Excellence Strategy:
Cluster of Excellence Gets Green Light for Full Application  [08.02.24]

"GreenRobust" initiative in cooperation with the Universities of Heidelberg and Tübingen receives invitation to submit full application for Cluster of Excellence in the Excellence Strategy

A joint application by the Universities of Heidelberg, Tübingen, and Hohenheim in Stuttgart has the potential to become a Cluster of Excellence as part of the Excellence Strategy. The panel of experts announced this result today after its selection meeting yesterday. A total of 143 draft proposals from university alliances and individual universities were submitted for selection. 41 of them were asked to prepare the outline for a full proposal. The deadline for full applications is 22 August 2024. The final decision on which universities are successful will be made on 22 May 2025.


In the joint initiative, the University of Hohenheim draws on its core competencies in biology, agricultural science, and food science as well as data science and biodiversity.

The GreenRobust initiative investigates plants’ adaptive responses to understand the organizing principles of plant robustness and to derive insights for the sustainable management of plant ecosystems and agricultural systems. The Green Robust initiative is a joint project of the Universities of Heidelberg, Tübingen, and Hohenheim.

There are also other successful university initiatives that have involved scientists from the University of Hohenheim in their projects.


University relies on core expertise, strong partners, and a highly motivated team

"We are very pleased about this initial success and will immediately start working on our ideas," said the President of the University of Hohenheim, Prof. Dr. Stephan Dabbert. "The coming months will be very challenging, as the Excellence Strategy is one of the toughest competitions."

"We overcame the high first hurdle, but the next round will be even more challenging. We are confident in our expertise, we have a network of strong partners, and we have a highly motivated team," stated the President.


BACKGROUND: Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments

The Excellence Strategy (ExStra) is a long-term funding program of the federal and state governments to further strengthen the international competitiveness of research at German universities. With the Excellence Strategy, selected Clusters of Excellence and Universities of Excellence are currently funded with 533 million euros annually. From 2026, the total budget will be increased to 687 million euros per year. The central aim of the Excellence Strategy is to promote research excellence in internationally competitive areas, to strengthen German universities institutionally, and to further develop the German higher education system. Details: www.exzellenzstrategie.de/en

Text: Klebs


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