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Second programme phase until 2017
The continuation of the Excellence initiative will provide a secure basis for world-class research at universities. Successful projects, which were started in the first two rounds, can now be continued and new projects for the development of world-class research can be realized.
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information also on the web pages of the German Research Foundation and German Council of Science and Humanities.
The Concept of the „Excellence Initiative“
In June 2005 Federal and State Government passed the concept of the “Excellence Initiative” with the following aims:
Support of top-class university research and a better international visibility
Creates outstanding conditions for junior scientists in universities
Intensifies cooperation between disciplines and institutions
Strengthens the international research network
Develops the gender equality of men and women in science
Deepens the scientific competition and expands the quality of Germany’s scientific position.
The Excellence Initiative shows three columns
Graduate Schools for young scientists
Clusters of Excellence for promotion of top-class research
Institutional Strategies for advancing top-level university research.
In October 2006 the internationally held Excellence Initiative Grant Committee singled in a two-step selection process 17 Excellence cluster out of 157 received outlines of the whole country. The selection met the criteria of scientific quality, interdisciplinary approach, international visibility and the joint research capacities of the region.
Munich is the home of five Clusters of Excellence
The Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität München is the home for five clusters:
- Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics (MAP)
- Munich Center for Integrated Protein Science (CIPSM)
- Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM)
Two of them belong to the Technical University of Munich:
More about the background if the Excellence Initiative: www.dfg.de
All headquarters of the Excellence initiative at a glance: www.dfg.de/forschungsfoerderung