Promoting Research Excellence
New Approaches to Funding
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National research systems face an increasingly competitive environment for ideas, talent and funds, and governments have shifted funds from institutional core funding to project funding, often on a competitive basis, or reward success in raising third-party funds in performance-based funding schemes. It is in this context that “research excellence initiatives” (REIs) have emerged. This is an instrument designed to encourage outstanding research by providing large-scale, long-term funding to designated research units. They provide funds for research and research-related measures, such as the improvement or extension of physical infrastructure, the recruitment of outstanding researchers from abroad and researcher training.
This report presents new evidence on how governments steer and fund public research in higher education and public research institutions through REIs. The report can help inform discussions on future government policy directions by providing information on how REIs work and on the functioning and characteristics of institutions that host centres of excellence. The findings show some of the benefits to be gained through REIs and note some pitfalls to be avoided.
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Chapter 6. The German Excellence Initiative
This chapter discusses the German Excellence Initiative (EI) and its three lines of funding. It considers the universities’ approaches to and views on the initiative, the main features of the funding, governance structures, recruitment strategies, collaboration with other universities and with non-university research institutions, co-operation between departments and scientific disciplines, the international visibility of German research, and doctoral training. The EI has had a positive impact on a variety of measures and this has prompted federal and state governments to agree on a second five-year funding phase. More generally, the EI has triggered broad public debate about university research, priority setting and specialisation.
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