Interview on implementing the ExStra projects"The Majority of the Projects Are Well Under Way"

12 February 2021, by Merel Neuheuser

Photo: UHH/Saint Pere

Ariane Neumann heads Department 1: University Strategy

Universität Hamburg applied to the second funding line of the Excellence Competition of the Federal and State Governments for 24 projects. It now has more than €60 million available to implement these projects. Dr. Ariane Neumann, head of Department 1: University Strategy, explains how the ExStra projects are coming along.

One of the sections in your department is called “Excellence Strategy.” What is this section tasked with?

The Excellence Strategy section ensures that all projects are implemented in accordance with their submitted project proposal. The section works with the Executive University Board and numerous areas of the University and the administration in a type of project team and maintain an overview of what’s going on with the projects. They ensure that scholarships or development funds are announced punctually, that the 9 nucleus professorships in the emerging fields can be funded, and that institutions receive funding, such as the Hamburg Center for Health Economics for the continuation of its coronavirus research, which has been the subject of media interest around the world. At the same time, the section sees to it that the University, funders, and the general public learn more about the new things happening at Universität Hamburg—University of Excellence and what is being funded. Here, we will be unveiling some new information formats with the public relations team in the near future. It sounds like a pretty exciting field and a great team.

Officially, Universität Hamburg has been excellent for almost one and a half years. What is the status of the projects?

It’s unbelievable how quickly time has flown since the funding decision was announced in July 2019 and also since funding began in November 2019. We’re delighted that the majority of the projects are well under way. In some cases, we were already able to announce and award funding for innovative research or transfer for the second or third time. We can see how much our success in the Excellence Strategy has put us in the spotlight by our ability to attract new researchers from all over the world since March 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic.

In your opinion, how has Universität Hamburg changed through the announcement of the Excellence funding?

Since the announcement of our Excellence status, we’ve noticed a lot of support within and outside the University and from Hamburg and also a bit of pride among the University members to belong to one of Germany’s Universities of Excellence and to research, teach, and work here. In the previous year, Universität Hamburg celebrated its 100th anniversary on campus and throughout the city (even on the Alster!), and then came the decision in the Excellence Strategy—both gave the University a boost, which is still noticeable in many areas despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. Many researchers are seizing the opportunities afforded by the University’s new status and the additional funding and the implementation of the projects that these opportunities offer, for example, by establishing new degree programs together with foreign partner universities like Kyoto University in Japan or by scouting new top-level researchers from around the world who have become curious about Universität Hamburg since last year. The fact that lots of University members have uploaded a picture of the Main Building with the red Excellence “e” as their background for videoconferences in MS Teams and Zoom is surely a good sign of how strongly connected they feel to the University, right?