Ruhr Innovation Lab Receives Funding as a Consortium of Excellence

On October 2, the German Science and Humanities Council announced that the Ruhr Innovation Lab, a joint initiative of Ruhr University Bochum and TU Dortmund University, will receive federal and state funding as a consortium of excellence. The Ruhr Innovation Lab strengthens the Ruhr region as a center of scientific excellence and showcases its international research strength.

“We are overwhelmed by this outstanding achievement,” says Prof. Martin Paul, Rector of Ruhr University Bochum. “Together, we have moved up to the ‘Champions League’ of science,” adds Prof. Manfred Bayer, Rector of TU Dortmund University. Under the name Ruhr Innovation Lab, the two universities have presented a concept designed to create a scientific ecosystem for a future-proof society. It focuses on creative freedom for research, innovative teaching, close collaboration with industry and society, and new avenues for cross-university cooperation.

The Ruhr Innovation Lab builds on the long-standing cooperation between Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, and the University of Duisburg-Essen within the University Alliance Ruhr. Together, the three universities have celebrated a wide range of successes in research, teaching, and knowledge transfer for nearly twenty years. Together, they established the Research Alliance Ruhr, comprising four inter-university research centers and a college. The Ruhr Innovation Lab is now testing even greater bilateral integration of academic activities. Successful approaches from the Ruhr Innovation Lab will provide important impetus for further collaboration within the Ruhr University Alliance.

“I congratulate Ruhr University Bochum and the TU Dortmund University on this tremendous success. The Ruhr Innovation Lab is a powerful symbol of scientific excellence in the Ruhr region. We can see the successes that cross-university collaboration makes possible. Within the Ruhr University Alliance, we have built trust, shared structures, and a culture of cooperation over many years. Building on this foundation, the Ruhr Innovation Lab will grow into a wonderful new experimental space for science with impact,” says Prof. Barbara Albert, spokesperson for the UA Ruhr and rector of the University of Duisburg-Essen.

In addition to the Ruhr Innovation Lab, four other university locations have newly attained the status of “University of Excellence” or “Excellence Network.” As a result, starting in January 2027, the federal and state governments will now fund 12 Universities of Excellence and three Excellence Networks nationwide.
 

About the Excellence Strategy
The Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments is a competition to promote cutting-edge research, first launched in 2005 under the name Excellence Initiative. Universities that secure a sufficient number of clusters of excellence may apply in a second funding round for the title of “University of Excellence” or “Network of Excellence.” This requires a strategic concept that strengthens both the international competitiveness of research and the organization’s capacity for structural renewal. An international jury conducts the evaluation based on a written application and an on-site visit lasting several days. Up to 15 spots were available for the seven-year funding phase beginning in 2027, for which ten defending institutions and eleven newcomers had applied. In addition to the Ruhr Innovation Lab, the following institutions will now receive new funding:

• University of Freiburg
• Friedrich Schiller University of Jena
• University of Cologne
• Rhine-Main Universities (Technical University of Darmstadt, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)