Facts and Figures
The Excellence Initiative had two funding phases. Decisions were made on the basis of a multi-tiered review process.
The first phase of the Excellence Initiative had two funding rounds. Grants in the first round were approved in 2006, with awards in the second round following in 2007. For the first programme phase (2006 through 2011), the German federal and state governments awarded €1.9 billion for the three funding lines.
In June 2009 the federal and state governments approved continuing the Excellence Initiative for another five years (2012 through 2017), allocating €2.7 billion in funding.
Second Programme Phase
Draft proposals
During the second phase of the Excellence Initiative a total of 227 draft proposals were submitted by 64 universities from all German states. These were distributed between the three funding lines as follows:
- 98 for graduate schools
- 107 for clusters of excellence
- 22 for institutional strategies to promote top-level university research
Invitation to submit full proposals
On the basis of reviews, on 2 March 2011 the Joint Commission invited 32 universities to submit full proposals. The draft proposals were also up against the 85 initiatives already being funded during the first phase of the Excellence Initiative. According to funding line:
- 25 drafts for graduate schools
- 27 drafts for clusters of excellence
- 7 drafts for institutional strategies to promote top-level university research
Decision
After a total of 143 proposals for the three funding lines were evaluated and discussed by international review panels and the Joint Commission of the German Council of Science and Humanities and the DFG, on 15 June 2012 the Excellence Initiative Grants Committee awarded funding to
- 45 graduate schools
- 43 clusters of excellence
- 11 institutional strategies
A total of €2.4 billion was awarded for the second programme phase to fund initiatives at 44 universities.
Statistics from the second round of funding
Draft proposals
In response to the second call for proposals a total of 261 draft proposals were submitted by 67 universities from all German states. These were distributed between the three funding lines as follows:
- 118 for graduate schools
- 123 for clusters of excellence
- 20 for institutional strategies to promote top-level university research
Invitation to submit full proposals
On 12 January 2007 the Joint Commission invited 35 universities to submit full proposals. This decision was based on reviews conducted by 27 international expert panels. The proposals were distributed between the three funding lines as follows:
- 44 for graduate schools
- 40 for clusters of excellence
- 8 for institutional strategies to promote top-level university research
Decision
After a total of 92 proposals for the three funding lines were evaluated and discussed by international review panels and the Joint Commission of the German Council of Science and Humanities and the DFG, the Excellence Initiative Grants Committee awarded funding to
- 21 graduate schools,
- 20 clusters of excellence, and
- 6 institutional strategies.
For this second round, about €1 billion was granted to fund initiatives at 28 universities.
Statistics from the first round of funding
Draft proposals
In response to the first call for proposals a total of 319 draft proposals were submitted by 74 universities. These were distributed between the three funding lines as follows:
- 135 draft proposals for graduate schools
- 157 draft proposals for clusters of excellence
- 27 draft proposals for institutional strategies to promote top-level university research
Invitation to submit full proposals
On 20 January 2006 the Joint Commission invited 36 universities to submit full proposals. This decision was based on reviews conducted by 20 international expert panels. The proposals were distributed between the three funding lines as follows:
- 39 proposals for graduate schools
- 41 proposals for clusters of excellence
- 10 proposals for institutional strategies to promote top-level university research
Decision
After a total of 88 proposals for the three funding lines were evaluated and discussed by international review panels and the Joint Commission of the German Council of Science and Humanities and the DFG, the Excellence Initiative Grants Committee awarded funding to
- 18 graduate schools,
- 17 clusters of excellence, and
- 3 institutional strategies.
For this first round, about €175 million was awarded per year to fund initiatives at 22 universities.
