01. Oktober 2018 Kiel University is one of the 19 top universities in Germany

On Thursday 27 September, the German Research Foundation (DFG) announced in Bonn which collaborative research projects will receive funding for the next seven years, as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal government and states. These include two applications submitted by Kiel University (CAU), "Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation" (PMI) and "ROOTS - connectivity of society, environment and culture in past worlds". They will receive funding of around 100 million Euros up to 2026. This makes the Schleswig-Holstein state university one of the 19 top German universities which have received two or more clusters, and which may now apply to become Universities of Excellence in the second funding line of the Excellence Strategy. "This is a huge success, which no-one outside of our state had expected," said a very happy CAU President, Professor Lutz Kipp, about the decision. "First of all, we are delighted that two of our applications were successful. We congratulate our colleagues from the inflammation cluster and ROOTS on this sensational result. Unfortunately, our joy is tinged with sadness. The cluster "Future Ocean Sustainability" was not successful. This is bitter for our colleagues. Marine sciences, which are historically associated with our university, will remain a priority research area at the CAU, and continue to be an integral part of the scientific agenda of our university and the state. Overall, I am thrilled by the massive effort made by all those involved. They deserve our heartfelt thanks. A special thanks also goes to our Minister-President Daniel Günther and our Science Minister Karin Prien. Both were personally significantly involved in the applications. The cooperation between science and politics worked extremely well. This success is an enormous image boost for our city and our state."

"Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation" is coming"

Joyful celebrations for all those at the Cluster of Excellence "Inflammation at Interfaces" (inflammation research). In the past ten years, the Cluster of Excellence "Inflammation at Interfaces" in Kiel and Lübeck, together with partner institutions in Plön and Borstel, has built up unique structures in research and healthcare, and permanently changed Schleswig-Holstein as a biomedical location. Now, the concept of "Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation" (PMI) builds on this foundation. The application was judged to be excellent, and will receive funding from 2019. The multifaceted research approach which the inflammation cluster has practised very successfully for ten years, should now also transfer this interdisciplinarity to healthcare. The goal is to make progress with early diagnosis and preventive intervention for chronic inflammatory diseases, and to improve treatment. Three points are important in the context of a successful treatment, and are therefore at the centre of the PMI research: the early detection of chronic inflammatory diseases, the prediction of disease progression and complications, as well as the prediction of the individual response to treatment. This is based on a modern understanding of medicine: holistic and interdisciplinary; preventive rather than reactive, personalised, tailored to the individual patient."

ROOTS is becoming a Cluster of Excellence

The initiators of the application "ROOTS - connectivity of society, environment and culture in past worlds" are delighted with the approval of the Cluster of Excellence. The cluster aims to investigate the "roots" of social, environmental and cultural phenomena and processes, based on various social, cultural, ecological and economic aspects of past societies, in order to enable a better understanding of current challenges and crises. "For this purpose, scientists from the humanities and natural sciences as well as the life sciences and engineering will work closely together," explained Professor Johannes Müller, archaeologist and spokesperson for the initiative. "In the last ten years, we have successfully enhanced the interdisciplinarity at the Graduate School "Human Development in Landscapes" as well as the Johanna Mestorf Academy, thereby creating a special incentive for national and international researchers to come to Kiel," added the classical archaeologist Professor Annette Haug. The geoscientist Professor Wolfgang Rabbel is also delighted: "ROOTS allows us to further expand cutting-edge research with the expertise of experienced scientists, to develop infrastructures for this purpose, and at the same time, to boost the profile of Kiel University."

Kiel marine research sticks with integrative research agenda, despite lack of Cluster of Excellence funding

Although the application "Future Ocean Sustainability" was not approved for funding, the Kiel marine researchers are nevertheless looking ahead with confidence. In the two funding phases (2006 to 2018) of the Cluster of Excellence "Future Ocean", internationally visible and successful new professorships and cooperative structures were created in Kiel. With the multi-faculty Kiel Marine Science (KMS) priority research area at the CAU, and through the close networking with external partners, the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) and Muthesius University, marine research in Kiel remains excellently positioned to tackle the coming challenges in the integrative study of the world's oceans. "In the future - despite significant financial cuts - the interdisciplinary exploration of the oceans across all faculties of Kiel University and its institutions as well with non-scientific partners, will remain an important pillar of the research agenda in Kiel," said cluster spokesperson Professor Martin Visbeck from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, who deeply regrets that the Cluster of Excellence application couldn't manage the final hurdle. For the new research agenda towards knowledge-based solution options for a sustainable use of the oceans within the framework of the UN Agenda 2030, the marine researchers can continue to build on a broad range of expertise in Kiel. "We will now apply for additional funding within the framework of the national research programme MARE:N, the European funding opportunities through Horizon Europe, and from the Deutschen Allianz für Meeresforschung (German Alliance for Marine Research)," added Visbeck. Source: CAU Press Release from September 27th, 2018, https://www.uni-kiel.de/en/details/news/decision-in-the-excellence-strategy/