November 2012 marks a milestone in TU Dresden's history: Ten years ago this month, the university began receiving funding as one of the eleven Universities of Excellence in Germany. This Excellence status has initiated a dynamic change process at TUD. The university has become even more interdisciplinary and international, attracting outstanding researchers from all over the world. Consequently, TU Dresden can consolidate its place among the best German universities and draw closer to world-class status. “Excellence is not only the driving force for exceptional research into unknown scientific territory – it is the overall catalyst for innovation,” says Rector Prof. Ursula Staudinger, “It shapes our whole university and the world beyond in many different ways.”

Drawing the brightest minds from across the globe

TUD has long been one of Germany’s leading universities and even ranks highly on a global scale in certain disciplines such as life sciences and quantum materials. Otger Campàs, Chair of Tissue Dynamics, came from the University of California to Dresden in 2021 because TUD is “one of the most successful interdisciplinary institutions worldwide in physics of life, which unites biology, physics and engineering.” Leading international researchers on digital cultures and the future of mobility have also joined the university, expanding and fine-tuning our scientific profile. In addition, the university has become one of Germany's largest centers for interdisciplinary digital sciences and artificial intelligence, and has also played a key role in establishing the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI).

The driving force for excellent research

TUD’s strength in research is reflected first and foremost in the three Clusters of Excellence that were secured in the second funding phase (2019 to 2026). At the Centre for Tactile Internet with Human-in-the-Loop (CeTI), researchers from computer science, engineering, medicine and psychology are researching the democratization of skills that make it possible for everyone to train robots. The Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter (ct.qmat) Cluster of Excellence – a joint cluster in collaboration with Julius-Maximilians-Universität of Würzburg – has succeeded in developing a laser network as small as a grain of sand that functions as one single laser. This advancement could be used to boost the performance of certain microlasers, which are already firmly established in cell phones, fiber-optic networks and other technologies we use every day. The innovative research findings from the Clusters will prospectively be integrated into teaching. The Physics of Life (PoL) Cluster of Excellence, which researches the self-organization of cells using the laws of physics, has also launched a Biophysics and Molecular Biology Master’s degree program. The Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed) and the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD) Clusters received funding in the first funding phase from 2012 to 2019 and continue to operate at the Excellence level.

DRESDEN-concept: a central element of our success story

The close collaboration with non-university research institutions at the DRESDEN-concept Science and Innovation Campus plays an important role. Twelve years after founding the research alliance, TUD and more than 30 research institutions – including three Max Planck Institutes, nine Fraunhofer Institutes, three Helmholtz Institutes and four Leibniz Institutes as well as cultural partners such as the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden State Art Collections) – have transformed it into a one-of-a-kind research alliance. “We are incredibly proud of the DRESDEN-concept Science and Innovation Campus, which has been emulated throughout Germany, and we want to intensify our collaboration in areas such as talent management and technology platforms,” says Rector Prof. Staudinger, adding, “Pooling the strengths of non-university institutions together with the university’s is one the hallmarks of Dresden as a science hub.”

Bolstering technology transfer

TU Dresden is one of the universities with the greatest third-party funding in Germany. In 2021, it was awarded 305 million euros in funding. In the German Research Foundation’s (DFG) Funding Atlas, the university has continually improved its ranking over the last ten years and is now in fifth place. The DFG has praised the university’s rise through the ranks as a “true success story”. TUD has also acquired research funding from the European Research Council (ERC). This year alone, it has received six ERC funding grants.

During the Excellence phase, the transfer of research results to industry has also expanded considerably. With 85 priority patent applications and 120 invention disclosures annually, TU Dresden is now among the top patent-producing universities in Germany. The dresden|exists start-up service develops more than 2,000 projects with companies and supports around 20 spin-off companies each year. TUD has given rise to multi-million euro companies such as Novaled and the robotics start-up Wandelbots.

In keeping with its crucial role in society, TUD seeks to contribute to shaping structural change in Lusatia. TUD will extend its outstanding expertise in the fields of data analytics, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing and green electronics to the large-scale German Center for Astrophysics (DZA) research center, which was recently selected for funding by the federal and state governments. The university will also spearhead the project during its first three years.

“Our vision is to continue TU Dresden’s transformation into a globally oriented yet regionally anchored top university for the 21^st century. Consolidating our status as a University of Excellence and establishing further Clusters of Excellence also play a crucial part in this,” says Rector Prof. Staudinger. “In doing so, we can build on what TUD has achieved over the last ten years.”

To mark the anniversary, the university produced a film titled "Bright Minds. Excellent Research“, which provides insight into how passionate researchers at TUD are working to find solutions to the great global challenges of our day.

Facts:
The Excellence Strategy of the Federal and State Governments is a funding program aimed at improving Germany’s competitive position internationally. TU Dresden was awarded the “University of Excellence” title in 2012 and successfully defended its title in 2019, securing its place as one of Germany’s eleven Universities of Excellence. Seven years later, in 2026, another scientific evaluation will take place. A minimum of two Clusters of Excellence are needed to hold the title.

TU Dresden has approximately 8,700 employees and 30,000 students. In the 2022/23 winter semester, the number of international students reached nearly 19%. Ten years ago, this figure stood at 11%. There has also been an increase in the number of academic staff, from just under 10% to over 20%. The number of international university lecturers has doubled to more than 10%. During the same period, the proportion of women professors has also increased by about10 %, reaching almost 22%.

Media inquiries:
Press Office TU Dresden
Tel.: +49 351 463-32398