Berlin research: Five new clusters of excellence funded from 2026!

Berlin research: Five new clusters of excellence funded from 2026!

On May 22, 2025, the German Research Foundation announced significant funding decisions for the Excellence Strategy. From 2026, five clusters of excellence in Berlin will be funded by the federal and state governments over a period of seven years. This decision strengthens the research ecosystem in the capital and promotes cooperation between important institutions such as the Free University of Berlin, the Humboldt University of Berlin, the Technical University of Berlin and the Charité – Universitätsmedizin.

A total of three continuation applications and two new applications passed the accredited examination. The selected clusters of excellence cover a wide range of topics, from the natural and life sciences to the social sciences. The funding shows the German research landscape's efforts to support innovative ideas and promising research approaches.

The funded clusters in detail

The five funded clusters that will be active in Berlin from next year are as follows:

• Center for Chiral Electronics (Neuantrag): Ziel der Forschungen ist die Entwicklung energie-effizienter Elektronik. Antragsteller sind die Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, die Freie Universität Berlin sowie die Universität Regensburg.
• ImmunoPreCept (Neuantrag): Hier wird die Schnittstelle zwischen Gesundheit und Krankheit erforscht, beteiligt sind die Freie Universität Berlin, die Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin und die Charité – Universitätsmedizin.
• MATH+ (Fortsetzungsantrag): Dieser Cluster widmet sich der Entwicklung mathematischer Methoden zur Analyse komplexer Systeme. Antragsteller sind erneut die Freie Universität Berlin, die Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin und die Technische Universität Berlin.
• NeuroCure (Fortsetzungsantrag): Erforscht Erkrankungen des Nervensystems und wird von der Freien Universität Berlin, der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin und der Charité – Universitätsmedizin getragen.
• SCRIPTS (Fortsetzungsantrag): Fokussiert sich auf Auseinandersetzungen um die liberale Ordnung und wird von der Freien Universität Berlin beantragt.

The Berlin University Alliance is supported by funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the State of Berlin. The funding for the five clusters is part of a nationwide program in which around 70 clusters are supported with around 539 million euros annually.

Focal points and goals of the clusters

A particular focus is on the MATH+ cluster, whose spokesman Sebastian Pokutta, Vice President of the Zuse Institute Berlin, is responsible for it. In the next funding phase, the social dynamics of opinion formation will be examined in particular. Given the increasing importance of social media in opinion formation, the cluster wants to understand how these processes work in order to preserve democratic values ​​and practices.

The importance of sustainability is also highlighted, according to MATH+ spokeswoman Andrea Walther. The focus is on developing more efficient algorithms that are not only intended to reduce the high power consumption of artificial intelligence, but can also provide information in the areas of mobility and energy use.

The cooperation between universities and industry should be further strengthened within the framework of these clusters, which in turn could help to consolidate the Berlin region as an innovation location. Claudia Schillings from the Free University of Berlin announced an expansion in applied mathematics, focusing in particular on data-driven modeling, simulation and optimization, for example in the healthcare and technology industries.

With the current decisions on the Excellence Strategy, the research institutes are on a promising path to advance innovative projects and strengthen the international competitiveness of the German research landscape. Further information about the Excellence Strategy and its funding can be found on the relevant pages German Research Association to find.