Universität Heidelberg Defends its Status as a University of Excellence
Rector Frauke Melchior: “A fantastic joint effort led to success”
Heidelberg University has been successful in all previous rounds of the excellence competition and, in the current funding round, has convincingly defended its status as a University of Excellence. That announcement came today (Wednesday, 11 March 2026) from the German Science and Humanities Council and the German Research Foundation. This means that the university will receive funding for another seven years in order to continue strengthening its scientific and scholarly performance capability based on a strategic concept for the whole institution. Prof. Dr Frauke Melchior, Rector of Ruperto Carola, states: “We are proud and happy to have brought about this significant success for our university and for Heidelberg as a research location. It is the result of a fantastic joint effort in which many members from all areas of our university have collaborated with enthusiasm and perseverance over a long period.”
Frauke Melchior: “We are extremely grateful to everyone involved and to our partners in the research institutions at the local and regional level. The milestone reached today would not have been imaginable without the committed collaboration of many stakeholders.” Heidelberg University has been numbered among the Universities of Excellence since 2007 and – building on its self-evaluation report entitled “SEMPER APERTUS – Heidelberg: The Comprehensive Research University” – will bolster its research strength in the upcoming funding period by connecting tried-and-tested instruments and measures with new ones. They are designed to contribute to identifying innovative scientific issues at the interface of disciplinary borders, as well as to securing and expanding on the high quality of research achievements, giving them international visibility. “The excellence competition has generated diverse dynamics of which we want to make consistent use, in particular also by transferring the results of innovative research efficiently and purposefully into society. Our aspiration is to sustainably strengthen our university’s impact on society,” underlines Prof. Dr Andreas Dreuw, Vice-Rector for Research and Digitalization at Heidelberg University.
A long-term program of the federal and state governments, the Excellence Strategy pursues the goal of promoting research excellence in internationally competitive fields; it also seeks to strengthen universities in Germany institutionally and to optimize the German system of higher education. The current decision was about extending funding for universities that have already achieved excellence status. What tipped the balance here – unlike in previous competition rounds – was an evaluation of measures to date and evidence of a capacity for self-renewal. To that effect, Heidelberg University was assessed on site on the basis of its self-evaluation report by an international group of reviewers and members of the Committee of Experts. Together with the science ministers of the federal and state governments, this committee formed the Excellence Commission that has now taken the funding decisions. The funding for the Universities of Excellence starts on 1 January 2027.
A precondition for defending the excellence title was success in the Cluster of Excellence funding line. Last year, Heidelberg University gained acceptance with three applications – one cluster extension and two new clusters – and had therefore taken the first hurdle in the excellence competition. In order to reapply for the status and funding as a University of Excellence, approval was required for at least two clusters and for three if the applicants were university consortia. Apart from “3D Matter Made to Order”, which remains a Cluster of Excellence, “SynthImmune” and “GreenRobust” were two new initiatives selected for seven years of funding each. “As a research university of international standing we are extremely well placed,” comments Rector Frauke Melchior. “With the renewed funding in the context of the Excellence Strategy we want to maintain and expand this strong position with respect to our entire university and all its disciplines and subjects.”
