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Chemnitz Mechanical Engineering Professor Is a Member of the Highest Committee of the Excellence Strategy of the Federal and State Governments

Joint Science Conference and Federal Minister of Education and Research have appointed Prof. Dr. Birgit Awiszus, head of the Professorship of Virtual Production Engineering, to international expert panel on cutting-edge research

  • An older woman with short hair stands in a lab and laughs.
    Prof. Dr. Birgit Awiszus is a new member of the international expert panel of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments. Photo: Jacob Müller

With the Excellence Strategy, which consists of two parts, the so-called funding lines "Clusters of Excellence" and "Universities of Excellence", the federal and state governments aim to strengthen top university research, develop profiles and promote cooperation in the science system. The Joint Science Conference and the Federal Minister of Education and Research established an international Committee of Experts, comprised of 39 renowned individuals who are experts in various scientific fields, to design the funding program, evaluate applications, and make funding recommendations to the Excellence Commission. The international visibility of Chemnitz University of Technology is underlined by the fact that, in addition to scientists from high-ranking universities such as Harvard, Princeton, Cambridge, Stanford, New South Wales (Sydney) or ETH Zurich as well as other renowned research institutes, Prof. Dr. Birgit Awiszus, head of the Professorship of Virtual Production Engineering at Chemnitz University of Technology, a proven researcher from the university, strengthens this expert committee.

Prof. Awiszus is looking forward to her participation in this internationally staffed committee, which has a total of 39 members. "I would like to extend my special thanks to the deans of the past and current legislative periods of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, who have reaffirmed my decision and provided me with the necessary resources to continue in this important and responsible position after my retirement in the fall of 2023," Awiszus says. Throughout her long career, the Chemnitz mechanical engineering professor has served on numerous committees, including the German Research Foundation's (DFG) National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) Expert Committee, the DFG's Committee on Scientific Instrumentation and Information Technology, as chair of the DFG's Commission on IT Infrastructure (KfR), as a member of the DFG's Review Board 401 "Production Technology," and on the advisory board of IUNO (National Reference Project on IT Security in Industry 4.0).

Background: Committee of Experts and Excellence Commission for the Excellence Strategy Program

The Excellence Strategy program is run jointly by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Science and Humanities Council (WR). For this purpose, a Committee of Expertsand an Excellence Commission have been formed. The Excellence Commission consists of the Committee of Expertsand the federal and state ministers responsible for science. The Excellence Commission decides on the funding of Clusters of Excellence and Universities of Excellence on the basis of the recommendations of the Committee of Experts. The 39 members of this expert panel were proposed by the DFG Senate and the Scientific Commission of the WR and appointed by the Joint Science Conference (GWK).

According to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the tasks of the Committee of Experts include, in particular, the definition of the funding conditions, taking into account the criteria contained in the administrative agreement, the evaluation of the outlines for Clusters of Excellence on the basis of (specialist) scientific reviews and the decision on the outlines that qualify for application, the evaluation of the proposals for Clusters of Excellence and Universities of Excellence on the basis of (expert) scientific reviews, the funding recommendations for the Excellence Commission, the assessment of the results of the evaluation of the Universities of Excellence, and the reporting on the program to the GWK.

According to the BMBF, funding of 539 million euros per year for up to 70 Clusters of Excellence will be made available from the second funding period onwards to strengthen the competitive space. From 2026, the Excellence Strategy will thus have a total of 687 million euros available per year.

At the meeting on November 30 and December 1, 2022, at the DFG in Bonn, the new Committee of Expertsdiscussed the form of the resolutions passed by the GWK on the federal-state initiative. In an information event on December 15, 2022, the DFG will inform eligible HEIs about the framework conditions and special features of the call for proposals for the second competition round of the Funding Line for Clusters of Excellence.

Further information on the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments:

Contact: Prof. Dr. Birgit Awiszus, head of the Professorship of Virtual Production Engineering, tel. +49 371 531- 34720, e-mail birgit.awiszus@mb.tu-chemnitz.de

(Author: Dr. Carolin Binotsch / Translation: Brent Benofsky)

Matthias Fejes
11.12.2022

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