The TUD's Clusters of Excellence as part of the Excellence Strategy

In August 2024, TUD submitted a total of six full proposals for funding as a Cluster of Excellence as part of the Excellence Strategy. Three applications for the new Cluster of Excellence initiatives and the continuation applications for the continued funding of the three existing Clusters of Excellence. An impressive five out of six submitted research projects were selected as Clusters of Excellence in May 2025. The three existing clusters CeTI, ctd.qmat and PoL continue to receive funding since January 2026, and two new ones have been added: CARE and REC².

Spotlight on Speakers

Portrait Prof. Fitzek, siegessicher lächelnd vor einer dunklen Fotowand

Prof. Frank H.P. Fitzek - CeTI

Frank H. P. Fitzek, who has held the "Deutsche Telekom Chair for Communication Networks" at TUD since 2014, is at the forefront of German telecommunications research. As speaker of CeTI and the 6G-life research center, he has significantly shaped the field of communication networks. With an entrepreneurial spirit, he has co-founded more than ten start-ups since 1999. Learn more

Prof. Matthias Vojta - ctd.qmat

Prof. Matthias Vojta is Chair of Theoretical Solid State Physics and since 2019, he has been Dresden's Speaker for the ctd.qmat – Complexity, Topology and Dynamics in Quantum Matter Cluster of Excellence, a joint cluster between TU Dresden and Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. Learn more

Prof. Otger Campàs - PoL

Prof. Otger Campàs has been Chair of Tissue Dynamics since 2019 and is both Speaker and Managing Director of the PoL - Physics of Life Cluster of Excellence, which works closely with 39 research groups, in particular MPI-CBG. Learn more

Prof. Victor Mechtcherine - CARE

Prof. Mechtcherine has been Director of the Institute of Construction Materials at TUD since 2006, is one of the world's leading construction materials researchers and is speaker of CARE. With his groundbreaking work on sustainable mineral fiber composites and digital manufacturing processes in concrete construction, he is driving a fundamental transformation in the construction industry. To the video

Prof. Yana Vaynzof - REC²

Prof. Yana Vaynzof is Chair of Emerging Electronic Technologies at TU Dresden, Director at the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden, and Speaker of the REC² – Responsible Electronics in the Climate Change Era Cluster of Excellence. To the video

CeTI: Centre for Tactile Internet with Human-in-the-Loop

Speaker: Prof. Frank Fitzek
CeTI explores how humans and machines can share knowledge and skills in real time to promote greater participation, resilience, and technological sovereignty. The Cluster of Excellence combines interdisciplinary research with practical applications, bringing future technologies to society, education, and industry.

further information on CeTI

ctd.qmat: Complexity, Topology and Dynamics in Quantum Matter

Speaker at the Dresden site: Prof. Matthias Vojta
The global competition for quantum technologies is in full swing. Materials that exhibit exotic phenomena play a decisive role in this. Right at the forefront: the Cluster of Excellence ctd.qmat - Complexity, Topology and Dynamics in Quantum Matter.

further information on ctd.qmat

PoL: Physics of Life

Speaker: Prof. Otger Campàs
Despite major advances in physics over the last century, identifying the physical principles that govern life remains one of the most significant scientific challenges. Research at PoL aims to address this challenge, by combining theory and experiments to explore the dynamic organization of living matter at molecular, cell, and tissue scales.

further information on PoL

CARE: Climate-Neutral and Resource-Efficient Construction

Speaker: Prof. Viktor Mechtcherine (TUD) and Prof. Martin Claßen (RWTH Aachen University)
The construction industry emits enormous amounts of greenhouse gases and consumes more energy and resources than almost any other sector - at the same time, there is a shortage of skilled workers and productivity is stagnating. CARE is accelerating the disruptive transformation of construction: with climate-neutral building materials as an alternative to conventional concrete, material-efficient construction principles and automated, digital production processes. Sustainability assessment ensures impact and practicability.

further information on CARE

REC²: Responsible Electronics in the Climate Change Era

Speaker: Prof. Yana Vaynzof
The REC² cluster creates the scientific basis for the electronics of the future: new material platforms, component concepts and integrated systems with which responsible electronics can be realized in an ecologically, economically and socially sustainable way.

more information about REC²

Further information

Funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) and the Free State of Saxony as part of the Excellence Strategy of the Federal and State Government