German Excellence Strategy Selects 70 Clusters for Funding
The German government and states have announced the selection of 70 clusters for the “Exzellenzstrategie” program, aimed at strengthening top research at German universities. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Wissenschaftsrat (WR) revealed the chosen clusters on Thursday.
From a total of 98 applications, the maximum number of projects were approved. The 70 selected clusters consist of 45 continuations of previously funded projects and 25 new initiatives. These will be supported by 43 universities from 13 federal states. Forty-three of the 70 clusters will be led by a single university, 18 by two and nine by three universities in collaboration. Five clusters will be led by universities from multiple federal states.
The funding will commence on January 1, 2026 and run for seven years. The annual funding of approximately 539 million euros will be provided, with the federal government contributing 75 percent and the relevant state governments providing the remaining 25 percent. Due to the high number of approved clusters, the funding amounts will be adjusted linearly by around 24 percent.
The decisions were announced following a meeting in Bonn. The DFG is responsible for the Excellence Cluster funding line, while the WR leads the Excellence University funding line.