International Strategy Conferences
With international conference formats, University of Hamburg—University of Excellence strives to deepen exchange with major players in the international academic system, politics, and civil society. Formats include: Hamburg Forum for Global Science and Policy, Global Innovation Circle on Higher Education (GICHE), Global University Leaders Council Hamburg (GUC), Hamburg-Vigoni Forum, and Hamburger Horizonte.
Hamburg Forum for Global Science and Policy
The Hamburg Forum for Global Science and Policy aims to create new perspectives for future global academic systems in times of complex crises. The format is aimed at representatives of universities and research institutions, academic management, foundations, and academic policy, and includes public lectures and discussion events, as well as workshop discussions and workshops with a small number of participants.
Global Innovation Circle on Higher Education
The Global Innovation Circle on Higher Education (GICHE) is a networking format that brings together leaders from key international higher education networks. Its goal is to facilitate a long-term, global-inclusive exchange on strategic issues shaping the development of the international academic and higher education landscape. The initiative is led by the University of Hamburg in partnership with the German Rectors’ Conference and the Volkswagen Foundation.
Global University Leaders Council Hamburg
Every 2 years, university presidents from around the world engage in debate. Their primary goal is to actively shape the process of worldwide university development. A joint initiative by the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), the Körber-Stiftung, and the University of Hamburg, GUC came to an end with the 2023 Council meeting.
Hamburg-Vigoni Forum
This forum seeks innovative ways to inspire discussion between researchers and policy makers. The conference series poses the question, What holds Europe together? In addition to the University, the Europa-Kolleg Hamburg, the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy (IFSH), and the German-Italian Villa Vigoni center for dialogue coordinate the forum.
Hamburger Horizonte
This annual event series brings together researchers and experts from the fields of politics, business, and culture as well as the Hamburg public. The goal is open exchange on social topics. The series takes place in cooperation with the Hamburg Institute for Advanced Study (HIAS) and the Körber-Stiftung
Contact
News about the Excellence Strategy
Photo: MPSD
17 November 2025|Excellence StrategyThe German Physical Society Honors University of Hamburg Physicist
The German Physical Society has awarded Prof. Dr. Andrea Cavalleri the Stern-Gerlach Medal for outstanding work in experimental physics. Cavalleri is the leading researcher in the Cluster of Excellence CUI: Advanced Images of Matter at the University of Hamburg.
Photo: Rafa Neddermeyer/Cop30
10 November 2025|Excellence Strategy“Belém is a signal.”
In the Cluster of Excellence Climate, Climatic Change, and Society (CLICCS), Brazilian-born sociology professor Eduardo Gonçalves Gresse is researching how international climate conferences work. He is taking part as an observer in this year’s UN Climate Change Conference in his native country, and says he is cautiously...
Photo: Private
6 November 2025|Excellence StrategyUltrafast meets ultrashort: CUI team receives prestigious ERC Synergy Grant
A research team in the Cluster of Excellence CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter at the University of Hamburg and DESY has been awarded the prestigious Synergy Grant from the European Research Council. It will receive €14 million to combine atomic-scale imaging with attosecond science, the most advanced approach to ultrafast...
Photo: ESO/B. Tafreshi
21 October 2025|Excellence StrategyThe Sky in All Its Colors
A few days ago, the European Southern Observatory launched operation of a new type of instrument, the 4-meter Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST), which will carry out unique sky surveys over the next five years. The University of Hamburg is involved in this milestone of the international 4MOST consortium with its...
Photo: Charles Steitler
7 October 2025|Excellence StrategyX-Ray Insight into Ancient Letters
The cuneiform tablets of Mesopotamia are considered the world’s oldest written artifacts. Many of them are hidden in clay envelopes, their contents still a mystery. The world’s first mobile CT scanner for cultural goods is now enabling the Cluster of Excellence Understanding Written Artefacts (UWA) to read the texts for the...
Photo: UHH/Kornowski
2 October 2025|Excellence StrategyThoughts on the “Marvelous Magnifying Glass”
With its 5 electron microscopes, the University of Hamburg is a major location for these large pieces of equipment. The chemist Dr. Charlotte Ruhmlieb explains how to make them as useful to as many researchers as possible and why research today is inconceivable without these microscopes.
