Ruhr Uni­ver­si­ties Launch Research Alliance

Under the umbrella of the University Alliance Ruhr, the three universities are now setting up four research centers and a college. In the centers, the universities are bundling their research in fields such as health, sustainability, digitalization and energy. The college will invite visiting scholars from abroad to the Ruhr Metropolis. The plan is for the research centers and the college to be fully completed by 2025. The overall objective is to establish a top-class international research alliance.

“North Rhine-Westphalia is home to the densest higher education and research landscape in Europe, science here is excellent,” says Hendrik Wüst, Minister-President. “The innovations created here are the opportunities of tomorrow. With the Research Alliance Ruhr, we’re giving North Rhine-Westphalia, as a location for science and research, another powerful boost along the way to top-class international research. In so doing, we’re turbocharging the University Alliance Ruhr.” Wüst continues: “By funding the Research Alliance Ruhr, we’re further advancing the partnership between the Ruhr universities. We want even more brilliant minds from throughout the whole world to work here with us on the major questions of the future. The University of California shows how important cooperation between universities is. It’s been the global driver of digital innovations for 30 years.”

“Raising excellent research to a new level”

“With today’s signing of the cooperation agreement and the handing over of the decision allocating funds of €75 million, we’re grasping the opportunity to raise already excellent research at RUB, TU Dortmund University and the University of Duisburg-Essen to a new level,” says Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen, Minister of Science and Culture. “Together with the three universities, our objective is to create a highly innovative university alliance in the Ruhr area in the shape of the Research Alliance Ruhr that develops solutions for important questions facing our society and meets the highest criteria for scientific excellence in the process – especially in an international comparison. As the state government, we want to help ensure that the Research Alliance stimulates further promising research collaboration and contributes to North Rhine-Westphalia’s advancement with inspiring research and innovation opportunities.”

“With the Research Alliance, collaboration between the three universities is taking on a new quality. Together, we can now build on our strengths in a targeted manner,” emphasizes Professor Ulrich Radtke, Rector of the University of Duis­burg-Essen. “We’re creating an attractive research environment that enables us to draw more top people from international science and research to the Ruhr area,” adds his colleague Professor Martin Paul, RUB. Professor Manfred Bayer, President of TU Dortmund University, says: “The entire region will profit from the strengthening of NRW as a location for science and research, as our research deals with the most urgent questions facing us in the future.” All three welcome the state government’s support: “The funding allocated to us will secure the research alliance’s financing for the first three years, and together we can now get off to a flying start.”

50 new professorships

The Research Alliance Ruhr was initiated in the framework of the Ruhr Conference of North Rhine-Westphalia’s state government. The four research centers will focus on “One Health”, “Chemical Sciences and Sustainability”, “Trustworthy Data Science and Security” and “Future Energy Materials and Sys­tems”. There will also be a “College for Social Sciences and Humanities”. Overall, up to 50 new professorships will be created as well as numerous posts for mid-level faculty. Preparations for the first appointment procedures have already commenced.

As of 1 February, Jürgen Hein is Managing Director of the Coordination Office of the Research Alliance Ruhr.

Further information on the Research Alliance Ruhr

Contact for further information:
Jürgen Hein
Managing Director of the Research Alliance Ruhr
E-mail: juergen.hein@uaruhr.de
Phone: +49 234 3223387