnostics based on high brilliance x-ray sources from laser-accelerated electrons. Laser-driven ion beams

100

are the basis for future procedures in tumour therapy. The researchers’ accumulated expertise will besustained and extended at the Centre for Advanced
Laser Applications (CALA).
Partners:• Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München(applicant – speaker)• Technische Universität München (co-applicant)• Universität der Bundeswehr, Munich• Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics,

GarchingFunding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München/Technische Universität München

Cluster of Excellence

Munich Center for Integrated Protein Science (CiPSM)
Proteins at the centre of the life sciences
In their capacity as central biological macromolecules, proteins determine the structure and function of all organisms. Thus, protein research is an
important basis for advances in biomedicine. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of therole played by these molecules, protein researchneeds to be carried out at the level of biologicalsystems. CiPSM combines the study of proteins at
the nuclear and molecular levels with the investigation of proteins in protein complexes, cellular networks and model organisms. The study of protein
dynamics is one of CiPSM’s research focuses. Modern techniques help scientists to observe proteinsin living cells and in various types of tissue. The
different sections address the biophysical examination of proteins, protein folding and transport,
the structure of protein complexes, how proteinsinteract with nucleic acids, as well as the manipulation of protein functions and dysfunctions in the
nervous system.
Partners:• Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München(applicant – speaker)• Technische Universität München (co-applicant)• Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Munich• Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Munich• Helmholtz Zentrum München

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Thomas Carell
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Department Chemie
Butenandtstraße 5–13
81377 München/Germany
Tel.: +49 89 2180-77661
Fax: +49 89 2180-77651
E-Mail: Thomas.Carell@cup.unimuenchen.dewww.cipsm.de101Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München/Technische Universität München

SyNergy – Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology
A holistic look at Neurology

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Christian Haass
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Adolf-Butenandt-Institut
Lehrstuhl für Stoffwechselbiochemie
Schillerstraße 4480336 München/Germany
Tel.: +49 89 2180-75081
Fax: +49 89 2180-75415
E-Mail: christian.haass@
med.uni-muenchen.dewww.synergy-munich.de“Systems Neurology” is a promising new research
field, analysing which mechanisms interact to produce neurological diseases. Systems Neurology
goes beyond the boundaries of traditional subject
areas – previously, neurodegenerative, vascularand inflammatory conditions were researched separately from one another. SyNergy focuses on thejunctures where disciplines overlap. An example isthe question as to how inflammation adversely affects the nervous system.
The Cluster supports cooperative tandem projectsof two or more scientists. These tandem projects
connect various disease mechanisms, as well as
bridging basic research and applied clinical research. To strengthen the interfaces between thedisciplines, SyNergy is creating several new professorships. In addition, the Cluster plans to introduce training and support programmes for young
physicians who aspire to work in science.

102

Partners:• Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München(applicant – speaker)• Technische Universität München (co-applicant)• German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases(DZNE), Munich• Helmholtz Zentrum München• Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB),

Planegg• The Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology(MPIN), Planegg• Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, MunichFunding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München/Technische Universität München/University of Augsburg

Cluster of Excellence

Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM)
Nanosystems in authentic environments
Artificial nanosystems have broadly-based potential for application in areas like Information Technology and Biotechnology, but also in the efficientuse of solar energy.
Since it was founded in 2006, the Nanosystems Initiative Munich has established itself as an internationally leading nano center. The scientific programme at the Cluster of Excellence rests on two
basic pillars, the design and the control of artificial
and multi-functional nanosystems. During the second funding period, the Cluster will focus on applying these systems in complex and authentic environments. Research is organised in five thematic
areas: Quantum Nanophysics, Hybrid Nanosystems,
Nanosystems for Energy Conversion, BiomolecularNanosystems and Biomedical Nanotechnologies.

Partners:• Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München(applicant – speaker)• Technische Universität München (co-applicant)• University of Augsburg (co-applicant)• Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry,

Martinsried• Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics,

Garching• Walther-Meißner-Institute for Low Temperature

Research, Munich• Helmholtz Zentrum München• Deutsches Museum, Munich

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Jochen Feldmann
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Lehrstuhl für Photonik und Optoelektronik
Amalienstraße 54
80799 München/Germany
Tel.: +49 89 2180-3359
Fax: +49 89 2180-5649
E-Mail: info@nano-initiative-munich.dewww.nano-initiative-munich.de103

Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Technische Universität München/
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Origin and Structure of the Universe
Tracking down the secrets of the universe

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Stephan Paul
Origin and Structure of the Universe
Boltzmannstraße 285748 Garching/Germany
Tel.: +49 89 35831-7100
Fax: +49 89 3299-4002
E-Mail: info@universe-cluster.de
www.universe-cluster.de

The Cluster of Excellence Universe scientists investigate the key questions of modern Physics andAstrophysics: Where does our Universe come fromand how does it evolve? The ability to understandthe nature of forces and matter promises to provide
insights into the baffling imbalance between matter and antimatter, the formation of stars, galaxies
and black holes, and the nature of dark matter anddark energy. Thus the Astrophysicists as well as the
Nuclear and Particle Physicists involved in the Cluster penetrate the innermost structures of space,matter and time, gaining insights into the origins of
nature. Experiments and astronomical observations
are complemented by complex simulations and theoretical models. The Cluster is based at the Research Campus Garching, one of the world’s largest
and most active centres in the field of Fundamental
Physics and Astrophysics.

104

Partners:• Technische Universität München(applicant – speaker)• Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München(co-applicant)• Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching• Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics,

Garching• Max Planck Institute for Physics, Munich• Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics,

Garching• European Southern Observatory (ESO), Garching• Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, Garching

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

The University of Münster

Cluster of Excellence

Religion and Politics in Pre-Modern and Modern Cultures
Return of religion?
Religion has returned to the political agenda. Phenomena that range from esoteric private religions
to fundamentalist violence are a cause of concern
in our seemingly secularised world. The prevailing conviction in Europe, namely that the historical
process of the modern age achieves its goal in thesovereign, secular state, turning religion into a legally guaranteed private matter, seems to be under
threat.

the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period to thecurrent situation in Europe, America, Asia and Africa. Research focuses on four areas: Normativity,
Mediality, Integration and Violence. It is the largest
research association of its kind nationwide and theonly one of the 43 Clusters of Excellence in Germany to examine the topic of religion.

The Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics”
consists of some 200 scholars from more than 20
disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences from 14 different countries. They explore thecomplex relationship between religion and politics
across the epochs and cultures: from the world ofancient gods to Judaism, Christianity and Islam in

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
Historisches Seminar
Domplatz 20–22
48143 Münster/Germany
Tel.: +49 251 83-24315
Fax: +49 251 83-24332
E-Mail: stollb@uni-muenster.de
www.religion-und-politik.de/en105

Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

The University of Münster

Cells in Motion (CiM): Imaging to Understand Cellular
Behaviour in Organisms
How do we view cells?

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Lydia SorokinWestfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
Institut für Physiologische Chemie undPathobiochemie
Waldeyerstraße 1548149 Münster/Germany
Tel.: +49 251 83-49316
Fax: +49 251 83-49313
E-Mail: cim@uni-muenster.de
www.cells-in-motion.deCells are the elementary building blocks of all organisms. Analysing their plasticity and dynamic behaviour is crucial to our understanding of development, homeostasis and regeneration. Novel opticalimaging strategies that can depict ‘cells in motion’,i.e. dynamic cell behaviour in vivo, have revolutionised our insight and impressively demonstrated theneed to study cellular behaviour in living organisms.
Yet the technology has also showed us deficits in
our current imaging strategies. The same is true for
medical imaging which, although it was advancedby the development of innovative imaging technologies that allow physicians to see what they aretreating, still has limitations in terms of specificity
and resolution. Based on our interdisciplinary expertise in Münster, we are in a unique position to
overcome these limitations and gain a better understanding of cellular behaviour in organisms by developing and employing novel imaging strategies.

106

CiM offers an interfaculty environment that sustainably promotes basic biomedical research, clinical translation as well as the interaction between
them. Imaging is our common strategy for characterising cell behaviour, regardless of whether thisis in cells or tissue, in animal models or in patients.
Partners:• The University of Münster (applicant – speaker)• Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine,

MünsterFunding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

University of Oldenburg/Hannover Medical School/
Leibniz Universität Hannover

Cluster of Excellence

Hearing4all
Research for better hearing
Nearly one in five Germans and half of all German
seniors over the age of 65 suffer from impaired
hearing. There is an increasing need for more precise diagnostic methods and individually adjusted
hearing aids. The Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all
combines basic and applied research striving towards a breakthrough in auditory research and rehabilitation. It focuses on three research areas:• Individual diagnostics• Optimising hearing devices by applying theory-

driven functional principles• Developing new technologies to adapt hearing

support to patients’ needs
Approximately 80 per cent of the world productionof hearing aids contains expertise from Oldenburg.
Hannover Medical School operates the world’s largest cochlear implant centre. The two locations haveestablished a joint centre for auditory research tobundle the work of Physicists, Engineers, Psychologists, Biologists, medical researchers and Physicians. The Cluster offers support for doctoral candidates as well as career advancement for post-docs
and junior research group leaders.
Partners:• University of Oldenburg (applicant – speaker)• Hannover Medical School (co-applicant)• Leibniz Universität Hannover (co-applicant)• Jade University of Applied Sciences,

Wilhelmshaven/Oldenburg/Elsfleth• Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media

Technology IDMT, Oldenburg• Hörtech gGmbH, Oldenburg• Hörzentrum Oldenburg GmbH
• Laser Zentrum Hannover• Deutsches HörZentrum Hannover107

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Dr. Birger KollmeierCarl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
Abteilung Medizinische Physik
26111 Oldenburg/Germany
Tel.: +49 441 798-5470
Fax: +49 441 798-3902
E-Mail: birger.kollmeier@uni-oldenburg.de
www.hearing4all.eu/EN

Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Saarland University

Multimodal Computing and Interaction
Perfecting access to digital content
Today, digital content comes in different forms,
such as language, images, films, 3D models and databases. The Cluster of Excellence wants to makethis content as readily available as possible andis working to enhance capabilities: computer systems should learn to analyse and interpret even incomplete or noisy data, to process the knowledge
acquired and present it in real time. Information
should not only be communicated but intelligently
mined, understood and organised. This is the goal
the Cluster of Excellence has set itself.
Coordinator

Professor Dr. Hans-Peter Seidel
Max-Planck-Institut für InformatikCampus E1 466123 Saarbrücken/Germany
Tel.: +49 681 9325-4000
Fax: +49 681 9325-4099

Information systems are also expected to interact
with humans naturally, to consider the environmental context, to respond to language, text and gestures, and to answer appropriately. This requires
new systems to be created in which all this occurs
as naturally and as intuitively as possible.

E-Mail: hpseidel@mmci.uni-saarland.dewww.mmci.uni-saarland.de108

Partners:• Saarland University (applicant – speaker)• Max Planck Institute for Informatics,

Saarbrücken
• German Research Center for Artificial

Intelligence, Saarbrücken
• Max Planck Institute for Software Systems,

Saarbrücken

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

University of Stuttgart

Cluster of Excellence

Simulation Technology (Sim Tech): From Isolated Numerical
Approaches to an Integrative Systems Science
Solutions from virtual worlds
Virtually re-enacting and solving real problems iswhat simulation technology in modern researchis all about. The Cluster of Excellence bundles thevarious simulation models and methods that havebeen developed in isolation into a holistic systems science. More than 60 projects bring together researchers in Engineering, Natural Science, theLife and Social Sciences who cooperate on basic
research for their vision of five long-term applications: simulation-based design of new materials,
virtualised development of prototypes, environmental engineering, an integrative description of
the human body and cyber infrastructure.

Partners:• University of Stuttgart (applicant – speaker)• German Aerospace Centre, Stuttgart• Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing

Engineering and Automation, Stuttgart• Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems,

Stuttgart and Tübingen

Coordinator

Professor Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Ehlers
Universität Stuttgart
Institut für Mechanik (Bauwesen)
Pfaffenwaldring 770569 Stuttgart/Germany

Since 2007, the Cluster has been breaking newpaths in order to make visualisations from models
to interactive systems more exact, predictions morereliable and simulations more efficient. The goal is
to utilise this interdisciplinary exchange to addresspressing issues in science and society.

Tel.: +49 711 685-66346
Fax: +49 711 685-66347
E-Mail: wolfgang.ehlers@mechbau.unistuttgart.dewww.simtech.uni-stuttgart.de109

Cluster of ExcellenceFunding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

University of Tübingen

Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN)
How the brain switches

Coordinator

Professor Dr. Hans-Peter Thier
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
Universitätsklinikum Tübingen
Zentrum für Neurologie
Hertie-Institut für klinische Hirnforschung
Hoppe-Seyler-Straße 372076 Tübingen/Germany
Tel.: +49 7071 29-83057
Fax: +49 7071 29-5326
E-Mail: cin@cin.uni-tuebingen.dewww.cin.uni-tuebingen.deIntegrative Neuroscience examines how individual
neurons function as well as their complex interaction in circuits and networks without which manydifferent brain functions would not be possible. To
discover how this interplay works in detail and how
diseases of the brain impede its functions are core
objectives of the CIN Cluster of Excellence whichseeks to unravel the basis of brain function in termsof information theory and biology. These efforts are
guided by the conviction that progress will only bemade if a consistently interdisciplinary approach isfostered. Scientists at the CIN work in five complementary research areas to improve, for example,
modern imaging technologies and develop neuroprosthetics to replace functions that have been lostas a result of illness or disease. Their common goal
is to develop new approaches in medical engineering and information technology. In order to secure

110

the availability of junior researchers, the CIN maintains a Graduate Training Centre with three Graduate Schools.
Partners:• University of Tübingen (applicant – speaker)• Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing

Engineering and Automation, Stuttgart• Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics,

Tübingen• Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems,

TübingenCurrent Institutional Strategies

111Institutional Strategy

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

RWTH Aachen University

RWTH 2020: Meeting Global Challenges
The Integrated Interdisciplinary University of Technology
Energy, mobility, health and demographic change– RWTH Aachen University meets these global
challenges with a holistic research strategy. It willcontinue to strengthen its renowned focus areas ofEngineering and the Natural Sciences to exploit innovative potential to the full.
RWTH Aachen University is implementing the­following measures:

Professor Dr.-Ing.
Ernst M. Schmachtenberg
Rektor der RWTH Aachen
Templergraben 55
52056 Aachen/Germany
Tel.: +49 241 80-94000
Fax: +49 241 80-92102

Internationally Recognised Scientific Profile
RWTH Aachen University will use the strength of
its core competencies in Engineering and the Natural Sciences to sharpen its profile yet more. In doingso, it will drive forward the integration of the Faculities of Arts and Humanities, Medicine and Schoolof Business and Economics in order to be able toaddress issues of high scientific, technological andsocial relevance.

E-Mail: exzellenz@rwth-aachen.dewww.rwth-aachen.de/excellence

112

JARA: Focusing Competences – Shaping the Future
The Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (­JARA) between RWTH Aachen University and the Forschungs­
zentrum Jülich is expanding its strategic cooperation in research, teaching and infrastructure.
Place to Be
In order to recruit and retain the best scientists andstudents, RWTH Aachen University is introducing a
coherent strategy for human resources and organisational development.
Corporate Governance and Structures
New inter-faculty profile areas and Integrated Interdisciplinary Institutes (I³) will greatly strengtheninterdisciplinary research on important topics of the
future.

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Freie Universität Berlin

Institutional Strategy

Veritas – Iustitia – Libertas. International Network University
Strong networks in research and teaching
Since it was founded in 1948, the academic ethos
of Freie Universität Berlin has been marked by threecore values: truth, justice, and freedom. They havebecome the categories that inform the university’s
future institutional strategy as it consistently continues to develop the idea of networking that is anchored in its founding tradition.
Freie Universität continues to build its networks fortraining young researchers as well as its researchand internationalisation networks. In cooperation
with non-university research institutions, Freie Universität uses its career path model to promote junior researchers during all phases of work and training. Three strategic centers underpin regional andinternational networking processes:
Support for Junior Researchers
The Dahlem Research School develops strategies to promote structured doctoral studies andestablishes quality standards that apply to the entire university. The benefits of the training and support measures it generates reach well beyond the
23 programmes of its own.
Promoting Research
The Center for Research Strategy flanks the systematic expansion of interdisciplinary focus areas.
Outstanding young researchers are supported in
the context of Junior Research Groups as well as
temporary W2 professorships.
Internationalisation
The Center for International Cooperation has a network consisting of seven liaison offices around theworld. It supports international research collaborations and promotes close networking with leading
academic institutions in particular through its ofPrimary Partnerships.

Professor Dr. Peter-André Alt
Präsident der Freien Universität Berlin
Kaiserswerther Straße 16–18
14195 Berlin/Germany
Tel.: +49 30 838-73100
Fax: +49 30 838-73107
E-Mail: praesident@fu-berlin.dewww.fu-berlin.de/sites/inu

113

Institutional Strategy

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Bildung durch Wissenschaft – Educating Enquiring Minds
Guiding principles: Individuality, Openness, GuidanceProfessor Dr. Jan-Hendrik Olbertz
Präsident der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Unter den Linden 6
10099 Berlin/Germany

Individuality, openness and guidance – these are
the guiding principles on which Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) means to build its future. Itsinstitutional strategy comprises three central concepts: to continue developing excellent conditions
for top-level research, to promote young scientists,
as well as to reform the university’s governanceand administrative structures. The entire university
will benefit from a central reform plan to generate
ideal conditions where all individuals can develop
their full potential. It includes a Strategic Innovation Fund with its central project of Integrative Research Institutes, the Caroline von Humboldt Programme for gender equality, as well as the support
programme for Internationalisation of Research.

Tel.: +49 30 2093-2100
Fax: +49 30 2093-2729
E-Mail: praesident@uv.hu-berlin.dewww.exzellenz.hu-berlin.de/institutional-strategy

114

The concept of ‘openness’ goes hand in hand with
the individuality-based approach. HU is building ona phase model that offers support to the membersof the university at all stages in their academic careers. Openness between excellent research andoutstanding teaching plays a key role here, andenhances opportunities to integrate young talents
into research early on. Under the slogan ‘orientation’, HU is carrying out a reform of its governanceto strengthen steering and decision-making processes as well as strategic development at departmental level. Flanking this process, the administration is also being transformed into service networks­suited to academia.

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

University of Bremen

Institutional Strategy

Ambitious and Agile
A young university takes a leap forward
With its broad range of subjects, 20,000 students,
270 professors and a high percentage of third-party funds, the University of Bremen has establisheda firm place for itself in the German university
landscape, and that just four decades after it was
founded. The ambitious and agile university has developed a strategy for the future that will help ittake a leap forward and establish itself as an internationally visible research university. The strategy
has three objectives:• The university will hone its profile in national andinternational cutting-edge research with the helpof cooperative junior research groups as well as
professorships that build bridges between university and non-university research as well as
various disciplines.

• Exploration projects and creative units will givecreative researchers and small groups freedom
to pursue new, high-risk research topics. The­‘future fund’ promotes up-and-coming researcher areas by financing fixed-term professorships.
• The university will support excellent young re-searchers: the PhD centre provides assistancefor candidates even outside of structured programmes and attractive entry-level positions
give post-docs the autonomy to conduct independent research. Women researchers are offered additional incentives in the form of preferential appointments with very good provisions
and part-time options.

Professor Dr.-Ing. Bernd Scholz-Reiter
Rektor der Universität Bremen
Bibliothekstraße 128359 Bremen/Germany
Tel.: +49 421 218-60011
Fax: +49 421 218-60009
E-Mail: rektor@uni-bremen.de
www.uni-bremen.de/en

115Institutional Strategy

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

Technische Universität Dresden

The Synergetic University
Restructuring to gain more common ground
TU Dresden (TUD) is Germany’s largest universityof technology, offering the full range of academic
disciplines. Having successfully mastered the challenges of German reunification, TUD subsequently improved significantly according to all performance indicators, achieving excellence in the four
major academic disciplines of Engineering, Natural
Sciences, Medicine, as well as Humanities and Social/Cultural Sciences. With its institutional strategy, TUD intends to catch up with the leading universities worldwide. To do this, it plans to adopt thefollowing measures:
Professor Hans Müller-Steinhagen
Rektor der Technischen Universität Dresden
Mommsenstraße 1101062 Dresden/Germany
Tel.: +49 351 463-34312
Fax: +49 351 463-37121• Novel recruiting methods, as well as support pro-grammes that fully exploit TUD’s existing humanresources potential, will enhance the university’s
innovative strength.

E-Mail: rektor@tu-dresden.de
www.tu-dresden.de/exzellenz

116• Streamlining its 14 departments into five schools

will create more effective structures.
• De-centralising and optimising its administrative

processes will prepare TUD to meet the demands
on an internationally competitive university.
• The further development of DRESDEN-concept,

a close research alliance between TUD, non-university research and cultural institutions in Dresden, is creating synergies in research, teaching
and infrastructure.
The promotion of gender equality, interdisciplinarity, internationality, knowledge transfer, and research-oriented teaching will complement thesemeasures.

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

Heidelberg University

Institutional Strategy

Heidelberg: Realising the Potential of a Comprehensive University
Building bridges between academic cultures
The concept of the comprehensive university is acentral component of Heidelberg University’s strategy. With its extraordinary breadth of outstanding subjects and disciplines, the university aims to
make a significant contribution to our understanding of the complex material, biological, cultural andsocietal issues of our times. This requires not only
strong research disciplines, but also the basic conditions that foster academic work across disciplinary boundaries.
During the first funding phase, four main areas ofresearch, the Fields of Focus, have emerged which
are to be further developed as the core of Heidelberg’s research strategy.
• FoF 1: Molecular and Cellular Basis of Life

• FoF 3: Cultural Dynamics in Globalised Worlds• FoF 4: Self-regulation and Regulation:

Individuals and Organisations
Further measures also aim at intensifying academic
cooperation on different levels:• Promotion of collaboration between the Fieldsof Focus and integration into the university• Development of networks with external andinternational partners• Optimisation of the general conditions forresearch and teaching
By consistently strengthening its collaborations,
Heidelberg University uses extensive synergy­effects to shape itself into a leading institution of­research and research-based teaching.

• FoF 2: Structure and Pattern Formation in theProfessor Dr. Bernhard Eitel
Rektor der Ruprecht-Karls-Universität
Heidelberg
Grabengasse 169117 Heidelberg/Germany
Tel.: +49 6221 54-2315/-2316
Fax: +49 6221 54-2147

Material World

E-Mail: rektor@rektorat.uni-heidelberg.de
www.uni-heidelberg.de/excellenceinitiative

117

Institutional Strategy

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

University of Cologne

Meeting the Challenge of Change and Complexity
Enhancing research in four core profile areas
The University of Cologne has designed a strategy to shape its long-term development and drive
it towards achieving its vision of being a leading
institute with excellent research and teaching. In
particular, the strategy will exploit the university’s
great potential, and hone and develop its research
profile in four core areas.
The profile areas are:• Ageing-associated diseases• Behavioural economic engineering and social

cognition
Professor Dr. Axel Freimuth
Rektor der Universität zu Köln
Albertus-Magnus-Platz
50923 Köln/Germany• Quantum matter and materials• Socio-economic, cultural and political change in

the Southern Hemisphere.

Tel.: +49 221 470-2201
Fax: +49 221 470-4893
E-Mail: rektor@uni-koeln.dewww.portal.uni-koeln.de/zukunftskonzept.html

118

The strategy is also designed to foster integrative
development for the university as a whole. For thispurpose, each core profile area will be embedded ina larger context of broad thematic expertise. These
areas of expertise will drive interdisciplinary research and prevent the core profile areas from being isolated within the university. New leadership
structures and processes will improve the university’s flexibility and ability to act as well as creating
an internal support system that will offer extensive
assistance on all academic levels – from outstanding individuals to excellent, large-scale concerted
research projects.

Funding period:
1 November 2007 – 31 October 2017

University of Konstanz

Institutional Strategy

Modell Konstanz – Towards a Culture of Creativity
Space for Ideas
Freedom to do research, learning under excellent
conditions, breathing academia: with its institutional strategy “Modell Konstanz”, the University ofKonstanz strenghtens its culture of creativity that issecond nature to all its members. This means providing the best possible working and living conditions for all members of the university in a communicative and international environment, creating
the space for them to pursue innovative ideas.
The “Zukunftskolleg”, the only one of its kind inGermany, embodies the Konstanz concept of promoting the university’s young researchers: it unites
talented young researchers and experienced scientists of all disciplines in an international community, enabling young academic talents to conduct
their own independent research at an early stage
in their careers.

The core measures of the Konstanz institutional
strategy are:• Encouraging creative processes in an interna-

tional community of top researchers• Customised career planning support for young

researchers• Internationalisation, gender equality and support

for families on all academic levels• Optimising general conditions for top-level re-search by creating research-friendly support
services• Science communication and knowledge transfer

in order to convey research outcomes to the economic, political and public arenas.
The institutional strategy has been successful inboth phases of the Excellence Initiative.

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ulrich Rüdiger
Rektor der Universität Konstanz
Universitätsstraße 1078464 Konstanz/Germany
Tel.: +49 7531 88-3603
Fax: +49 7531 88-3766
E-Mail: ulrich.ruediger@uni-konstanz.de
www.uni-konstanz.de

119

Institutional Strategy

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

LMUexcellent
Excellence in Research
LMU Munich is one of Germany’s leading­research-intensive universities. As a genuine “universitas”, it offers a broad spectrum of subjects
covering all areas of knowledge. The overall aimof the Institutional Strategy LMUexcellent is torender LMU even more attractive for the very besttalents and to further strengthen the quality of its
research. Key measures were already implemented in the first programme phase of the Excellence
Initiative. LMU has since continued to consistently
pursue this aim in the second programme phase.
Professor Dr. Bernd Huber
Präsident der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
MünchenGeschwister-Scholl-Platz 180539 München/Germany
Tel.: +49 89 2180-2412
Fax: +49 89 2180-3656

LMU Munich will further sharpen its research profile
by investing substantially in the continuous development of an internationally competitive research
infrastructure and by expanding its measures forthe recruitment of outstanding researchers. Additionally, offering reliable career-development

E-Mail: praesident@lmu.de
www.lmu.de/excellent

120

perspectives from the doctorate to professorshipplays a central role. This is reflected in various programmes for the postdoctoral phase and the extension of LMU’s established and successful tenure-track model. LMU is also employing a range
of instruments to strengthen its network of international contacts by e.g. intensifying existing key
cooperations with leading universities worldwide
and further developing its fellowship programmes.
Besides internationality, equality and diversity constitute guiding principles which underlie all measures implemented in the context of LMUexcellent.

Funding period:
1 November 2006 – 31 October 2017

Technische Universität München

Institutional Strategy

TUM. The Entrepreneurial University
Science shaped by entrepreneurial thinking
The Entrepreneurial University opens up new horizons for itself and others. It tackles international
competition at the level of excellence head on. In
order to do so, it develops and implements strategies that promise sustainable, systemic added value and fertilise the German university system.
TUM’s institutional strategy 2012 defines three essential structural features:• With its new appointment and career system

TUM FACULTY TENURE TRACK, TUM enacts bestinternational practices, at the same time pioneering a paradigm shift in the German university
system. Rigorous yet transparent quality criteria
prepare the path to professorial status. By 2020,
TUM will have created 100 new professorships.

• Thematically focused, transdisciplinary “Integra-

tive Research Centers” will serve to develop thetraditional faculty structure into a matrix structure:∙ M UNICH SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING(Energy, Green Technologies)∙ M UNICH CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY IN
SOCIETY (Technology in relation to the
Humanities and Social Sciences).

∙ A NNA BOYKSEN DIVERSITY RESEARCHCENTER (Diversity Research)• Globalization through localization: affiliated cam-puses abroad extend TUM’s international reach.
At the same time, they serve as centres for recruiting young scientists at all levels, including
post-docs, as well as visiting researchers.

Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult.
Wolfgang A. Herrmann
Präsident der Technischen Universität
München
Arcisstraße 21
80333 München/Germany
Tel.: +49 89 289-22209
Fax: +49 89 289-23399
E-Mail: praesident@tum.de
www.exzellenz.tum.de/en/zukunftskonzept

121Institutional Strategy

Funding period:
1 November 2012 – 31 October 2017

University of Tübingen

Research, Relevance, Responsibility
Research that matters to society“Research − Relevance – Responsibility” is the University of Tübingen’s strategy to further strengthen
its excellent basic research position and to complement it with an emphasis on practical applications
and support for young scientists. To do this, theUniversity of Tübingen will increasingly embrace
themes of socio-political relevance and equip students with the broadest possible set of skills.
Five measures are planned:• To promote young scientists by rapidly expanding

Professor Dr. Bernd Engler
Rektor der Eberhard Karls Universität
Tübingen
Wilhelmstraße 5 (Alte Botanik)
72074 Tübingen/Germany

the Graduate Academy, founding and promoting
independent junior research groups, as well as
appointing outstanding young scientists, particularly women, to junior professorships.

Tel.: +49 7071 29-72512
Fax: +49 7071 29-5990
E-Mail: rektor@uni-tuebingen.de
www.uni-tuebingen.de/en122• An initiative to internationalise the university bybuilding strategic partnerships as well as launching coordinated exchange and collaborative projects.
• A gender equality drive instituting new profes-

sorships for top end (junior) female researchers.
• To build ‘core facilities’ to coordinate the use anddevelopment of infrastructures within and outside of the university.
• Installation of scientific platforms for increased

networking with application-oriented basic research.
All these measures are sustainable and will continue beyond the maximum duration of funding under
the Excellence Initiative.

Image credits:
U1 (left) bildschön/schumacher, (middle) Kraenk Visuell/European Space Agency, (right) Peter Winandy, p. 12 BMBF, p. 13
Georg Banek, p. 14 (top) DFG/Bildschön, (bottom) WR, p. 19 Grafik/axeptdesign.de, p. 22, 69, 112 Peter Winandy, p. 23
Professor Dr. Johannes Marx, p. 24 BIGSAS, p. 25 Shutterstock Images LLC, p. 26 David Ausserhofer, S.27, 70 Charité- Universitätsmedizin Berlin, p. 28 iStock Photo, p. 29 Freie Universität Berlin/CeDis, p. 30 Wiebke Peitz, p. 31, 32 Leo
Seidel, p. 33 Berlin Mathematical School/DFG-Forschungszentrum Matheon, p. 34 BGHS/Thomas Abel, p. 35 Universität
Bochum, p. 36 BIGSSS, p. 37 Kraenk Visuell/European Space Agency, p. 38 TU Darmstadt, p. 39 Amac Garbe/www.einsatz-zentrale.de, p. 40 Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, LKT/Kurt Fuchs, p. 41 Universität Freiburg, p. 42, 86 Universität
Gießen, p. 43 Universität Göttingen, p. 44, 45, 93, 94, 117 Universität Heidelberg, p. 46 HGS MathComp, p. 47 JSMC/
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, p. 48 Andrea Fabry, p. 49 Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, p. 50, 95 Universität Kiel,
p. 51 Lisa Beller/KISD, p. 52 Norbert Stuhrmann, p. 53, 54, 98, 119 Universität Konstanz, p. 55 Eric Lichtenscheidt, p. 56
Stefanie Eichler/Uni Mannheim, p. 57, 101, 102, 120 LMU München, p. 58 Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek,
München, p. 59 Pressestelle der LMU/Jan Greune, p. 60 Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, p. 61 TUM/Astrid Eckert,
p. 62 Universität des Saarlandes, p. 63 GSaME, Universität Stuttgart, p. 64 Friedhelm Albrecht/Universität Tübingen,p. 65 Universität Ulm, p. 66 GSLS, p. 68 Thilo Vogel, p. 71 Freie Universität Berlin, p. 72 BWG/Claudia Lamas Cornejo 2013,
p. 73 TU Berlin/UniCat, p. 74 Universität Bielefeld, p. 75 RESOLV, p. 76 Universität Bonn/Frank Homann, p. 77 caesar/
Dr. Michael Bockhorst, p. 78 SDProPho/Sean Diaz, p. 79 Hendrik Schmidt, p. 80 CRTD, p. 81, 116 TU Dresden, p. 82 Universität
zu Köln/Fabian Heitzhausen, p. 83 EAM/Malter, p. 84 Max-Planck-Institut für Biophysik, Frankfurt a. M., p. 85 Normative
Orders, p. 87 BIOSS/Olaf Herzog, p. 88 BrainLinks-BrainTools/Universität Freiburg/Patrick Wörner Konzepte, p. 89 Professor
Stefan Jakobs, Max-Planck-Institut für Biophysikalische Chemie/CNMPB, p. 90 Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie,
Hamburg/Michael Böttinger, Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum, p. 91 CUI, p. 92 Medizinische Hochschule Hannover/Lebao,
p. 96 Entzündungen an Grenzflächen, p. 97 gmp, p. 99 JGU/Thomas Hartmann, p. 100 Thorsten Naeser, p. 103 Nanosystems
Initiative Munich, p. 104 Exzellenzcluster Universe, p. 105 Exzellenzcluster „Religion und Politik“, p. 106 Universität
Münster, p. 107 Universität Oldenburg, p. 108 Uwe Bellhäuser/das bilderwerk, p. 109 Universität Stuttgart, p. 110, 122
Universität Tübingen, p. 113 Bavaria Luftbild, p. 114 Heike Zappe, p. 115 Universität Bremen, p. 118 Universität zu Köln,
p. 121 TUM/Andreas Heddergott, U4 (left) SDProPho/Sean Diaz, (middle) Shutterstock Images LLC, (right) Thorsten Naeser

The Excellence Initiative – A Success Story

Information on each institution:

In launching the Excellence Initiative, policy-makers and science joined forces to promote outstanding research projects
and institutions at Germany’s universities. Their aim was todrive top-level research and enhance Germany’s international
visibility as a research location. This unique competition has
already had a sustained impact on the academic landscapeand is now in its second phase – the success story continues.

– the core research areas and themes“Excellence Initiative at a Glance” presents all 99 Graduate
Schools, Clusters of Excellence, and Institutional Strategies,
each with its own page.

5th Edition 2013
including all projects funded in thesecond phase 2012 – 2017

– the universities and their collaborative partners fromscience and business– the spokespersons and key contact information