Successful Development of the Research Alliance Ruhr

Since 2022, the University Alliance Ruhr has been expanding its top-level research in the centers and the college under the umbrella with the Research Alliance Ruhr strengthening the fields of “Chemical Sciences and Sustainability”, “Trustworthy Data Science and Security”, “Future Energy Materials and Systems” and “One Health”. Among the more than two dozen newly appointed scientists are two renowned Humboldt Professors: Prof. Dr. Edvardas Narevicius and Prof. Dr. Dana Branzei. Already in 2022, Prof. Dr. Narevicius left the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel to join the Research Center Chemical Sciences and Sustainability as a Humboldt Professor for Ultracold Reactions. He is also a member of the Department of Physics at TU Dortmund University. Prof. Dr. Branzei will join the Research Center One Health Ruhr as a Humboldt Professor for Biological and Genomic Treatment Approaches starting in April 2025. 

Some of the newly appointed researchers previously conducted their research at various institutes of the Max Planck Society or at international elite universities such as Stanford University, Cambridge University, and ETH Zurich. For eight new professors, starting their research activities in North Rhine-Westphalia involves moving to Germany, while twelve have relocated to the Ruhr area from another federal state.

Key criteria for filling the more than 50 new professorships under the UA Ruhr umbrella are proven scientific excellence and the potential for interdisciplinary collaboration. The professors are employed at one of the three universities, thereby also strengthening the department of their respective fields. In addition to Prof. Narevicius, six professors are based at TU Dortmund University: Prof. Alexander Marx (Department of Statistics), Prof. Daniel Neider (Department of Computer Science), Prof. Anna Isaeva, Prof. Igor Schapiro (both: Department of Physics), Dr. Amelie Heuer-Jungemann (from January, Department of Chemics and Chemical Biology) and Prof. Xijie Wang (50 percent).

Innovative Structures

In 2023, the College for Social Sciences and Humanities successfully launched an International Senior Fellowship Programme and is currently hosting the second cohort of scientists. The fellowship programme offers excellent international researchers from the social sciences and humanities the opportunity to pursue an independent research project within a six-month fellowship and to collaborate with tandem partners from the UA Ruhr.

The innovative structure of the Research Alliance has taken the collaboration of the UA Ruhr, which began in 2007 between Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, and the University of Duisburg-Essen, to new heights. A central goal was to form centers of excellence beyond department boundaries and to attract both internationally established researchers and emerging stars to the Ruhr area. The UA Ruhr opens up ideal career opportunities for excellent scientists from around the world by ensuring optimal conditions such as competitive equipment, scientific staff, and reduced teaching obligations.

The Research Alliance Ruhr was initiated by the Ruhr Conference of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science. Around 75 million euros were made available for the start-up phase from 2022 to 2024. With the 2025 budget, the state parliament also decided on 18 December to permanently provide the three universities with a total of 48 million euros per year for the four research centers and the college.

More Information on the Research Alliance Ruhr