This is Universität Hamburg—University of Excellence. It is a title we have held since
2019, along with only a few other German universities.
The then federal minister for research and education awarded us the title after a long application and assessment process.
The Excellence Strategy is an initiative for the federal and state governments to drive top-level research.
Universities of Excellence are strong in research and performance: they set a marker for quality in the international higher education landscape.
The title was awarded on the basis of our flagship university concept.
As the largest research institution in northern Germany, we play a central role in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region and beyond.
Our University of Excellence is home to four Clusters of Excellence:
Interdisciplinary research alliances built on cooperation with other research institutions.
Cluster of Excellence Quantum Universe works in particle and astrophysics. Cluster of Excellence Climate, Climatic Change, and Society focuses
on measuring the extent and consequences of global warming.
Cluster of Excellence Understanding Written Artefacts examines the development and significance of writing and written objects,
and Cluster of Excellence CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter examines materials at the molecular and atomic level.
As a University of Excellence, funding is attached to very specific uses.
So, we cannot just allocate it wherever we want.
We have committed to the targeted expansion of research,
teaching, knowledge exchange, research infrastructure, and internationalization.
For example, we have appointed 12 new professors,
have provided funding to over 500 researchers, and have created 15 new funding programs,
such as the Ideas and Venture Fund, interdisciplinary teaching-tandems,
and student research groups. We also support central topics such as digitalization
and sustainability with many of our own centers in accordance with our guiding principle: Innovating and Cooperating
for a Sustainable Future“.