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Three Universities, One Community, Endless Opportunities

Since 2007, the University Alliance Ruhr has stood for technical and social change through cutting-edge research. We study, research and teach together in Bochum, Dortmund, Duisburg and Essen.

  • Collage of the three most striking buildings of the UA Ruhr universities © Arne Rensing​/​UDE​/​UA Ruhr
    Better together

    Successful Establishment of the Research Alliance Ruhr

    University Alliance Ruhr continues to expand its cutting-edge research in Bochum, Dortmund and Duisburg-Essen.

  • Top corner of the publication “DFG Funding Atlas 2024” on display © Juliana Fischer​/​University of Duisburg-Essen
    Better together

    UA Ruhr Impresses in the DFG Funding Atlas 2024

    According to the new DFG Funding Atlas, the UA Ruhr universities are once again among the strongest research universities in Germany.

  • Rectors of the UA Ruhr universities together with representatives of the Mercator Foundation and MERCUR © Simon Bierwald​/​INDEED Photography
    Research funding in the Ruhr region

    MERCUR: New Phase for Science Funding in the Ruhr Region

    For 15 years, the Mercator Research Center Ruhr (MERCUR) has supported the collaboration between Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund University and the University of Duisburg-Essen. Now the three universities are continuing the proven funding model independently in the University Alliance Ruhr.

  • Robot-assisted THz laboratory for micrometer-precise material measurement and localization © University of Duisburg-Essen
    Success in research

    DFG extends three Collaborative Research Centers at the UA Ruhr

    On Monday, November 25, the German Research Foundation (DFG) announced which Collaborative Research Centres/Transregios will be newly established or extended. The UA Ruhr Universities were once again successful in this round.

  • Rectors of the UA Ruhr universities at a panel discussion © Simon Bierwald​/​INDEED Photography

    MERCUR Club 2024 - 15 Years of Cross-University Research Funding

    On November 14, 2024, MERCUR celebrated a special milestone with around 100 guests on the premises of Stiftung Mercator: 15 years of cross-university research funding in the Ruhr region. This year's MERCUR Club paid tribute to the remarkable success story of this unique funding initiative.

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University Alliance Ruhr: Shaping the Future Together

Photo of the three UA Ruhr Rectors Paul (left) and Bayer (right) and Rector Albert (middle), taken in a corner office in front of a skyscraper backdrop in New York © Nathalie Schueller

At the universities of the University Alliance Ruhr, 14,000 academics conduct research and pass on their findings to 110,000 students. This makes the UA Ruhr one of the largest and most powerful university alliances in Germany. The academic community at Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund University and the University of Duisburg-Essen stands for innovation, excellence and a living partnership in research, teaching and administration. Strategic management is carried out by the rectors: "We are delighted that the University Alliance Ruhr is continuing to act as a unit in new areas, launching initiatives and sharing common values and views. Together we are shaping the future."

Find out more about what makes us unique

Bundling Top International Research

Photo/graphic combination in blue, on which the main motif is a person in laboratory clothing filling liquid into a test tube with a pipette. Numerous symbols and icons from chemistry and other sciences are depicted in front of the motif. © Jittawit21​/​stock.adobe.com

The UA Ruhr’s top-level international research on pressing issues of the future has been consolidated under the umbrella of the Research Alliance Ruhr since 2021. With four research centers and a college for social sciences and humanities, the Research Alliance is a beacon within the knowledge metropolis Ruhr and serves as an attractive research environment for outstanding scholars.

Find out more about the Research Alliance Ruhr

Support for Scientists on Their Career Path

Four people of different ages stand at a high table in a foyer and discuss © Damian Gorczany​/​RAR

In the Research Academy Ruhr, Ruhr University Bochum, University of Duisburg-Essen and TU Dortmund University have combined their extensive programs for supporting early career researchers since 2017. The more than 10,000 young researchers within the UA Ruhr are supported through transferable skills qualification opportunities and benefit from a diverse range of networking options throughout their career path.

Find out more about the Research Academy Ruhr

International Networks

Blue map of the world on a dark blue background, a net spans the map with nodes of different brightness © J. Mel​/​stock.adobe.com

The UA Ruhr universities cooperate with universities and research institutes around the globe. In order to expand their international relations, the three universities set up their first joint liaison office in New York as early as in 2004. A wealth of programs promote international exchange, while the number of degree courses taught in English is also rising.

Find out more about our international networks

Excellent Together

Collage of the three most striking buildings of the UA Ruhr universities © Arne Rensing​/​UDE​/​UA Ruhr

In August 2024, the University Alliance Ruhr submitted four applications for Clusters of Excellence in the Excellence Strategy. The RESOLV cluster will receive a new boost from the Research Center Chemical Sciences and Sustainability for the continuation of solvent research, while the Research Center Trustworthy Data Science and Security will strengthen the CASA cluster in the field of cybersecurity. With REASONS, the Research Center One Health Ruhr submitted a Cluster of Excellence proposal on aquatic ecology. An application from the field of particle physics is also in the running. The aim of the University Alliance Ruhr is to achieve excellence together as a network.

Find out more about the University Alliance Ruhr in the Excellence Strategy

Cluster of Excellence RESOLV

Close-up of a laboratory vessel in which a red and a yellow liquid are mixed, in the background other vessels with colored liquids © Katja Marquard​/​RUB

Most chemical reactions, important industrial processes and almost all biological processes take place in the liquid phase. The team of the Ruhr Explores Solvation (RESOLV) Cluster of Excellence strives to understand the role solvents play in controlling, mediating and regulating chemical reactions. More than 200 researchers from chemistry, physics and engineering collaborate to achieve this.

Find out more about the RESOLV Cluster of Excellence

Cluster of Excellence CASA

Back of a server with a colorful tangle of cables coming out of it © Katja Marquard​/​RUB

Nowadays, many cyberattacks on organizations or critical infrastructure are carried out by large-scale attackers and, in particular, by public or semi-public organizations. The focus of the Cyber Security in the Age of Large-Scale Adversaries (CASA) Cluster of Excellence is on effective countermeasures. Its research is based on an interdisciplinary approach combining computer science, mathematics, engineering and psychology.

Find out more about the CASA Cluster of Excellence

Inter-University Funding

Graphic of a light brown cardboard on which a white map of the Ruhr area is drawn, showing the three UA Ruhr universities and the Mercur and Stiftung Mercator logos © MERCUR

Together with the Stiftung Mercator, the UA Ruhr provides funding for joint research projects in the form of MERCUR grants. The Mercator Research Center Ruhr (MERCUR) has been supporting our unique cooperation since 2010 and has already made €60 million available for more than 300 collaborative research projects, which have formed the basis for our current cutting-edge research in the Research Alliance and the Clusters of Excellence.

Learn more about MERCUR

University Alliance Ruhr: Excellent Together

Map of the Ruhr area showing the four locations of UA Ruhr © UA Ruhr