Review and Decision-making Process

Before a cluster of excellence or a graduate school is approved the project is examined and evaluated in a two-stage process.

The first stage consists of a draft proposal submitted to the DFG. The DFG Head Office is responsible for examining the draft proposal to ensure that it complies with the formal requirements. Its scientific merit is then evaluated by review panels, which are appointed according to qualification and specialist knowledge of the field with which the proposal deals. The DFG Head Office takes care to avoid any possible conflicts of interest. The review panels thus include numerous scientists and academics from abroad. The reviewers carefully consider the proposal and give their assessment, which forms the basis for the subsequent decision-making stage. An Expert Commission, appointed by the DFG, then assesses the recommendations made by the review panels (ensuring the quality of this decision-making stage) and draws up a short-list for the Joint Commission. The Joint Commission is made up of members from the Expert Commission and the Strategic Commission, whose members are appointed by the German Science Council; it is an international body of scientists and academics drawn from a variety of disciplines. The Joint Commission decides which universities will be invited to submit full proposals.

In the second stage of this procedure detailed proposals are submitted to the DFG. These are evaluated by international review panels and then short-listed by the Expert Commission. The Joint Commission then compiles a list of funding recommendations on which the Grants Committee for the Excellence Initiative bases its final decision. The Grants Committee comprises members of the Joint Commission and representatives from the German federal and state governments. Scientists and academics have the majority vote in the Grants Committee. Finally the funding decisions are publicly announced by the German Federal Minister of Education and Research.

It is a prerequisite for the third funding line (institutional strategies to promote top-level research) that at least one cluster of excellence and at least one graduate school have been selected for funding. These proposals are evaluated by the Strategic Commission, which is appointed by the German Science Council and forms part of the Joint Commission. For further information concerning the review and decision-making process for the third funding line, please refer to the website of the German Science Council.