New Centers of Excellence and planned WHU Campus in NRW

NRW continues to strengthen its position as a hub for research. The University of Cologne and the Ruhr Innovation Lab, a consortium consisting of Ruhr University Bochum and the Technical University of Dortmund, will receive funding as centers of excellence under the Strategy of Excellence, a program administered by the federal and state governments. Going forward, this means that the state will have three universities and one consortium of excellence – more than any other federal state.

The new funding period begins on January 1, 2027, and will last seven years. The University of Cologne is regaining its former status as a center of excellence, which it previously held from 2012 to 2019. The newly designated Ruhr Innovation Lab builds on the long-standing collaboration within the Ruhr University Alliance. The concept focuses on creative freedom for research, innovative teaching, exchange with industry and society and cross-university collaboration.

Five universities in NRW will now be part of the circle of centers of excellence, joining the University of Bonn and RWTH Aachen University, which have already successfully defended their status.

Meanwhile, WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, a private business school, is planning a new campus in Düsseldorf. Scheduled for completion by WHU's 50th anniversary in 2034, the campus will combine teaching, research, entrepreneurship and innovation. A potential site for consolidating WHU's current Vallendar and Düsseldorf operations is the Medienhafen in Düsseldorf.