On this occasion, the Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts (HMWK) is once again presenting the Hessian projects in a large article.

With the Clusters of Excellence, the federal and state governments are funding internationally competitive research fields in universities, including in cooperation with other universities or research institutions. The proposals are reviewed and selected by the German Research Foundation in a competitive process. The procedure is organised in two stages. New proposals are reviewed in the draft phase and, if successful, applicants are invited to submit a full proposal. A total of 98 full proposals have been submitted in the second competition phase, which is now underway. Of these, 57 are existing projects and 41 are new projects. Up to 70 clusters of excellence nationwide can be funded with between three and ten million euros per year.

Decision in May 2025

The decision on funding for Clusters of Excellence will be taken in May 2025. Funding will commence on 1 January 2026 and will be provided for seven years. In addition, the successful Cluster of Excellence projects will also lay the foundation for success in the second funding line in the state of Hesse. ‘Universities of Excellence’ will receive up to 15 million euros in funding per year. Universities that have successfully acquired at least two clusters of excellence are entitled to apply.

‘RAI’, Technical University of Darmstadt

Current artificial intelligence (AI) systems lack logical thinking skills, have difficulties dealing with new situations, require continuous adaptation and need extensive resources. The planned Cluster of Excellence ‘Reasonable Artificial Intelligence’ under the leadership of the TU Darmstadt in cooperation with the universities of Frankfurt, Tübingen, of Saarland, Bremen and Würzburg aims to develop the next generation of AI, ‘Reasonable Artificial Intelligence (RAI)’: AI systems that learn with a ‘reasonable’ amount of resources based on ‘reasonable’ data quality and ‘reasonable’ data protection. They are equipped with common sense and the ability to deal with new situations and contexts, and are based on training paradigms that enable continuous improvement, interaction and adaptation.

‘TAM’, Universities of Marburg, Giessen, Darmstadt

The aim of the project is to understand the fundamental processes of human perception, thought and behaviour that enable adaptation to constantly changing conditions. The collaboration between the Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, the Philipps-University Marburg and the TU Darmstadt brings together researchers from the fields of psychology, cognitive and neuroscience with experts in artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics to decipher universal principles of human adaptability. The findings will be fed into computer models that can imitate, predict and explain both the successes and limitations of the human mind. These findings will play a role in basic research, mental health and the development of safe AI and robot technology.

‘CoM2Life’, Technical University of Darmstadt, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

‘CoM2Life’ aims to develop a radically new generation of soft biomaterials based on the principles of living systems that enable long-term, two-way communication with biological systems. This will enable the development of materials for interactive cancer immunotherapy and tissue regeneration, replace animal testing, and create artificial organs. ‘CoM2Life’ is a collaboration between JGU Mainz, TU Darmstadt and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, combining scientific excellence with expertise in communication science to also meet the challenge of misinformation in this highly innovative field of research.

HMWK/bjb