Excellence in research

LMU Munich builds upon its success in the Excellence Initiative to further strengthen its position as a leading European research university on an international level. In this Germany-wide competition promoting top-level university research, LMU Munich was already awarded all three lines of funding in the first round of proposals in 2006, thereby receiving the highest level of appropriations. Through 2011, LMU Munich will be receiving an additional €180 million to establish a graduate school, three "clusters of excellence" and the institutional strategy LMUexcellent. LMU Munich is also participating in two additional Munich-based clusters of excellence.

Graduate School

At the Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (GSN), internationally recruited graduates benefit from the individual and interdisciplinary mentoring by leading researchers from different fields of neurosciences and profit from Munich's exceptionally diverse academic environment.

Clusters of Excellence

The Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CIPSM) is developing a new kind of protein research. The focus of interest is on the role of proteins, which as central biological macro-molecules condition, among other things, the structure and function of all organisms. This necessitates research at different levels of complexity - from isolated proteins to proteins in the living organism. One emphasis at CIPSM is on research into protein dynamics. The Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics (MAP) is developing new coherent light sources and laser-driven particle sources. MAP aims to achieve higher intensities, complete control of light pulses, improved frequency precision and higher photon energy. One of the principal objectives of the Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM) is to create a broad range of artificial and multifunctional nanosystems, to understand the way they function and ultimately to control them. This is the only way to ensure their use in information technology and in life sciences. In addition to the graduate school and the three clusters of excellence, LMU Munich also participates in two other Munich research associations, both of which are coordinated by the Technische Universität München. The main focus of the Origine and Structure of the Universe cluster is to explore the innermost structure of matter, space and time, the nature of the fundamental forces as well as the structure, geometry and content of our universe, while Cognition for Technical Systems develops cognition for technical systems such as vehicles, robots and factories.

Institutional Strategy "LMUexcellent"

LMU Munich is applying its institutional strategy LMUexcellent to sustainably improve the conditions for top-level research and to enhance its research profile, thus aiming to further strengthen its position as a leading European research university at an international level. As a genuine "universitas" covering a broad and widely varied range of academic subjects, LMU Munich makes an important contribution to resolving crucial questions pertaining to mankind, society, culture, the environment and technology - complex issues in which an interdisciplinary approach is increasingly needed. With this project-oriented strategy LMU Munich has defined a catalogue of measures which focuses on academic excellence, interdisciplinarity, international networking, the promotion of junior academics and guaranteeing high-quality research.