Both Top-Level Research Proposals from Goethe University Frankfurt Successful in Excellence Competition – RMU to Apply as University Excellence Consortium
Both research alliances that submitted proposals on behalf of Goethe University will receive future funding from the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments. The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved the new proposal submitted by the SCALE cluster initiative (cellular structures) as well as the renewal proposal from the existing Cluster of Excellence Cardio-Pulmonary Institute (CPI) for cardiovascular and pulmonary research. From 2026, TU Darmstadt and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz will also host a total of three Clusters of Excellence. Together, the three members of the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) alliance will submit a joint proposal for funding as a University Excellence Consortium.
Goethe University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff congratulated the researchers on their success: “All the hours of work and the brilliant thinking that went into these projects and their proposals have paid off – congratulations! It is fantastic that both interdisciplinary proposals submitted together with our partners were selected in this highly competitive process. My thanks go to all the researchers involved – especially to the cluster spokespersons, who prepared and defended the proposals over the past months, Michaela Müller-McNicoll, Inga Hänelt, and Martin Beck at SCALE and the leadership team of CPI comprising Stefanie Dimmeler, Susanne Herold, and Thomas Braun. This success enables us to expand and intensify research in our profile areas ‘Structures & Dynamics of Life’ (SCALE) and ‘Science for Health’ (CPI). Top-level research is the foundation for gaining insights that help us understand complex systems and treat disease.”
“The ideas behind these clusters fascinated me from the start: Creating a digital representation of human cells will open up entirely new possibilities for understanding biology and testing therapies digitally in the future. And answering the question of how the heart, lungs, and blood vessels communicate and interact – and how these processes change with age – will lead to novel approaches in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. This kind of high-impact research also enhances teaching, allowing students to experience scientific breakthroughs firsthand and engage with partners from business and society.”
“I would also like to extend my congratulations to our colleagues at our RMU partner universities in Darmstadt and Mainz, who were successful with three additional proposals,” Schleiff continued. “Together, we are now in a position to submit a joint proposal for University of Excellence funding – and we will do so. We are confident that the synergies among our three universities in this dynamic science region still hold a lot of untapped potential.”
Prof. Bernard Brüne, Goethe University’s Vice President Research, added: “The researchers from both proposing clusters, as well as the many other colleagues from participating institutions and the university, advanced these proposals with impressive dedication. Many of them won’t have time to take a short break: Uplifted by this outstanding success, we are now moving directly into preparing the RMU proposal.”
SCALE: Subcellular Architecture of Life. Cells are composed of billions of molecules, organized from individual components to large molecular complexes and organelles. While many single molecules are well characterized, it remains unclear how cellular architecture arises, functions, and how its components interact. Researchers in the SCALE cluster aim to uncover the cell’s self-organization principles and create a high-resolution spatial and temporal simulation of cellular processes. This will improve our understanding of how cells actually function and how their various “machines” cooperate.
More information is available here: https://aktuelles.uni-frankfurt.de/english/cellular-architectures-scale/
Project Partners:
Goethe University Frankfurt (applicant)
Max Planck Institute of Biophysics (MPIBP), Frankfurt
Max Planck Institute for Brain Research (MPIBR), Frankfurt
Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS)
Saarland University
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU)
Website: https://scale-frankfurt.org
CPI: Cardio-Pulmonary Institute. Cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases are among the leading causes of death worldwide. An aging population and emerging risk factors such as environmental pollutants and infections are making treatment increasingly complex. The Cardio-Pulmonary Institute (CPI) – a research alliance of the Universities of Giessen and Frankfurt and the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research – aims to pioneer new paths in medicine through innovative research. Under the motto “Precision Biology Drives Precision Medicine”, CPI investigates how the heart and lungs function, age, and become diseased – and how they can be treated in a targeted manner. The institute follows an integrated approach, with scientists from diverse disciplines and clinics working together to develop therapies tailored to individual patients. Cutting-edge data analytics, clinical studies, and digital methods enable the rapid transfer of research into clinical practice. CPI also focuses on early career support, equal opportunity, and effective science communication, with the goal of sustainably improving cardiovascular and pulmonary health – offering better healthcare for people of all ages. The Cluster was first funded from 2006 to 2018 under the name “Excellence Cluster Cardio-Pulmonary System” and was successfully renewed in 2019 as the Cardio-Pulmonary Institute.
More information is available here: https://aktuelles.uni-frankfurt.de/english/heart-and-lung-disease-cardio-pulmonary-institute-cpi/
Project Partners:
Goethe University Frankfurt and Justus Liebig University Giessen (joint applicants)
Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim
Current funding as Cluster of Excellence: 2019–2025 (€45 million)
Website: https://www.cpi-online.de/
Goethe University is also a partner in the following successful proposals:
RAI – Reasonable Artificial Intelligence. This Cluster explores AI systems that not only learn but also acquire novel facts and link them to forms of abstract reasoning. The goal is to enable AI systems to draw logical inferences, make context-aware decisions, and learn from them in turn.
Project Partners:
TU Darmstadt (applicant)
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
Goethe University Frankfurt
University of Tübingen
Universität des Saarlandes
University of Bremen
TAM – The Adaptive Mind. The Adaptive Mind is a research cluster that brings together scientists from experimental psychology, clinical psychology, and artificial intelligence to understand how the human mind successfully adapts to changing conditions – and what happens when these adaptive processes fail.
Project Partners:
Justus Liebig University Giessen (applicant)
Philipps-Universität Marburg (applicant)
TU Darmstadt (applicant)
Goethe University Frankfurt
Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS)
The Excellence Strategy is a joint initiative by the German federal and state governments aimed at supporting top-level research, profile development, and cooperation within the science system. For the „Clusters of Excellence“ funding line, a total of 143 draft proposals for new Clusters of Excellence were submitted to the German Research Foundation (DFG) in summer 2023. Of these, 41 were admitted in 2024 to submit full proposals, in addition to 57 existing clusters eligible to apply for continued funding. This meant that the DFG had to evaluate more than 98 proposals, 70 of which have now been approved. Funding will commence on January 1, 2026. Successful Clusters of Excellence are a prerequisite for universities seeking to apply for funding under the „University of Excellence“ funding line, with decisions expected in autumn 2026. Individual universities must have at least two Clusters of Excellence to apply; university consortia must have at least three.
Success in the Excellence Competition is important for universities not only due to the federal funding it brings, which is independent of the state budget. As a prestigious international funding initiative, the program also enhances national and international visibility. In addition to offering a long-term perspective to address interdisciplinary research fields, Clusters of Excellence enable the joint development of research and infrastructure with non-university partners, and increase the university’s appeal as both a research institution and a place of study. The Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) aim to strengthen their attractiveness as an alliance through a wide range of joint and complementary offerings in research and teaching, improve support for researchers and staff, and leverage synergies in infrastructure and knowledge transfer. In doing so, they also seek to position the region as an internationally recognized science hub. A successful joint application in the University of Excellence competition would be a major boost – particularly in the international context.
