Futurologists undertook pioneering work at the RMU anniversary in Frankfurt!

Futurologists undertook pioneering work at the RMU anniversary in Frankfurt!

On July 4, 2025, the 7th day of the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) took place at the Goethe University Frankfurt. Under the motto “Knowledge for the world of tomorrow,” the event welcomed over 300 participants, including numerous external guests. This day also marked the tenth anniversary of the RMU, which was celebrated with a traditional summer festival.

The event included four parallel bar camps that dealt with different topics. Over 60 people took part in the Barcamp on the digital-analog realities of life, while around 50 participants delved deeper into the topic of sustainability (ecology and social issues). The topic of mental and physical health was particularly popular, with around 90 participants taking part in the discussion. The evolutionary path of assistant professions in times of digitalization and AI also attracted more than 60 interested people.

Scientific support of social transformations

The results of the bar camps made clear the need for scientific support during social transformations. The event also offered space for a discussion on the RMU's Clusters of Excellence, which was moderated by Julia Nestlen. From 2026, five of these clusters of excellence will be funded, which was explained by the presidents of the participating universities, including Professor Enrico Schleiff from Goethe University Frankfurt, Professor Tanja Brühl from TU Darmstadt and Professor Georg Krausch from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.

The clusters cover various research areas and contribute to the goals of the Excellence Strategy. This includes:

• Cluster „Cardio-Pulmonary Institute (CPI)“: Fokus auf Herz-Kreislauf- und Lungenerkrankungen.
• Cluster „Subcellular Architecture of LifE (SCALE)“: Erforschung zellulärer Strukturen und Entwicklung digitaler Zwillinge.
• Cluster „Reasonable AI (RAI)“: Entwicklung von KI-Systemen mit „gesundem Menschenverstand“.
• Cluster „The Adaptive Mind (TAM)“: Übertragung menschlicher Anpassungsstrategien auf KI.
• Cluster „Precision Physics, Fundamental Interactions and Structure of Matter“ (PRISMA++): Erforschung der Bausteine der Materie.

The RMU has set itself the goal of promoting the development of students, teachers, researchers and employees through its network of excellence. A look back at the last ten years shows that the RMU has grown organically through strategic partnerships between the TU Darmstadt, the Goethe University Frankfurt and the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. This collaboration, which has existed since 2015, has brought numerous successes in research and teaching, including the acquisition of 675 million euros in third-party funding in 2023.

The framework of the excellence strategy

The Excellence Strategy, which was launched in 2016, aims to strengthen Germany as a science location in international competition. It promotes top academic achievements and enables universities to intensify their profile building and networking in the science system. Funding of 539 million euros per year is earmarked for clusters of excellence from 2026, while a total of 687 million euros per year will be made available for the excellence strategy. This is financed 75% by the federal government and 25% by the states. The next steps in the selection of funding projects have already been scheduled, with funding starting in January 2026.

The 7th day of the RMU concluded with a final round in which individual findings and outlooks for the coming months were discussed. Afterwards, the Goethe University summer party took place, which featured soft ice cream in RMU colors, a photo box, stalls and raffles. The RMU Olympiad, which presented four stations, also presented RMU cooperation projects. The next RMU day is planned for autumn 2026 at TU Darmstadt.