German research organisations welcome agreement on 'Excellence Initiative'
The German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Science Council have welcomed their government's approval of the 'Excellence Initiative'. The country's universities and scientists have been waiting some time for the agreement. The initiative will 'make a significant contribution to strengthening science and research in Germany in the long term, improving its international competitiveness and raising the profile of the top performers in academia and research,' said a statement from the two organisations. Under the initiative, the federal government and the states will provide the DFG with a total of 1.9 billion euro in additional funding between 2006 and 2011. The money will then be split into three different lines of funding: graduate schools to promote young researchers; excellence clusters to promote world-class research; and plans for advancing top level university research. Plans include the establishment of around 40 graduate schools, which are to receive one million euro annually, and approximately 30 excellence clusters, which will receive 6.5 million euro per year.
Countries
Germany