Unfortunately, the Northwest Alliance (NWA), the consortium formed by the Universities of Oldenburg and Bremen, was not selected as a University Excellence Consortium in the current round of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments.
The German Science and Humanities Council announced in Bonn which locations will receive funding. In addition to the Northwest Alliance, three other consortia and seven universities had applied for a total of five new funding slots. The Universities of Oldenburg and Bremen will continue and further develop their cooperation to strengthen the Northwest as a research region, together with their most important partner, the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
The bid to become a University Excellence Consortium followed one of the greatest successes in the history of the two universities. In spring 2025, they secured approval for a total of four Clusters of Excellence in the corresponding funding line of the Excellence Strategy. This meant they had exceeded the requirements for applying as a University Excellence Consortium.
“We will continue along the path we have taken together with the Northwest Alliance”
“Of course we are disappointed, but we are also proud of what we have developed and achieved together during the application phase,” said Prof. Dr Ralph Bruder, President of the University of Oldenburg, who also congratulated the new excellence locations in his initial response. “We will continue along the path we have taken together with the Northwest Alliance, and we will certainly keep the next round of the competition in sight.”
Prof. Dr Jutta Günther, President of the University of Bremen, also congratulated the winners of this round. She said: “We had very much hoped that excellence funding would give our Northwest Alliance a significant boost. That was not to be, and naturally this is a difficult moment for us.” She was certain of one thing, however: "We will hold on to the vision and goals of the Northwest Alliance.” She and Bruder thanked all members of the universities and everyone who had supported the application. "You were all wonderful and showed exemplary commitment. Thank you so much.”
The Universities of Oldenburg and Bremen submitted their University Excellence Consortium proposal, titled “Northwest Alliance: Connecting for Tomorrow,” to the German Science and Humanities Council in November 2025. In spring 2026, a commission of international expert reviewers spent several days on the Bremen campus. Presidents Günther and Bruder expressly thanked the many staff members of both universities who had worked tirelessly over the past two and a half years to help draft the NWA proposal and prepare the site visit. They also thanked their partners in the region and abroad, in particular the University of Groningen, the NWA’s privileged international partner university, and the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK) – Institute for Advanced Study, the central link in the Northwest. “We would also like to thank everyone who has supported, promoted, and advised the NWA up to this point. We have a strong community behind us that wants to help us move the Northwest forward,” Bruder and Günther emphasized.
Cooperation Across Borders for a Strong Northwest
Today’s decision was made by an Excellence Commission made up of international experts and the federal and state science ministers. Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science, Falko Mohrs, commented on the decision: “Of course, we would have hoped for a different outcome for the Universities of Oldenburg and Bremen and for the Northwest Alliance. At the same time, the application impressively demonstrated the academic strength, strategic development capacity, and culture of cross-state cooperation that have grown in the Northwest. The Northwest Alliance combines excellent research with regional responsibility, international networking, and social relevance. Four Clusters of Excellence, the close collaboration between Oldenburg and Bremen, and the involvement of international partners show that the Northwest is a strong and visible research region. I would like to expressly thank everyone involved for their outstanding commitment. We can continue to build on what has been achieved.”
Bremen’s Senator for Science, Henrike Müller, added: “Of course, we would have liked Bremen to achieve excellence status. Nevertheless, the Universities of Bremen and Oldenburg, not least through their Clusters of Excellence, impressively demonstrate that the region has academic strength and international competitiveness. At the same time, the cooperation with Oldenburg now rests on a reliable foundation that will last beyond the excellence competition. What matters now is to keep building on this strong foundation and to develop the Northwest further as an attractive and competitive location for science and research. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the University of Excellence application.”
In their consortium proposal, the two universities set out their plan to pool their research expertise to find answers to the major questions facing society in the future. These include the reliable and human-centered use of artificial intelligence, the development of smart technology for disease prevention, and global cohesion. The Northwest Alliance’s vision is to develop the Northwest into a vibrant research region, create ideal conditions for forward-looking, cutting-edge research and teaching, and redefine the relationship between universities and society.
