Template	
for a Final Report in the Funding Line 
Clusters of Excellence 

Preliminary Remarks
The Clusters of Excellence funding line aims to promote project-based, internationally competitive research at universities or in university consortia. The Clusters of Excellence are a key component of strategic and thematic planning at the applicant university or universities, enhancing their profile and requiring them to set priorities. What is more, they are to establish excellent framework conditions for early career researchers. Together with the Universities of Excellence, Clusters of Excellence contribute to strengthening Germany as a hub of science on a lasting basis, further expanding its international competitiveness.

All funding recipients are required to submit a final report at the end of the project. In this way, they enable the DFG to perform an audit of the use of the funds in accordance with the programme guidelines and report on the results of the funding to its funding bodies. The report also serves to assess the success of funding and provides a basis for evaluating the funding line. It should include the main research results and the structural impact of the Cluster of Excellence. In principle, reports must cover the entire funding period, even if individual project phases have already been reported on in connection with renewal proposals. The report must be understandable without referring to additional literature. The text of the report is the sole basis for evaluation.
Deadline, Form and Scope
The final report must be submitted to the DFG within three months of the end of funding.

The final report comprises of a public part (sections 1-6; maximum 100 pages in total) and a non-public part (sections 7-8; maximum 50 pages in total). The entire report should not exceed 150 pages. Sections 1-6 are to be published by the authors of the report in a suitable repository of their choice. Please indicate the repository which will be chosen for publication. The DFG provides report authors with detailed publication instructions once the report has been approved. See here for details:
www.dfg.de/final_reports_publication

The aim of the publication is to make the most important results of the Cluster of Excellence freely available to the academic communities and the public outside the usual publication channels. The non-public part of the report (sections 7-8) is intended solely for the reviewers, the DFG’s head office and all statutory bodies involved.

The entire final report must be submitted as one PDF file via the elan portal without any password protection or access restriction. It is to be written in English. The recommended format is A4, Arial 11 point, line spacing 1.5.

If, in preparing your report, you used artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of generative models for text and image creation, please disclose this in a way which is in accordance with good research practice. For more information, see the “Research Integrity” portal.
Final Report in the Case of Non-14-Year Funding
Clusters of Excellence that do not reach the maximum 14-year funding period or have not applied for a second funding period must submit a reduced final report three months after the end of funding. The reduced report also consists of a public part (sections 1-6; maximum 60 pages in total) and a non-public part (sections 7-8; maximum 30 pages in total). 
Process
The entire report is reviewed and made available to the Committee of Experts as the responsible body of the funding line. 

Sections 1 (“Summary”) and 4 (“Selection of the most important published results”) of the final report are also made available on the internet by the DFG via the GEPRIS information system. It is possible to object to the publication of these extracts in GEPRIS by submitting a written statement to the responsible programme officer in the Clusters of Excellence and Research Impulses (EXF) division at the DFG Head Office along with the final report.
Data Protection
If you will be transmitting the personal data of third parties as part of your final report, you ensure that doing so is in compliance with data protection laws. Please note the DFG’s Data Protection Notice on research funding, which can be viewed and downloaded at If necessary, please also forward this information to those individuals whose data will be processed by the DFG because of their involvement in your project:
www.dfg.de/privacy_policy
Template
The following template is intended to support you in preparing the final report. The sections printed in black provide the structure of the report, while sections in grey provide explanations and placeholders for the information required and should be deleted. When compiling the information, feel free to use the data available to you from the DFG's annual survey (monitoring).

<Public Part>
<This section is intended for the academic community and other interested stakeholders. It should be published in a repository by the authors of the report.>
<Cover Page>
Final Report
DFG reference number: <Your DFG reference number, e.g. EXC 1234>

Project number: <Multiple-digit number that you will find in the letter of approval and also in the GEPRIS entry for the Cluster of Excellence>

Title of the Cluster of Excellence:

Applicant university/universities:

Name of the spokesperson: <please enter name of the current authorised spokesperson of the managing university.>

Official address of the spokesperson:

Reporting period (entire funding period):

Principal Investigators
<Please list in alphabetical order the principal investigators, including the spokespersons, who were significantly involved in the Cluster of Excellence during the funding period(s). Also indicate their location and institution, field of expertise, position (e.g. W3, W2 or W1 professorship, independent junior research group leader, core facility leader etc.), as well as the time period in which they were members of the Cluster of Excellence. Individual cooperation partners are not to be listed here.>

Principal investigators 	Location/institution	Field of expertise	Position	Time period of participation	

					

					

Number of Staff
<Please use the table below to list the number of professors, junior research group leaders, postdoctoral and doctoral researchers as well as all other staff funded through the Cluster of Excellence.>

Number of staff funded through the Cluster of Excellence	Number of individuals	
Professors		
Junior Research Group Leaders		
Postdoctoral researchers		
Doctoral researchers 		
Other Staff		

1	Summary
<Please provide a summary in German and English (maximum 3,000 characters including spaces). The text should be written for a general audience, explaining the research topic and the significance of the Cluster of Excellence’s findings.>
2	Objectives of the Cluster of Excellence
<Please list the most important research and structural objectives from your proposal here and delineate if and to what degree you reached these objectives during the funding of the Cluster of Excellence.> 
3	Scientific Development of the Cluster of Excellence 
<Please describe the significant academic advances achieved by the Cluster of Excellence:
• What medium- and long-term objectives did the Cluster of Excellence set itself at the beginning of the funding period?
• Which of these research objectives were achieved? What new key questions did arise? 
• What changes were made to the original concept? 
• What new insights were gained specifically through the collaboration between different disciplines? To what extent have external and/or international partners contributed to the research process? 
• How did the overall field of research develop over the course of the Cluster of Excellence and what role did the Cluster of Excellence play in this?
Please describe this in line with the structure of the research programme chosen by the Cluster of Excellence.>
4	Selection of the Most Important Published Results
<Please list the 50 most important publications that have been achieved by the Cluster of Excellence. Please only list publications that are directly related to the content of the funded Cluster of Excellence. Where possible, please provide the DOI (Digital Object Identifier). If this this not available, please provide the ISBN or another persistent identification number.
Please structure the published results as follows:>
4.1	Articles in peer-reviewed journals, contributions to peer-reviewed conferences or to anthology volumes, and book publications
<In this category, please enter articles in peer-reviewed journals, contributions to peer-reviewed conferences or to anthology volumes, and book publications (see also DFG form 1.91). Please mark open-access publications accordingly.>
4.2	Any other form of published results
<Here you can cite any other form of published research results. This may include contributions to non-peer-reviewed conferences, articles on preprint servers, data sets, protocols of clinical trials, software packages, patents applied for and granted, blog contributions or transfer results. You may also indicate other forms of academic output here, such as contributions to the (technical) infrastructure of an academic community (including in an international context) and contributions to science communication.>
5	Structures and Strategies in the Cluster of Excellence
5.1	Support of early career researchers
<Please explain what strategies and measures have been implemented by the Cluster of Excellence to support early career researchers at their respective levels of qualification. Please also describe how these strategies and measures were integrated in existing early-career support structures by the participating universities.>
5.2	Support of equity and diversity 
<Please describe the achievements of the Cluster of Excellence with regard to supporting equity and diversity. Explain what measures have been taken to achieve these objectives, referring to the DFG’s Research-Oriented Equity and Diversity Standards: 
www.dfg.de/equity_diversity_standards 

Please also explain how the Cluster’s activities have been incorporated in the relevant equity and diversity strategies at the university/department/faculty levels.>

5.3	Strategies for research data management and research infrastructure 
<Please delineate your achievements for the handling of research data and your strategies for research data management, including data security, rights management, licensing, and publication support. Describe the overall strategies implemented for publishing the research output, including the reusability of data, material and research software. Also describe the provisions for research facilities and instrumentation as appropriate. Elaborate how the infrastructures of the Cluster of Excellence were embedded in existing structures and research facilities (such as instrumentation facilities and research data infrastructures, publication platforms or code repositories) at the applicant universities. 

Please list in the following table all major infrastructure equipment acquired during the funding period and funded through the Cluster of Excellence:>
Major research equipment (exceeding €150,000 per item)	Year of purchase 	Amount	

			

5.4	Science communication, knowledge transfer and research-oriented teaching 
<Please explain what strategies the Cluster of Excellence implemented for science communication and to communicate its research objectives, approaches and findings to specific target audiences and/or the public. Also delineate how results from research findings were transferred to application and/or industry. Where applicable, outline the plans that were implemented to incorporate research-oriented teaching.>
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 has played in its/their proposed structural development. In case of a joint proposal, the cooperation between the applicant universities and the academic and structural benefits it has offered should be described for each of the applicant universities. Also outline how the international significance and visibility of the location or locations in this field of research has been strengthened by the Cluster of Excellence.>
6.2	Collaboration with external partners 
<Please describe the collaborations between the Cluster of Excellence and other institutions both in Germany and internationally. Which collaborations with other institutions in Germany and internationally were initiated thanks to the Cluster of Excellence? How did the applicant university/universities benefit from these new collaborations? Please also outline in which way the Cluster of Excellence collaborated with other Clusters of Excellence, if applicable. >

<Non-Public Part>
<This section is only intended for reviewers, the DFG Head Office and the statutory bodies involved. It is not intended for publication.>
7	Structural Impact of the Cluster of Excellence
<The following points refer to developments at the applicant university. If you are reporting about a Cluster of Excellence with several applicant universities, please address the points below for each applicant university. Please also use the following subchapters in the non-public part of the final report to address any challenges you encountered during the funding period and your measures taken to solve them.>
7.1	Staff development & recruiting
<Please describe the appointment strategies of the applicant university/universities and how they related to the Cluster of Excellence. Which professorships or junior research groups were newly created, reappointed or discontinued? Also explain your strategies in recruiting internationally and the impact that the Cluster of Excellence had on these strategies and on the recruitment of internationally renowned researchers from all career stages.
Please provide a table showing the number of researchers who have newly joined the Cluster of Excellence during the funding period(s), including the type of position (group leader, junior professorship, W2/C3, W3/W4) and gender of the position holder.>
7.2	Support of early career researchers
<Please provide a table summarising the number of completed doctorates during the funding period, specifying the gender and the home institutions of the doctoral researchers recruited for the Cluster of Excellence. Additionally, please outline the career paths of PhD students and postdocs after leaving the Cluster, including their subsequent institutions, either in a second table or as a narrative description.>
7.3	 Support of equity and diversity
<Please outline how the participation of researchers of different genders evolved over the course of the funding period(s). What measures have been implemented to promote gender equality among researchers and to improve the compatibility of academic careers and family life? What results have these measures achieved? >
7.4	Management, governance, quality assurance
<Please 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.). What adjustments were made to the overall strategy of the cluster due to such monitoring and/or evaluation measures during the funding period? Did the governance strategies of the Cluster of Excellence have an impact on the overall governance of the applicant university? Finally, use this section to describe the measures implemented for institutionalising the Cluster of Excellence after the end of the funding period.>
7.5	Resources provided by the institution(s) 
<Please explain what contribution each applicant university and participating institution provided in terms of staff, funding and infrastructure to support the Cluster of Excellence. Describe how this contribution was 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 or code repositories).>
8	Comments to the DFG
<Your assessment of the procedure for submitting the proposal and the design of the funding line is of great importance to reviewers, the DFG Head Office and the DFG’s statutory bodies. Criticism, comments and recommendations provide valuable input for the evaluation and development of the funding line Clusters of Excellence. Please list them here.>