Kiel celebrates: Light show for promoting excellence from 2026!

Kiel celebrates: Light show for promoting excellence from 2026!

The Christian Albrechts University of Kiel (CAU) was able to record significant success in the research landscape. The clusters of excellence “PMI” for inflammation research and “ROOTS – Connectivity of society, environment and culture in past worlds” will be funded for a further seven years from 2026. This was announced today by the Joint Science Conference of the federal and state governments, the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Science Council in Bonn. University of Kiel reports that this decision not only secures research funding, but also represents an important stimulus for the city of Kiel as a science location.

The funding decision was ceremoniously accompanied by a light show that took place at the university high-rise and was organized by the student “Project Lighthouse”. This light installation was a special sight, especially from the Westring, where those interested could admire the illuminated buildings of the university institution. It began at 9:30 p.m. on May 23 and was visible until midnight.

The Clusters of Excellence in detail

The “Precision Medicine for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases” cluster, which has been funded in Kiel since 2019, represents a coordinated effort that includes several institutions. These include the universities of Kiel and Lübeck, the Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital, the Borstel Research Center - Leibniz Lung Center, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, the Großhansdorf Lung Clinic and the Muthesius Art University in Kiel. Medicine University of Kiel highlights that this cluster builds on the previous Cluster of Excellence “Inflammation at Interfaces (I@I)”, which has been funded since 2007.

The second cluster of excellence, “ROOTS”, focuses on the roots of social, environmental and cultural phenomena. The interdisciplinary research of this cluster uses archaeological and historical “laboratories” to understand processes in past societies and draw their structural comparisons with current developments.

The excellence strategy in context

In order to understand this cluster funding, it is important to look at the overarching excellence strategy. This was launched in 2016 to support top research at German universities. The aim is to strengthen German science as a location in international competition and to increase visibility. BMBF points out that the Excellence Strategy builds on the previous Excellence Initiative and promotes top scientific achievements and networking in the science system.

Clusters of Excellence are evaluated every seven years and selected based on their scientific quality. The annual funding amounts to 539 million euros for clusters of excellence and a total of 687 million euros for the entire excellence strategy. The majority of the funding comes from the federal government, with 75% coming from the federal government and 25% from the host state of the clusters of excellence and universities. The next steps in this selection process will be followed until January 2026, before the new funding period begins.