Announcement of Clusters of Excellence to Receive Funding in the Future, Thursday, 22 May 2025, from approx. 5 pm
Excellence Commission funding decisions to be published online in the form of a list and via livestream, as a press release and on social media channels
In connection with the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments, the decisions on the future Clusters of Excellence to receive funding will be made in Bonn at the end of May. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftsrat, WR) hereby provide information on the procedures and plans for the announcement of the funding decisions.
From 19 to 21 May 2025, the members of the international committee of experts appointed by the Joint Science Conference (Gemeinsames Wissenschaftskonferenz, GWK) of the federal and state governments will meet at the Wissenschaftszentrum Bonn. Based on the international reviews conducted previously, they will assess the 98 funding proposals submitted for new Clusters of Excellence. The final funding decisions will be made on 22 May by the Excellence Commission, which is made up of the members of the committee of experts and the federal and state ministers responsible for science and research.
The meeting of the Excellence Commission will continue into the afternoon of 22 May. The decisions are expected to be announced as soon as possible after the meeting and will be streamed live.
Aimed at representatives of the media, research and politics, the presentation will take place at the DFG Head Office in Bonn and is expected to begin at around 5 pm. Unfortunately, it is not possible provide confirmation of a more precise time.
The announcement of the funding decisions will be streamed live on the DFG’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@dfgbeweg(externer Link).
The funding decisions will be announced by the Chair and Deputy Chair of the GWK at that time. The President of the DFG, Professor Dr. Katja Becker, and the Chair of the German Science and Humanities Council (WR), Professor Dr. Wolfgang Wick, will explain the procedures and processes behind the selection.
The names and university sites of the selected Clusters of Excellence will be published in a complete list at the start of the presentation; this list will appear on the websites of the DFG (www.dfg.d(interner Link)) and the WR (www.wissenschaftsrat.d(externer Link)), via idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft (www.idw-onlin(externer Link)) and in a joint press release issued by the DFG and WR.
In addition, the new list of Clusters of Excellence will also be shared via the DFG’s and WR’s social media channels (see handles below).
Information on attending the announcement of the funding decisions
The announcement of the Clusters of Excellence selected for future funding will take place on 22 May 2025 from around 5 pm onwards at the DFG Head Office, Theodore von Kármán Hall, Kennedyallee 40, 53175 Bonn.
Advance registration is required. Representatives of the media, research and politics can register by sending their full name, organisation/media outlet, and role to presse@dfg.d(externer Link) by no later than 12 noon on Thursday, 22 May. Registrations received after this deadline cannot be considered.
A media room will be available at the DFG Head Office before the start of the announcement.
Photo and video recordings are only permitted before and during the announcement of the funding decisions. No recordings or interviews may be made during the meetings leading up to the announcement.
Contact:
- Marco Finetti, Head of Press and Public Relations and Press Spokesperson at the DFG, Tel. +49 228 885-2230, marco.finetti@dfg.d(externer Link)
- Georg Scholl, Head of Press and Public Relations at the German Science and Humanities Council, Tel. +49 221 3776-243, scholl@wissenschaftsrat.d(externer Link)
Further Information
Further information on the Excellence Strategy can be found at:
Social Media: