The Excellence Strategy is an important agreement between the federal and state governments that aims to sustainably promote top-level research and strengthen the international competitiveness of German universities – and thus Germany as a business location. It is the successor to the Excellence Initiative. The decision on the funding of the Clusters of Excellence will be made in May 2025; the actual funding of the selected projects will then start on January 1, 2026 for a period of seven years.

The preparation of the Hessian excellence applications has benefited greatly from the funding provided by the state of Hesse. The work in LOEWE-WhiteBox also played an important role. PIs from WhiteBox are particularly involved in the TAM and RAI applications, which would represent a significant continuation of the WhiteBox focus in many respects. WhiteBox is keeping its fingers crossed!