FAQ – Questions and answers about the Excellence Strategy

The Excellence Strategy is a joint federal and state funding program for the sustainable strengthening of top-level university research in Germany. It supports universities in establishing and developing internationally visible research profiles.

The program pursues 2 central goals:

• the targeted promotion of excellent research through the establishment of interdisciplinary clusters at individual locations
• the enabling of institutional transformation through the permanent funding of selected Universities of Excellence with convincing overall strategies.

These 2 funding lines (clusters of excellence and Universities of Excellence) are interlinked. The total budget is currently €533 million per year but will be increased to €687 million per year from 2026.

The official website for the Excellence Strategy provides detailed information, for example, on the funding conditions and the evaluation process.

Clusters of excellence are scientific alliances in which excellent researchers work together on forward-looking topics. The aim is to establish internationally visible research focuses—often interdisciplinary in nature and studied across locations.

The funding line is supervised by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Each cluster receives up to €10 million in funding for up to 7 years; a second funding phase is possible if research goals and structural goals have been achieved.

In the 2018–2025 funding period, 57 clusters of excellence were funded nationwide. For the second funding phase (2026–2032), 70 clustershave been approved.

The University of Hamburg was successful in both funding phases (2018–2025 and 2026–2032) with 4 clusters of excellence. They reflect the University’s key research areas and strengthen its international visibility.

• Climate, Climatic Change, and Society (CLICCS): How are climate futures changing, and how is society changing under climate change conditions?
• CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter: How can dynamic processes in matter be understood and purposefully steered—right through to the development of new materials?
• Quantum Universe (QU): Research at the interface of particle physics and gravitation: What are the fundamental building blocks of space, time, and matter?
• Understanding Written Artefacts (UWA): How do written artifacts emerge, migrate, and change across time and cultural spaces?

All 4 clusters are based on existing core research areas at the University of Hamburg and combine excellent basic research with innovative, interdisciplinary approaches.

Universities of Excellence receive permanent funding to foster scientific performance institutionally. The prerequisite is a convincing overall strategy for profile building, internationalization, and the expansion of research-promoting framework conditions.

Individual universities must have successfully acquired at least 2 clusters of excellence in order to be able to apply. The funding line is supervised by the German Council of Science and Humanities and is designed for long-term development with regular evaluation every 7 years.

All Universities of Excellence receive annual funding of up to €15 million in addition to their basic budget. In the first funding phase from 2019 to 2026, there are 10 Universities of Excellence and one alliance. In the second phase from 2027 to 2033, up to 15 universities or alliances can receive this status.

The University of Hamburg has held the title of University of Excellence since 2019. The basis of this was its successful application for the overall strategy A Flagship University: Innovating and Cooperating for a Sustainable Future.

The strategy title is linked to long-term institutional funding and marks the University’s ambition to develop strategically in research and teaching, knowledge exchange, infrastructure, and internationalization.

The now expanded leitmotif Innovating and Cooperating for a Sustainable Future in a Digital Age describes the overarching framework. It combines scientific curiosity with social responsibility—particularly in the fields of sustainability and digitalization, which are seen as key transformation tasks.

The University of Hamburg is thus strengthening its profile as a flagship university: It assumes responsibility in the region, is closely networked with partners in Germany and abroad, and sees itself as a formative player in the German research and higher education system.

This creates the basis for a holistic institutional transformation for the purpose of an innovative, responsible, and internationally visible institution.

As part of its overall strategy, the University of Hamburg pursues a number of goals aimed at strengthening its academic performance and international visibility. This is implemented via prioritized measures in research, teaching, knowledge exchange, infrastructure, and internationalization. 

In concrete terms, this means that

• the University supports the recruitment and retention of outstanding researchers at all career levels through new funding instruments, appointment strategies, and qualification programs.
• It enables the targeted expansion of profile-forming research areas, particularly in the context of its clusters of excellence, core research areas, and emerging fields.
• The University of Hamburg strengthens research-oriented teaching—for example, through interdisciplinary formats, project-based modules, and structured programs for students and doctoral researchers.
• It further expands cooperation with partner institutions in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region and internationally, creates synergies, and strengthens the mutual exchange with society.
• The University invests in modern infrastructure, digital systems, and internationalization projects, thus improving the structural conditions for excellent research and teaching.

The measures do not take effect automatically but rather in conjunction with other framework conditions—both within and outside the University of Hamburg.

The University of Hamburg uses excellence funding specifically for measures that support its strategic goals and institutional development—particularly in the areas of research, teaching, knowledge exchange, infrastructure, and internationalization.

The funds will enable the implementation of around 20 projects that were identified and prioritized in an internal development process. These include, for example, programs to promote researchers in the early stages of their career, new study programs, international cooperation formats, and structural innovations in research support.

Excellence Strategy funds may not be used for general budgetary tasks. This excludes, for example, covering ongoing operating costs or structural renovations.

Excellence funding enables targeted support measures for researchers and students, from the early stages of study up to professorships.

This funding is used, for example, to:

• initiate student research groups and strengthen interdisciplinary learning spaces
• support early career researchers through programs, mentoring, and start-up funding
• strategically flank the appointment process, for instance, through equipment packages and partnerships.

Moreover, the funding fosters the development of new research projects that are socially relevant and created in cooperation with nonuniversity partners, for example, as part of knowledge exchange or in interdisciplinary alliances.

The funding also helps to further develop structural units such as the Sustainability Office or the Digital Office and to expand international cooperation.

These effects arise from the interaction between support, participation, and institutional learning capacity.

The University of Hamburg’s research profile is based on 2 structurally anchored pillars:

• the core research areas, in which long-term visibility, alliance structures, and supraregional cooperation have already been established
• the emerging fields, which can be further developed in a targeted manner, for example, with regard to future clusters of excellence or international research projects.

Alongside the profile initiatives and individual research, these form the basis for excellent research and forward-looking developments.

Core research areas

The core research areas bundle large-scale research activities in strategically prioritized fields. They are characterized by interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches, strong collaborative projects and a comprehensive infrastructure.

The core research areas at the University of Hamburg are:

• Climate, Earth and Environment
• Photon and Nanosciences
• Particle, Astro- and Mathematical Physics
• Manuscript Cultures
• Inflammation, Infection, and Immunity
• Neurosciences and Cognitive Systems.

These areas form the backbone of the University’s research profile and are being systematically strengthened and further consolidated as part of the Excellence Strategy.

Emerging fields

The emerging fields comprise research areas that have been thematically and structurally identified for strategic expansion. They have high potential for development in terms of external-funding acquisition, interdisciplinary connectivity, or international visibility:

• Health Economics
• Grounds, Norms, Decisions
• Law in Global Contexts
• The Early Modern World
• Kidney Health
• Mechanisms of Change
• Languages and Literacies

These areas are being developed step by step on the basis of internal processes, peer evaluations, and research policy developments. Not every emerging field automatically becomes a core research area or cluster of excellence, but each one contributes to the strategic development of the profile.

Like all Universities of Excellence, the University of Hamburg is evaluated every 7 years as part of a nationwide process. The aim is to check whether the conditions for continued funding are still being met.

The evaluation is organized by the German Council of Science and Humanities and is based on several elements:

• a written self-evaluation report, which presents the objectives, measures, developments, and effects to date
• an on-site visit by an international group of evaluators, which provides insights into the implementation practices and institutional framework conditions.

Specifically assessed are:

• whether the University continues to fulfill the funding criteria
• the progress that has been made in relation to the original application
• the degree to which excellence funding has made a structural impact.

The final evaluation is carried out by the Committee of Experts, which makes a recommendation to the Excellence Commission in March 2026 for the funding period 2027–2033.

The evaluation is not a formal reaccreditation process, but a comprehensive impact assessment with a view to furthering development, depth of implementation, and strategic connectivity.