Excellence Clusters

So far four clusters in which Freie Universität is involved have received distinction in the Excellence Initiative. Source: Bernd Wannenmacher

Systematic pooling of subject-specific expertise was one of the primary goals of the Excellence Initiative. Universities and research institutions unaffiliated with academia were called upon to submit concepts for the establishment and development of competitive institutions with a high international profile in the fields of research and teaching to pursue the aim of promoting academic and scientific networking and cooperation in fields of research that are especially important for the future. For each higher education institution that engages in the initiative, the excellence clusters are an important part of the institution’s strategic planning. They help to shape the university’s profile and accelerate the process of establishing thematic priorities. They are also supposed to offer excellent education and career opportunities for junior scholars and scientists. Across Germany, 37 clusters received distinction in the Excellence Initiative.

Freie Universität unveiled a strategy for the creation and promotion of interdisciplinary clusters back in 2003. That same year, the university developed a comprehensive approach to pinpointing new fields of research and exploring those fields. The clusters established as part of these activities are devoted to different tasks, including the following:

• Identifying trends in global developments and using them to determine where new need for knowledge is arising
• Coordinating high-performance fields of expertise at Freie Universität to work together
• Strategic pooling of resources in excellence clusters
• Training outstanding junior scholars and scientists
• Maintaining strategic dialogue between the academic and scientific community and private enterprise, organizations, and institutions outside of academia.

As part of these activities, numerous groups of scientists, scholars, and researchers at Freie Universität have prepared concepts for clusters. Four clusters in which Freie Universität is involved received distinction in the Excellence Initiative in 2007.