Thuringia's Minister Tischner: On a discovery tour at the Bauhaus University!

Thuringia's Minister Tischner: On a discovery tour at the Bauhaus University!

On June 6, 2025, the Thuringian Minister for Education, Science and Culture, Christian Tischner, will visit the Bauhaus University Weimar. This tour aims to shed light on central research projects, innovative teaching concepts and strategic developments at the university. The minister is accompanied by the Executive Board and other representatives of the university, who want to give him a comprehensive insight into the institution's diverse activities.

Special stations in the program include the Gropius Room and the digital reconstruction in the Digital Bauhaus Lab. A highlight will be the presentation of the “Imaginamics” cluster of excellence, which was recently funded by the federal and state governments as part of the excellence strategy. In this context, the Excellence Strategy enables universities to achieve international competitiveness and to specifically promote their research projects in order to better position themselves in the global science market.

Promoting excellence in Germany

The Excellence strategy was introduced in 2016 with the aim of strengthening Germany as a science location in international competition. It is a continuation of the Excellence Initiative, which was in force from 2007 to 2017 and has already brought significant progress in research and international networking. The current strategy is divided into two main funding lines: Clusters of Excellence and Universities of Excellence.

• Exzellenzcluster: Diese fördern internationale wettbewerbsfähige Forschungsfelder an Universitäten und bedeuten eine enge kollaborative Zusammenarbeit von Wissenschaftlern zur Ausbildung von Nachwuchskräften.
• Exzellenzuniversitäten: Diese stärken Universitäten oder Universitätsverbünde, die an mehreren Exzellenzclustern beteiligt sind, durch dauerhafte Fördermaßnahmen.

On May 22, 2025, the Excellence Commission decided to support 70 clusters of excellence from 2026, for which a total of 539 million euros will be available annually. Half of this funding is financed by the federal government and the other half by the respective federal states. The regular evaluation of the funded activities is intended to ensure the quality of the programs and is monitored by a committee of experts.

Innovations at the Bauhaus University Weimar

Christian Tischner's visit will also provide insights into the hybrid learning laboratory at the Bauhaus University. Innovative concepts for teaching and learning are presented there, which include, among other things, sustainable mobility planning and resource-saving construction. The Design Lab, which deals with experimental approaches in creative robotics and current issues in design theory, will also be part of the program.

The conclusion of the ministerial visit will take place in the M18, the students' house, where the focus will be on the exchange about the teacher training courses at the Bauhaus University Weimar. This event is an important step to discuss future developments and challenges in the higher education sector.

In addition, the Excellence Strategy will continue to be open to all disciplines and the review process will take interdisciplinary applications into account. The results of the evaluations are incorporated into future decisions, which are based on scientific quality and assessed by international experts.

For further information about the minister's visit and developments at the university, please visit the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar website: here.