“Not taking part is no option for us!”
The University of Münster is currently in the hot phase of the Excellence Strategy. To put it more precisely, the University is on the home straight towards submitting its two Clusters of Excellence applications. Kathrin Kottke and Linus Peikenkamp spoke to Prof. Monika Stoll, Vice-Rector for Research, about the competition and what the term “excellence” means for the University of Münster and what difference it has already made.
What significance does the Excellence Strategy have for universities in Germany?
It is one of the most important instruments which universities have in the field of research for raising their profile nationally and internationally. The Clusters of Excellence, in particular, are important advertisements – they’re the “trademarks” which a university has for attracting students and researchers from home and abroad. Whatever the glamour factor, however, we have to make sure that a two-class society in university education doesn’t emerge in the medium term.
What does that mean exactly?
In German politics there are attempts to build ivory towers with this format – similar to what has been created and practised in the USA with its Ivy League universities, in other words the group of eight elite universities there. In my opinion this has not succeeded so far in Germany.
This competition functions like a magnifying glass, making visible the resources and potentials in the research landscape at universities. The Clusters of Excellence have a special role to play because they help to bring together and push existing potentials and resources in different fields. That means that wherever they are already established – Collaborative Research Centres, Research Training Groups or other large-scale research alliances – the Clusters bring about a sharper focus. One thing we mustn’t overlook, though, is the fact that there are universities which don’t have any Clusters, but which stand out through outstanding individual researchers. These universities are left out and, in the worst case, fall behind. We keep an eye on both: the large research alliances and the excellent individual researchers.
One of the political aims is for those German universities designated as a University of Excellence to attract more attention internationally. Is this plan working?
The importance of this designation is exaggerated, especially by political players. When I speak with partners in India or the USA or wherever, hardly anyone has heard of it. Universities which have a long tradition, and which have always had a good reputation in other countries, were already designated as “excellent” before this competition. For this reason, our agenda is to create the overall conditions for excellent research carried out by individuals and in alliances – independently of, or in addition to, this funding line.
So should this second funding line be abolished?
I can’t give an easy answer to that. Germany hasn’t established an “Ivy League” to get long-term institutional renewal going. From an international point of view, a more important question in any case is that of the best researchers and top-quality research. The question of which funding lines enable this to happen is of secondary importance. Nevertheless: not taking part is no option for us! Although … for an application we do of course first need to fulfil the condition that our two Clusters are prolonged – because, despite all the criticism, this competition helps to bring research areas into sharper focus, reinforcing strengths and revealing weaknesses. We have, at any rate, already begun working on a possible application – because one important thing we learned from the previous round is that we need to get going earlier.
What other lessons did the Rectorate learn from the previous round?
Internationalisation needs to be strengthened further at the University. We have made good progress and are in the process of implementing our Internationalisation Strategy in many areas. We have also carried out organisational changes: the Future Lab offers the University’s management, its organisational units and individual researchers agile, professional support in making applications. Internal processes within the administration have been made more efficient, and contact persons and responsibilities have been made clearer. This clarity and this structure will hopefully benefit us both in the Excellence competition and in many other applications for external funding
Let’s go back a step: how is excellence defined in academic circles?
Whatever is recognised externally as being excellent … is excellent. Anyone who defines themselves as being excellent is already out of the race. I prefer Westphalian reserve. Mostly, it’s external experts who assess us as an institution or as individual researchers – typically, through peer reviews.
Looking at the University of Münster, which areas are excellent?
Primarily our two Clusters of Excellence, which are recognised as beacons in national and international research. This is shown in how attractive they are for visiting academics and, not least, in the infrastructures growing up around them such as the Münster Centre of Mathematics and the Campus of Theologies and Religious Studies, which will take research, teaching and transfer to a new level in their respective fields.
And in addition to the two Clusters?
The University has excellent teams working in the fields of chemistry and battery research, for example. More excellence can be found in research into inflammations and in the neurosciences and in the Cells in Motion (CiM) Interfaculty Centre, in which a number of disciplines collaborate: medicine, biology, chemistry, pharmacy, mathematics, computer science and physics. This interdisciplinary approach is in any case one of our University’s great strengths – although we shouldn’t forget one thing: our core business is not only research but also the best possible teaching for our students. We are constantly working on finding a good balance so that we can meet the highest expectations both in research and in teaching.
Some people both inside and outside the University contend that the time and personnel resources which the application process involves are a waste. Do you share this view?
No. The process is worth it. We spent almost two years working on the application to be designated a University of Excellence and at the end we were among the last 19 universities. Even though we were not awarded the title, we felt a positive jolt go through the University as a result.
To what extent?
We created an identity which appealed to many of the people working here: we sharpened our profile, new collaborations and cross-connections emerged between various disciplines, and together we got some innovative formats going.
Do you have any specific examples?
The Topical Programs were an important instrument in our application at the time – and one that we put into practice even without being awarded the title of University of Excellence. There are currently 14 such programmes across all disciplines. We want to use them to open up fields for future research focuses and at the same time sound out the opportunities we have for large-scale projects in research alliances. Another example is the “Ideas Lab” which we want to use to support projects which question conventional thinking, open up new horizons and pave the way for groundbreaking discoveries. It’s impressive to see how many of these innovative project ideas are circulating in research, teaching and transfer. Last but not least, we are delighted at having more Collaborative Research Centres and at our tenure-track programme, with which we can create dependable working conditions and plannable career paths.
Is there a core message which is especially important for the University?
We don’t consider our research excellence in isolation, but always as a triad with teaching and transfer. The resulting synergies ensure that the University takes a pioneering role in innovation and the increase of knowledge. This applies to research carried out by individuals as well by research alliances.
Do you have a specific example of this?
The Mathematics Münster Cluster of Excellence brings together our top-rate researchers and members of the public through a series of lectures entitled “Bridges in Mathematics”. The international Graduate School BACCARA combines science and education in the field of battery research. In medicine, we have the Clinician-Scientist Programme, in which we train doctors whose strength is in research. These are just a few examples – and we will continue our journey down this path.
This article is from the University newspaper wissen|leben No. 5, 17 July 2024.
Further information
- Research profile of the University of Münster
- The Future Lab of the University of Münster
- Another article on the topic page: Guest article by "Religion and Politics" Cluster of Excellence
- Another article on the topic page: Guest article by "Mathematics Münster" Cluster of Excellence
- The July issue of the University newspaper as PDF (only in German)
- All issues of the university newspaper at a glance (only in German)