As part of the Excellence Strategy competition of the German Federal and State Governments, Goethe University Frankfurt is applying as a University of Excellence within the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) alliance. In November 2025, Goethe University Frankfurt, Technical University Darmstadt, and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz submitted a joint proposal entitled “RMU-EXCITE – Excellent. Collaborative. Transformative”.
The strong performance of the three universities in the Clusters of Excellence funding line made this application possible: In May 2025, five RMU projects were approved for funding starting in 2026.
Rhine-Main Universities’ Clusters of Excellence
Cardio-Pulmonary Institute (CPI)
When mutated cells cause damage to the heart
The Cardio-Pulmonary Institute (CPI) Cluster of Excellence investigates molecular processes in the interaction of the heart and the lung, and what happens in cells and tissues in cases of heart and lung disease. With a view towards developing innovative treatment methods for patients, scientists specialized in basic research work together with colleagues from the clinical field.
CPI continues the successful work of the Cardio-Pulmonary System Cluster of Excellence (ECCPS), which received funding from 2006 to 2018 as part of the Excellence Initiative, i.e. the Excellence Strategy's predecessor program. The unique interdisciplinary center brings together scientists from Justus Liebig University Giessen, Goethe University Frankfurt and the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research (Bad Nauheim).
CPI's spokespersons are Prof. Dr. Susanne Herold (JLU Giessen) and Prof. Dr. Stefanie Dimmeler (Goethe University Frankfurt).
→ More information in our Web Magazine
→ Visit CPI’s website
Goethe University
SCALE
How cells really work
Thanks to modern imaging techniques, cells can now be studied down to the micro level of atoms. The cluster initiative SCALE (SubCellular Architecture of LifE) intends to use this methodology to uncover the principles of how cells organize themselves.
SCALE scientists are using their expertise in the analysis of RNA and membrane protein complexes to create a simulation of the cell in a high spatial and temporal resolution. In so doing, they are hoping to gain a better understanding of how cells really operate and how their various "machines" work together. Although the functions of many individual molecules have already been the subject of scientific research, it often remains unclear how the architecture inside a cell is formed, how it functions and how the individual elements interact.
SCALE's spokespersons are Prof. Dr. Martin Beck (Max Planck Institute for Biophysics/Goethe University Frankfurt), Prof. Dr. Inga Hänelt and Prof. Dr. Michaela Müller-McNicoll (both Goethe University Frankfurt).
→ More information in our Web Magazine
→ Visit SCALE´s Website
Goethe University
PRISMA++
Precision Physics, Fundamental Interactions and Structure of Matter
Website
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
RAI
Reasonable Artificial Intelligence
Website
Technical University Darmstadt
TAM
The Adaptive Mind
Website
Technical University Darmstadt
Stabsstelle Exzellenzstrategie
Annabel Bokern