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Panoramic view on the North Campus © Jürgen Huhn​/​TU Dortmund
University Alliance Ruhr

New Cooperation Agreement Shapes the Future of the UA Ruhr

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Photo: The three rectors of the UA Ruhr universities sit around a table and sign documents. © Marquard​/​RUB
Signed the new cooperation agreement of the UA Ruhr: (f.l.) Prof. Martin Paul, Prof. Barbara Albert and Prof. Manfred Bayer.
The tremendous progress that has been made in establishing joint structures for research, teaching and knowledge transfer shows how closely the three universities in the University Alliance Ruhr (UA Ruhr) are collaborating. The previous cooperation agreement had long ceased to cover all these aspects, which is why the three partners — TU Dortmund University, Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) and the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) — have now embedded their shared structures in a new cooperation agreement that paves the way for the future. This was signed and sealed in mid-July by Professor Martin Paul (Rector of RUB), Professor Manfred Bayer (President of TU Dortmund University) and Professor Barbara Albert (Rector of UDE).

“Since 2007, the University Alliance Ruhr has made a major contribution to sustainably strengthening our region as an important hub for science and research. Our new agreement clearly illustrates how far we have come in recent years by working closely together and that we are continuing resolutely along our chosen path,” say Albert, Bayer and Paul. “Compared to the agreement we signed in 2017, you can see the significant progress we have made as the University Alliance Ruhr. Together, we have created many new institutions and collaborations, above all the four research centers and the college, which are funded by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.”

Spearheading advances over the past years include, for example:

  • The Research Alliance Ruhr, which has bundled joint cutting-edge research in four research centers and a college since 2021 and comprises 50 additional professorships
  • The pooling and expansion of programs to foster scientific careers under the umbrella of the Research Academy Ruhr. Around 10,000 early career researchers now benefit from one of the most efficient and largest platforms of its kind in Germany.
  • The strengthening of knowledge transfer in BRYCK Startup Alliance GmbH through the establishment of UA Ruhr Transfer GmbH. The three universities’ success in the latest “Gründungsradar” ranking (Start-up Radar) of the Stifterverband (a joint initiative that promotes improvements in education, science and innovation) motivates the partners to continue on their chosen path.
  • The three joint Liaison Offices for North America, Latin American and Eastern Europe/Central Asia
  • The International Advisory Board with renowned experts from science and science management
  • The Council for Ethics and Responsibility

To shape the further development of the UA Ruhr, the cooperation agreement envisages several new committees. These include:

  • The Executive Board, which replaces the previous steering committees and appoints a spokesperson as the external representative for the UA Ruhr.
  • The UA Ruhr Assembly, in which the Executive Board engages with designated senate members from the three universities in order to increase the cross-university participation of the elected representatives.

Following the agreement’s entry into force, Professor Barbara Albert, Rector of the University of Duisburg-Essen, was elected as the spokesperson for the Executive Board: “The University Alliance Ruhr is a unique innovation in the higher education landscape, through which the three universities — as top-class institutions for education and research — can achieve something very special. I am delighted that together we are changing the world through science.”

Professor Manfred Bayer and Professor Martin Paul add: “The many positive developments in the University Alliance Ruhr also form an excellent basis for RUB and TU Dortmund University’s joint application as a ‘University Consortium of Excellence’. Our concept for an innovation laboratory for the Ruhr region — Ruhr Innovation Lab — builds on the achievements of the University Alliance Ruhr.”

Contact for queries:

Dr. Hans Stallmann
Coordination UA Ruhr
E-mail