Initiative Funding for Research

The renewed call for proposals for the RMU Initiative Funding for Research, funding line 2, offers scientists of the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) the prospect of substantial support for the establishment and further development of cooperations and networks at the three universities in case of approval. The funding volume per approved cooperation project is up to 20,000 euros p.a. for a maximum of two years (total funding per project: 40,000 euros across all three locations). The selection decision is made by the RMU Steering Committee based on the recommendation of the vice-presidents responsible for research at the three universities.

Independent of the current call for proposals for funding line 2, there is a year-round, non-term-limited application option for funding through funding line 1 of the RMU Initiative Funding for Research. Funding line 1 is used for joint start-up funding of proposals for large, strategically relevant collaborative projects, such as DFG Collaborative Research Centres and DFG Research Training Groups. Funding line 1 is aimed at projects that can reach outline maturity within one year. Regardless of the call deadlines, the designated spokespersons of the projects submit their proposals to the respective Vice-Presidents for Research. The maximum funding amount is 50,000 euros.

Initiative Funding for Teaching

With the Teaching Initiative Funding, RMU supports cooperations for the development of new, attractive study programmes, for the cooperative further development of existing curricular offerings and for the joint testing of innovative teaching/learning formats within the RMU.

The current call for proposals focuses on the development of specific RMU study programmes (in module form), the conception of digital modules or blended learning formats, as well as the conception and planning of joint study programmes. Applications can be made for funding of up to 40,000 euros for a maximum of one year. The selection decision is made by the RMU Steering Committee on the basis of the recommendation of the vice presidents of the three universities responsible for studies and teaching.

Applications for the initiative fundings must be submitted by March 15, 2022. Funding decisions for both initiative fundings are expected by June 1, 2022. The calls for proposals for the initiative fundings and other application documents can be downloaded below.

The strategic alliance of the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU), formed by the Technical University of Darmstadt, Goethe University Frankfurt, and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in late 2015, is well prepared to take part in the next round of the German Excellence Strategy program. Operating across federal state borders, the alliance has achieved outstanding results, particularly in the field of research: For example, the number of joint RMU Collaborative Research Centers (CRCs) funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) has more than doubled since 2015 – from five to 11; the number of joint DFG research training groups has risen from two to six since 2016. Innovative cooperation projects have been launched and fruitfully implemented, supported through targeted grant schemes such as the RMU Initiative Funding for Research, which has so far contributed a total of more than EUR 2.5 million in financing.

In the field of learning and teaching, the more than 100,000 students at the partner universities benefit from the establishment of the RMU Study Program and its future-oriented range of courses offered by all three universities either side of the Hessen/Rhineland-Palatinate state border. Since its launch in the 2020/2021 winter semester, over 3,400 courses have been opened up to RMU students. The RMU Initiative Funding for Teaching has so far provided some EUR 500,000 for the development of innovative and sustainable collaborative teaching schemes which enhance the attractiveness of studying at Mainz, Frankfurt, and Darmstadt. The Rhine-Main Universities already offer seven joint study courses – in Anthropology/African Studies, Biomedical Engineering, or Political Science, for example.

The Rhine-Main Universities are dedicated to continuously refining and raising the profile of the alliance over the coming years. They specifically aim for the submission of joint Cluster of Excellence applications to the next German Excellence Strategy competition and, as an alliance with an overall concept for extending its leading position in top-level international research, to collectively apply for the second funding line for Universities of Excellence. The German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Council of Science and Humanities are currently preparing the call for draft proposals for the Clusters of Excellence funding line, which is expected to be issued in late 2022. deciding on the specific timing of the competition. The next call for proposals in the Universities of Excellence funding line will take place after the funding decisions on the Clusters of Excellence in 2025.

In view of the coming nationwide Excellence Strategy competition and beyond, the three Rhine-Main University presidents – Professor Tanja Brühl (Darmstadt), Professor Enrico Schleiff (Frankfurt), and Professor Georg Krausch (Mainz) – have developed a joint RMU vision which invites students, researchers, and all university staff to help transform the alliance into a high-quality strategic university partnership over the next ten years.

• The Rhine-Main Universities aim to become a leading innovation hub in the international academic landscape and to position themselves among the global pioneers in the key research areas of the future. The partners want to define and implement programs for the collaborative, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary development of those research fields – with the support of special RMU research structures. For researchers in the early stages of their careers, the RMU offer attractive options for independent professional advancement thanks to its unique funding environment and the diverse further qualification and funding opportunities offered by the three universities.

• As for learning and teaching, the RMU plan to extend the existing RMU Study Program and to develop additional joint degree programs. The Rhine-Main Universities also intend to augment its tried and tested RMU Initiative Funding for Teaching in order to further enhance existing structures and formats as well as to create new cooperation models for learning and teaching, such as co-teaching courses and joint international summer schools.

• The three universities have already opened up of parts of their continuing education programs to each other's academic and technical administrative staff. In the long term, an RMU career development scheme will be established in which structures will be put in place designed to promote uniquely attractive career paths. Both short-term RMU-internal shadowing opportunities and agreements on professional exchanges between the three universities will contribute to this. There are great opportunities here to improve various aspects, such as work and family life balance, the appointment system, and dual career options.

• The Rhine-Main Universities will enlarge their knowledge transfer activities to include the areas of academic training and research and technology transfer. Thanks to the diversity and breadth of options, the alliance will create career and training opportunities in all fields, making the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main metropolitan area an attractive location for studying, pursuing a research career, or working in administration and science management.

The Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science, and the Arts and the Ministry of Science and Health of Rhineland-Palatinate endorse and support the implementation and establishment of measures and options for the long-term development of a shared RMU identity at the universities of Darmstadt, Frankfurt and Mainz.

The Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) are supporting joint projects for the qualitative development of studying and teaching for the third time this year with the RMU Initiative Funding for Teaching. As in previous years, the RMU Initiative Funding for Teaching has a total of 150,000 euros at its disposal.

The RMU Initiative Funding for Teaching provides funding for cooperative projects involving teachers from at least two of the three RMUs. The current call for proposals places particular emphasis on 1) the conceptual development of joint digital modules or blended learning formats, 2) the planning and anchoring of joint elective modules in the respective curricula of the study programmes of the three universities, 3) the planning and implementation of joint study programmes. In addition to these core areas, the call is open to other topics, so other ideas and projects can also be funded.

Proposals must be submitted by June 28, 2020. The selection decision on the funding of projects is made in the RMU Steering Committee on the recommendation of the Vice Presidents for Studying and Teaching of the RMUs. If approved, the cooperation projects are expected to start in the winter semester 2020/2021.

In the past four years, numerous cooperative research projects at RMU have been supported by the RMU Initiative Funding. With its funding line 2, the RMU Initiative Funding for Research aims to establish and further develop research-based cooperation and networks in the scope of the RMU.

The current call for proposals under funding line 2 offers personnel and material resources to finance networking activities such as conferences or workshops. The funding aims to support the establishment and expansion of RMU-internal cooperation and networks. Funding is subject to initial joint preparatory work as well as recognisable potential for sustainable cooperation oriented towards joint collaborative projects. Proposals must be submitted by 29 May 2020.

Independent of the current call for proposals under funding line 2, it is possible to apply for funding under funding line 1 of the RMU Initiative Funding for Research all year round, without any time limit. Funding line 1 is used for joint start-up financing of proposals for large, strategically relevant collaborative projects, such as DFG Collaborative Research Centres and DFG Research Training Groups. Funding line 1 is aimed at projects that can reach outline maturity within one year. Regardless of the submission deadlines, plans for the proposal of a large joint collaborative project are submitted by the designated project spokespersons to the respective Vice-Presidents responsible for research. The maximum funding amount is a one-off 50,000 euros.

Funding from lines 1 and 2 of the RMU Initiative Fund for Research is open to all disciplines and topics.

Prof. Birgitta Wolff, President of Goethe University Frankfurt:

"The primary task of the alliance is to work together to address major societal challenges."

"Our strength is diversity combined with reciprocal expertise. We complement each other perfectly, and that across state borders."

"The core intention of the RMU was and is to make the three universities better."

 Prof. Hans Juergen Prömel, President of TU Darmstadt:

"Our three universities operate as equal partners and have a shared outlook. We represent an excellent example of how scholarship and research can transcend borders with the support of the policymakers of two German states."

"Creating added value is the raison d’etre of our alliance. If in the next six years the RMU continues to develop as positively as it has up to now, then there's every chance of success in the next round of the Excellence Initiative."

Prof. Georg Krausch, President of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz:

"Joining forces as we have was bound to be crowned with success. The Rhine-Main Neuroscience Network is an outstanding example of this."

"Our mission is to enable. We consider it our task to put in place platforms to facilitate cooperation between researchers. The 49 applications submitted in connection with the latest round of the Initiative Funding for Research alone demonstrate the enormous potential that exists within the RMU."

 "The joint study concept that we want to launch next year is our biggest challenge so far - students will only need to enroll at one of our universities and pay the semester fees and thereafter they will be able to attend courses at all three of our institutes of higher education.”

 Angela Dorn, Minister of Science for the State of Hessen:

"Collaboration gives us the opportunity to progress more rapidly. There is no doubt the approach taken by the alliance is the correct one. And there are remarkable things being done in the fields of Medical Technology and African Studies.”

"I think this form of cooperation will also enable us to take advantage of potential synergies when it comes to administration." 

"If we look back in ten years’ time and then see a high level of identification with and sense of belonging to the RMU then we will have achieved a lot."

 Prof. Konrad Wolf, Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of Science: 

“I think it’s welcome and important the way that these three universities have made this region into an academic powerhouse.”

"By 2029, I imagine the RMU will be like a system consisting of three circles with intersecting parts - three universities, each with their own individual remarkable profiles but at the same time, maintaining close connections with each other."