Clusters of Excellence Funding Line
Proposal template 

1	General data
1.1	Title in German and English
German title

English title

1.2	Applicant university/universities
Managing University	
<university>	

Further applicant universities	
<university>	
<university>	

Please indicate the university that will administer the funds of the Cluster of Excellence. Where applicable, please list all other applicant universities.

1.3	Spokesperson(s)
Authorised spokesperson of the Managing University	
<spokesperson>	

Further spokesperson(s)	Institution	
<spokesperson>	<institution>	
<spokesperson>	<institution>	

Please indicate the Managing University’s authorised spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence. Up to two additional spokespersons may be listed here. In the case of spokespersons not affiliated with the Managing University, their respective institutions should also be named. 

1.4	Participating institutions
Participating institutions	Location	
<participating institution>	<location>	
<participating institution>	<location>	
<participating institution>	<location>	

Please list all participating entities with which close cooperation is planned and which are to receive funds from the Cluster’s budget (e.g. non-university research institutions, other universities, institutions in the public domain).

1.5	Principal investigators
No.	Principal investigators	Location/Institution	Field of expertise	Position	
1	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
2	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
3	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
4	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
5	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
6	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
7	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
8	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
9	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
10	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
11	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
12	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
13	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
14	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
15	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
16	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
17	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
18	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
19	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
20	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
21	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
22	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
23	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
24	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	
25	<principal investigator>	<location, institution>	<expertise>	<position>	

N principal investigators are women; this is a share of n percent.

Please list in alphabetical order up to 25 researchers, including the spokesperson(s), who are significantly involved in the Cluster of Excellence and in the preparation of the proposal. Also indicate the principal investigator’s respective location and institution, their field of expertise and their position (e.g. W3, W2 or W1 professorship, independent junior research group leader, core facility leader, etc.). 

Renewal proposals only: Please highlight principal investigators who were not indicated as principal investigators in the establishment proposal by placing an asterisk (*) next to their names.

1.6	Cooperation partners
No.	Institutional cooperation partners	Location	
1	<institution>	<location>	

No.	Individuals as cooperation partners	Location	
1	<name>	<location>	

In these tables, please list those (external) institutional and individual cooperation partners who will engage in significant and sustained collaborations with the Cluster of Excellence. Institutional cooperations are usually based on a cooperation agreement; partner institutions contribute their own funds and resources to the cooperation, but they do not usually receive funding from the Cluster of Excellence.

2	Summary of the proposal
Please provide a plain-language summary of the research and structural objectives of the proposed Cluster of Excellence, in both English and German (text only, max. 3,000 characters each, including spaces. Please do not use special characters or images).

3	Objectives of the Cluster of Excellence
Please provide a list of what you consider to be the most important research and structural objectives, up to a maximum of ten, which you intend to achieve through the Cluster of Excellence and by which its success should be measured.

4	Research Programme
4.1	Research objectives, research approach and positioning within the research area
Please describe the research objectives of the Cluster of Excellence. Outline the fundamental approaches, methodologies and measures with which you will pursue your objectives. What particular challenges will the Cluster of Excellence address? In what areas will the research conducted in the Cluster of Excellence bring about key advances in terms of the current state of knowledge? What added value is expected through (inter-)disciplinary collaboration? In what ways will the Cluster of Excellence have an impact on the long-term development of the research area and/or the establishment of new research areas? What makes this Cluster of Excellence unique internationally? How is the proposed Cluster of Excellence positioned in terms of its research profile in relation to existing groups and institutions, both in Germany and in other countries?

4.2	Preliminary and previous work
Please indicate the main preliminary work, carried out by currently or previously funded local or regional research groups, for example, on which the Cluster of Excellence is based. 

Renewal proposals only: Please include a concise description of the Cluster’s most relevant achievements during the first funding period, also with regard to the objectives defined in the establishment proposal. 

4.3	Structure of the research programme
Outline the chosen structure of the research programme, for example with reference to overarching topics or research areas and the essential links between them. To allow for the varying needs of different subject areas, there are no specific guidelines as to the structure of the research programme: it may be split into subunits or structured in another way, and the subunits denominated as needed (e.g. “areas”, “streams”, “classes” etc.). If applicable, a detailed description of the individual subunits should be provided in section 4.5.

4.4	Staff and institutional composition of the Cluster of Excellence
Outline the research profiles of the principal investigators. How will the principal investigators, staff and the cooperating partners contribute to achieving the Cluster’s research objectives? Explain which other individuals and institutions are currently involved or will be involved in the future according to your current plans. When choosing principal investigators, staff, and cooperation partners, appropriate consideration should be given to diversity. 

Renewal proposals only: Please include a concise synopsis of these aspects relating to the first funding period. 
4.5	Detailed description of the research programme
Describe the research programme in detail following the structure outlined in section 4.3. For each subunit of the research programme, please list the principal investigators and other key researchers and address the following points:

•	specific research objectives of the subunit and its contribution to the overall objectives of the Cluster of Excellence;
•	current state of research;
•	individual or joint preliminary work, in case of renewal proposals: results from the previous funding period;
•	work programme (approaches, methods, risks and opportunities, alternative strategies);
•	if applicable: relevance of sex, gender and/or diversity dimensions, see
www.dfg.de/diversity_dimensions;
•	research data handling, see
www.dfg.de/download/pdf/foerderung/grundlagen_dfg_foerderung/forschungsdaten/forschungsdaten_checkliste_en.pdf;
•	if applicable: use of existing or planned research and/or information infrastructures; 
•	internal and external collaborations;
•	if applicable: legal and ethical aspects of research in the subunit (cf. section 4.6.) 

For each research subunit, please provide summaries of requested staff positions and funds using the tables below, and include a justification for your request in the text. 

Table 4.5.x.1: Proposed Staff in Research Subunit x	
	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	
Staff category	Number of persons	
Professors								
Independent junior research group leaders								
Postdoctoral researchers								
Doctoral researchers								
Other staff								

Table 4.5.x.2: Funding Request for Research Subunit x	
	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	
Funding category	Totals per year in euros, rounded to the nearest thousand	
Staff (Total for 4.5.x)								
Direct project costs 
(excluding staff)								
Total instrumentation 
< €150,000 								
Total instrumentation 
> €150,000								
Instrument I 
> €150,000								
Instrument II 
> €150,000								
...								
In this and all other budget tables included in the proposal, please detail the requested funds per year and category in thousands of euros (not including the programme allowance for indirect project costs and the university allowance). 

Funding for staff: 
The DFG form 60.12 can be used as a basis for calculating funding for staff. 

www.dfg.de/formulare/60_12 

Please note that any potential salary increases must be included in the funding request. The total funding for the Cluster of Excellence will be set by the time of approval and will not be adjusted for future salary increases.

Direct project costs: This category comprises all other costs (e.g. funds for consumables, experiments, materials and supplies, travel, visiting researchers, training measures offered by the Cluster of Excellence, instrumentation costing less than 50,000 euros per item, etc.). Where appropriate, a more detailed breakdown of costs may be provided. 

“Instrumentation” refers to all instruments, software and other equipment with a gross acquisition price of more than 50,000 euros per item, cf. section 5 in the Funding Guidelines for Clusters for Excellence:

www.dfg.de/formulare/exstra200

Total instrumentation < €150,000: In this category, please summarise instrumentation costing more than 50,000 euros and less than 150,000 euros per item. 

Total instrumentation > €150,000: In this category, please summarise instrumentation costing more than 150,000 euros per item. Also, please list all items individually. 

4.6	Supplementary information on legal and ethical aspects of the research programme
If applicable, please provide information regarding important legal and/or ethical topics in research. please provide a concise but sufficiently comprehensive explanation in keeping with the relevance of each topic to the proposed research. If any of the following topics are of central importance to the research questions addressed by any subunit of the research programme, discuss them in the respective part(s) of section 4.5 and reference them accordingly in the following section:

•	General ethical aspects 
•	Descriptions of proposed investigations on humans, human materials or identifiable data 
•	Descriptions of proposed investigations involving experiments on animals 
•	Descriptions of projects involving genetic resources (or associated traditional knowledge) from a foreign country
•	Explanations regarding any possible safety-related aspects (“Dual Use/Research of Concern; foreign trade law)

For detailed information on these topics and the formal and legal requirements, please refer to the instructions for proposal preparation and submission and the references they contain:

www.dfg.de/formulare/exstra131 

4.7	Bibliography
Please list all publications cited in the proposal and highlight the 25 most important by researchers participating in the Cluster of Excellence in bold. Ensure the bibliography conforms with the instructions on bibliographic information provided in the appendix. 

5	Structures and strategies in the Cluster of Excellence
5.1	Support of early-career researchers
Explain what strategies and measures will be implemented by the Cluster of Excellence to support early-career researchers at their respective levels of qualification. If applicable, describe their integration in existing or planned early-career support structures, such as graduate schools, etc. Refer to the current situation regarding early-career researchers and existing strategies for early-career support and staff development at the applicant university/universities and within the participating departments and/or faculties. What aims have the participating departments and/or faculties set themselves in this area? How do the objectives and activities of the Cluster of Excellence fit into or complement these?

Renewal proposals only: Please describe the relevant achievements of the first funding period. 

Please summarise the requested funds for these measures using the table below, and provide a justification for your request in the text. Note that staff funding requested as part of the research programme in section 4.5 should not be included in this table, and that “Instrumentation” refers to all instruments, software and other equipment costing more than 50,000 euros per item. Instrumentation costing more than 150,000 euros per item should be listed individually. 

Table 5.1: Funding Request for Early-career Support	
	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	
Funding category	Totals per year in euros, rounded to the nearest thousand	
Staff								
Direct project costs 
(excluding staff)								
Instrumentation								

5.2	Support of equity and diversity
Please describe the aims of the Cluster of Excellence with regard to supporting equity and diversity. Explain what measures will be taken to achieve these goals, with reference to the DFG’s Research-Oriented Equity and Diversity Standards: 

www.dfg.de/equity_diversity_standards

Refer to the present situation at the applicant university/universities and within the participating departments and/or faculties, and – in the case of renewal proposals – within the Cluster of Excellence. What objectives have the participating departments set themselves (qualitative objectives and additionally – for male and female researchers only – quantified targets)? 
How will the Cluster’s activities be incorporated in the relevant equity and diversity strategies at the university/department/faculty levels? please highlight particular efforts relating to gender equality. 

Renewal proposals only: Please describe the relevant achievements of the first funding period.

Please summarise the requested funds for these measures using the table below, and provide a justification for your request in the text. Note that staff funding requested as part of the research programme in section 4.5 should not be included in this table. “Instrumentation” refers to all instruments, software and other equipment costing more than 50,000 euros per item. Instrumentation costing more than 150,000 euros per item should be listed individually. 

Table 5.2: Funding Request for the Support of Equity and Diversity	
	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	
Funding category	Totals per year in euros, rounded to the nearest thousand	
Staff								
Direct project costs 
(excluding staff)								
Instrumentation								

5.3	Strategies for research data and research software management and provisions for research infrastructures and instrumentation
Where the Cluster of Excellence uses, generates and/or processes data, please describe the overall plans and policies for the handling of research data, samples, research software and/or other material and objects, including statements about data security, rights management, licensing, and publication support. How are research data, samples and research software securely to be archived and curated? What kind of re-use will be encouraged, e.g. by means of licenses? 

Please describe the overall strategies for publishing the research output, including the reusability of data, material and research software. 

Describe the provisions for research facilities and instrumentation as appropriate. How is the planned infrastructure of the Cluster of Excellence embedded in existing structures and research facilities (such as instrumentation facilities and research data infrastructures, publication platforms, code repositories)? Where applicable, you may refer to central measures and resources provided by the applicant university/universities and participating institutions relating to data and information management as described in section 6.2 (e.g. data stewards, IT centres, libraries, imaging and other facilities). 

Renewal proposals only: Please refer to the strategies pursued and measures established in the first funding period. 

Please summarise the requested funds for these measures using the table below, and provide a justification for your request in the text. Note that staff funding requested as part of the research programme in section 4.5 should not be included in this table. “Instrumentation” refers to all instruments, software and other equipment costing more than 50,000 euros per item. Instrumentation costing more than 150,000 euros per item should be listed individually. 

Table 5.3: Funding Request for Research Data Management, Infrastructures and Instrumentation	
	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	
Funding category	Totals per year in euros, rounded to the nearest thousand	
Staff 								
Direct project costs 
(excluding staff)								
Instrumentation								
5.4	Management, governance, quality assurance 
Describe the internal organisation and management structure of the Cluster of Excellence. Detail the internal decision-making criteria and structures for central aspects such as internal allocation of funds and staff selection. Describe the Cluster’s strategies for quality assurance (e.g. monitoring, evaluation etc.). 

Explain how the Cluster of Excellence is institutionally integrated in the applicant university/universities and, if applicable, outline the collaboration with the participating institutions (cf. section 1.4). 

Renewal proposals only: Please refer to the internal management structure of the first funding period. If applicable, please explain adjustments planned for the second funding period.

Please summarise the requested funds for these measures using the table below, and provide a justification for your request in the text. Note that staff funding requested as part of the research programme in section 4.5 should not be included in this table. “Instrumentation” refers to all instruments, software and other equipment costing more than 50,000 euros per item. Instrumentation costing more than 150,000 euros per item should be listed individually. 

Table 5.4: Funding Request for Management, Governance, Quality assurance 	
	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	
Funding category	Totals per year in euros, rounded to the nearest thousand	
Staff 								
Direct project costs 
(excluding staff)								
Instrumentation								

5.5	Science communication, knowledge transfer and research-oriented teaching
Please explain what strategies are envisaged for science communication. What strategies or techniques will the Cluster of Excellence use to communicate its research objectives, approaches and findings to specific target audiences and/or the lay public? How will the transfer of knowledge be organised? Where applicable, please outline any plans to incorporate research-oriented teaching. 

Renewal proposals only: If applicable, please refer to relevant strategies and achievements of the first funding period. 

Please summarise the requested funds for these measures using the table below, and provide a justification for your request in the text. Note that staff funding requested as part of the research programme in section 4.5 should not be included in this table. “Instrumentation” refers to all instruments, software and other equipment costing more than 50,000 euro per item. Instrumentation costing more than 150,000 euros per item should be listed individually. 

Table 5.5: Funding Request for Science Communication, Knowledge Transfer, and Teaching	
	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	
Funding category	Totals per year in euros, rounded to the nearest thousand	
Staff 								
Direct project costs 
(excluding staff)								
Instrumentation								

6	Environment of the Cluster of Excellence
6.1	Strategic development planning at the applicant university/universities
Please comment on the suitability of the applicant university/universities and what role the Cluster of Excellence will play in its/their proposed structural development. Outline its/their priorities, also with regard to the overall strategic concept(s) of the institution(s), including projects already funded through the Excellence Strategy and/or other proposals.

In case of a joint proposal, the cooperation between the applicant universities and the academic and structural benefits it offers should be described for each of the applicant universities.

Renewal proposals only: Please describe the relevant achievements of the first funding period.

6.2	Resources provided by the institution(s)
Please explain what contribution each applicant university and participating institution is currently providing and will provide in the future in terms of staff, funding and infrastructure to support the Cluster of Excellence. Describe how this contribution is embedded in the strategic planning of the university/universities, for example in relation to existing and/or planned core research facilities (such as platforms, research data infrastructures, publication platforms, code repositories). Where necessary and appropriate, reference should also be made to strategies and access policies relating to key technologies and IT.

6.3	Collaboration with external partners
Please describe the existing and planned collaborations between the Cluster of Excellence and other institutions both in Germany and in other countries. 

Please summarise the requested funds for collaborations using the table below, and provide a justification for your request in the text. Note that staff funding requested as part of the research programme in section 4.5 should not be included in this table. “Instrumentation” refers to all instruments, software and other equipment costing more than 50,000 euros per item. Instrumentation costing more than 150,000 euros per item should be listed individually. 

Table 6.3: Funding Request for Collaboration with external partners	
	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	
Funding category	Totals per year in euros, rounded to the nearest thousand	
Staff 								
Direct project costs 
(excluding staff)								
Instrumentation								

7	Funding Request
In this section the funds requested in sections 4, 5 and 6 above are summarised according to various aspects. Please complete the following table to show the amount of funding requested for the subunits of the proposed research programme. 

In table 7.1, please summarise the amount of funding required to implement the Cluster’s Research Programme broken down to the research subunits and cost types, as described in section 4.5. “Instrumentation” refers to all instruments, software and other equipment costing more than 50,000 euros per item. 

Table 7.1: Total Funding Requested for the Research Programme	
Research Subunits	Funding category	Total* 
2026 – 2032	
Subunit A	Staff 		
	Direct project costs 
(excluding staff)		
	Instrumentation		
Subunit B	Staff		
	Direct project costs 
(excluding staff)		
	Instrumentation		
Total		
* as detailed in tables 4.5.x.2; amounts in euros, rounded to the nearest thousand

In table 7.2, please summarise the amount of funding required to implement the Cluster’s structural measures (from sections 5 and 6). The measures listed are examples and can be modified, added to or omitted as necessary. 

Table 7.2: Total Funding Requested for Structural Measures	
Structural measures	Total*
2026 – 2032	
Early-career researchers		
Equity and diversity		
Research data and research software management; research infrastructures and instrumentation		
Management, governance, quality assurance		
Science communication, knowledge transfer and research-oriented teaching		
Collaboration with external partners		
Total		
* as detailed in tables 5.1 to 6.3; amounts in euros, rounded to the nearest thousand

In table 7.3., please list the number of staff positions requested for the Cluster of Excellence. 

Table 7.3: Total Staff Requested	
	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	
Staff category	Number of staff positions	
Professors								
Independent junior research group leaders								
Postdoctoral researchers								
Doctoral researchers								
Other staff								

In table 7.4. list the respective total amounts of funding requested for the Cluster of Excellence overall – not including the programme allowance for indirect project costs and the university allowance – broken down by funding category and year. Again, “Instrumentation” refers to all instruments, software and other equipment costing more than 50,000 euros per item.

Table 7.4: Total Funding Requested	
	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	Total 2026-2032	
Funding category	Totals in euros, rounded to the nearest thousand	
Staff 									
Direct project costs (excl. staff)									
Instrumentation									
Total project funding									

Appendix
Please include only the following information in the appendix to the proposal. Do not include or submit any other additional information/materials beyond those requested. 

The appendix does not count towards the maximum 120 pages of the proposal. For the publication lists to be provided in sections 1 and 2, please note:

•	Works which are not in the public domain are not considered publications and cannot be cited. An exception is made in the case of papers that have already been accepted for publication, in which case the manuscript and the editor’s confirmation of acceptance must be enclosed as a separate PDF file and uploaded via elan (see instructions in the guidelines).

•	Publications should be listed with their full title, and, where possible, with their persistent identifiers (e.g. DOI/Digital Object Identifier), preferably by stating the number, otherwise by naming the URL.

•	Authorship must be cited in unaltered form in accordance with how it appears on the published works. Publications with multiple authors may be cited as follows: >first author, second author, et int, last author<.

•	Please sort the reference lists in descending order by date of publication (i.e. the most recent publication first).

•	Renewal proposals only: The works referenced in Categories A and B should mainly serve as a report on research performed within the first funding period of the Cluster of Excellence.

Details of quantitative metrics such as impact factors and h-indices will not be considered in the review. Please refrain from providing such data in the publication lists.

1.	The 25 most important publications for the Cluster of Excellence, Category A
Please provide a list of up to 25 scientific or scholarly papers published in peer-reviewed journals, peer reviewed contributions to conferences or anthology volumes, and book publications which, in your opinion, are the most important to have been produced by the principal investigators in the Cluster of Excellence. Open-access publications should be designated accordingly.

2.	The 25 most important publications for the Cluster of Excellence, Category B
Here you can cite any other form of published research results. Please provide a list of up to 25 other published scientific or scholarly outcomes, e.g. articles on preprint servers and non-peer reviewed contributions to conferences or anthology volumes, recensions/reviews without peer review, data sets, protocols of clinical trials, software packages, patents applied for and granted, blog contributions, infrastructures or transfer. You may also indicate other forms of scientific or scholarly output such as contributions to the (technical) infrastructure of an academic community (including in an international context) or contributions to science communication.

3.	The 25 most important additional qualification indicators
Please list up to 25 additional important indicators (not including publications) which, in your view, highlight the qualifications of the principal investigators (research awards, third party funding, etc.). You may also briefly note the relevance of each indicator to the Cluster of Excellence. Cumulative entries of similar indicators  are accepted if no further information on the individual recipients/items is provided (e.g. “3 ERC grants”). 

Renewal proposals only: These indicators do not have to be related to work carried out during the first funding period.

4.	Proposal for a university allowance
If the applicant university is proposing only one Cluster of Excellence, section 4.1 and section 4.2 can be combined. 

Renewal proposals should include a description of the respective measures and expenditures of the first funding period in both subsections.

4.1.	Overall concept of the applicant university/universities regarding strategic orientation and the university allowance
If your university is proposing or jointly proposing more than one Cluster of Excellence with a university allowance, please indicate the other Clusters here and state the overall strategic aim of the proposals.

In no more than two pages, outline how the university intends to develop with the help of each university allowance and how governance at the university is to be strengthened. This description should be identical for all proposals submitted by a given university. In terms of content, the reasons given should also be compatible with any subsequent proposal for funding as a University of Excellence. 

In the case of proposals submitted by university consortia, please include an explanation for each applicant university.
4.2.	Envisaged use of the university allowance
In no more than four pages, please explain what strategic objectives are to be pursued at your university or jointly by the applicant universities with the aid of the university allowance if the proposed Cluster of Excellence is approved. What measures are envisaged by the applicant university/universities? A detailed breakdown of the planned usage of the university allowance must be submitted following approval.

5.	Renewal Proposals only: Data on the first funding period
5.1.	Data on the first funding period
Please complete the following tables. Please do not provide any further information beyond the tables requested. 

Table A5.1: Total Expenditure by category	
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	
	Totals in euros, rounded to the nearest thousand	
Staff						
Professors						
Junior Research group Leaders 						
Postdocs						
Doctoral researchers						
Other research staff						
Direct project costs (excl. research staff)						
Instrumentation > €100,000						
Total expenditure						

Table A5.2: Number of staff funded	
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	
	Number of persons	
Professors						
Junior Research group Leaders 						
Postdocs						
Doctoral researchers						
Other staff						

Table A5.3: Expenditures for Structural Measures	
	Total*
2019 – 2023	
Early-career researchers**		
Equity and diversity		
Research data and research software management; research infrastructures and instrumentation		
Management, governance, quality assurance		
Science communication, knowledge transfer and research-oriented teaching		
Collaboration with external partners		
Total		
* in euros, rounded to the nearest thousand
** excluding salaries for doctoral researchers, Postdocs, Junior Research group leaders   

Table A5.4: Staff diversity - recruitment	
	Number of persons recruited 	
	from applicant and/or participating institutions	from other German institutions	from institutions in Europe	from Non-European Institutions	total	
Professors						
Junior Research group Leaders 						
Postdocs						
Doctoral researchers						

Table A5.5: Staff diversity - gender	
	Number of persons recruited 	
	female	male	diverse	total	
Professors					
Junior Research group Leaders 					
Postdocs					
Doctoral researchers					

5.2.	Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic
In no more than a single page, please describe the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the Cluster’s work in the first funding period and, if applicable, any mitigating measures taken.