Four of the cluster initiatives submitted by the Rhine-Main universities have successfully passed the draft proposal phase of the Excellence Cluster (EXC) funding line in the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments. The expert committee of the German Research Foundation (DFG) invited the four cluster initiatives to submit a full EXC proposal. The Rhine-Main Universities, a strategic alliance of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and Technical University of Darmstadt, participated in the competition with a total of nine new project proposals.

Prof. Dr. Tanja Brühl, President of TU Darmstadt and spokesperson for the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU), was delighted at the expert panel’s decision: "The fact that four RMU research clusters were able to prevail with their draft proposals is a success– both for the three universities and the entire Rhine-Main region, especially in the face of such strong competition in the national scientific landscape. This is proof of the diversity and strength of research in the Rhine-Main region."

Brühl also emphasized: "I would like to thank the scientists involved for their outstanding work. My colleagues Enrico Schleiff, Georg Krausch and I will do everything we can to provide the researchers with the best possible support in preparing the full proposals." Brühl as well as Prof. Dr. Enrico Schleiff, President of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, and Prof. Dr. Georg Krausch, President of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, are confident that they will be able to submit brilliant full proposals to the Excellence Commission in August, based on outstanding research from the Rhine-Main region.

Brühl was particularly pleased with the success of the joint RMU draft proposal CoM2Life submitted by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and Technical University Darmstadt: "The Rhine-Main universities have been cooperating across all performance dimensions for many years. The fact that another collaborative research project is now one step closer to receiving excellence funding is proof of the success of our joint strategy." The CoM2Life scientists aim to revolutionize the field of soft biomaterials by integrating principles from living systems into synthetic materials.