The tension was literally tangible when, late on Friday afternoon of 19 July, the announcement was finally made which of the 19 applications still in the Excellence race had been successful and which universities had been awarded the title of “University of Excellence”.
Frenetic cheers erupted at TU Dresden, when it was finally clear that TUD made it and will continue to bear the title “University of Excellence”. TUD is one of a total of eleven Universities of Excellence and the only one in the eastern German federal states.
The decision was made by the Excellence Commission, consisting of a committee of international experts as well as of the federal and state ministers for science.
The TUD application, which convinced the Excellence Commission, is based both on the successful implementation of the Institutional Strategy from the previous round of the Excellence Competition as well as on a vision of the future that was co-designed by around 1,000 TUD members.
TUD is now eagerly awaiting the formal confirmation of the funding, which will contain the concrete funding amount for the next seven years. Funding will start on 1 November 2019.
TUD press release on the Excellence decision
Source: TU Dresden