Research profile

The University of Münster promotes internationally renowned, cutting-edge research in mathematics, the humanities and social sciences, the natural sciences and life sciences. These areas comprise outstanding basic research and application-oriented projects. In addition to overseeing two Clusters of Excellence, the University of Münster is the designated spokesperson in ten DFG collaborative research centres. Ten Leibniz Prize winners currently work at the University of Münster. Around 20 grants by the European Research Council (ERC - Starting, Consolidator and Advanced) and six Max Planck Research Awards underscore the excellent research performance.

Impact areas

“Impact areas” refers to areas in which researchers at the University of Münster jointly collaborate on developing groundbreaking solutions to the complex challenges facing society today. In cooperation with partner universities, non-university institutions, industry, businesses, schools, governmental agencies and non-profit organisations, they strive to initiate and implement science-based, sustainable transformation. The University of Münster has established four “impact areas” which bundle the disciplinary strengths and resources required to advance socially impactful, interfaculty and interdisciplinary cutting-edge research.

The Clusters of Excellence of the University of Münster

The currently two Clusters of Excellence, which the University of Münster has acquired as part of the federal and state Excellence Strategy, comprise faculties from the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. The Department of Mathematics was successful with the Cluster of Excellence "Mathematics Münster: Dynamics - Geometry - Structure". The Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics", funded for the third time, comprises around 200 researchers in the humanities and social sciences from 20 disciplines.

International News

The University of Münster regularly publishes international press releases from research, teaching, transfer and higher education policy news.

Research Centres

Around 30 faculty-affiliated and cross-disciplinary research centres at the University of Münster demonstrate excellent diversity in research activities, promote interdisciplinary collaboration, and encourage dialogue and productive debate.

Coordinated research programmes

High-profile, cutting-edge research takes place in numerous scientific and academic projects. The DFG-funded collaborations at the University of Münster include collaborative research centres (SFB), priority programmes and research training groups. These are accompanied by other outstanding research projects, financed by the European Commission and German federal- and state-level agencies.