Bavaria's Science Minister Markus Blume (CSU) congratulates the KU on its DFG admission: "Keeping our fingers crossed paid off: Admission to the DFG is a true mark of achievement and a well-deserved title for the KU. It is not only one of the most popular universities in Germany, it is also characterized by academic excellence." Being the only Catholic University in Germany, the KU has a special function, said Science Minister Blume: "It provides ethical guidelines for our thinking and gives us the necessary orientation in a time of rapid technological progress. We are proud of this pearl of the Bavarian university landscape!"
For KU's Magnus Cancellarius, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the KU's admission to the DFG is also "a great success for the entire University and all those who are involved in it, with it and for it." He expresses his respect, his appreciation and also his great thanks for all the work that has been done. "After years of intense preparation and effort, the Catholic University has succeeded in further solidifying the foundation for future positive developments with its admission to the DFG", said the Chairperson of the Freising Bishops' Conference.
The DFG is the authoritative institution for research funding in Germany. Membership of a university or research institution is considered proof of particular strength in research. Institutions are admitted if they are classified as institutions that conduct research of general importance. According to the DFG, particular attention is paid to whether independent research is one of the underlying tasks of an institution and the extent to which research is conducted in relation to its other activities. The Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg was admitted together with the KU. The DFG now has a total of 99 member institutions. The most recent admission to the DFG had been the University of Erfurt in 2019.
As a self-governing institution of science in Germany, the DFG's primary task is to promote cutting-edge research. It allocates project funds for this purpose, most of which are provided by the federal and state governments. A research institution does not have to be a member of the DFG to apply for such funding. In the past, KU researchers have also been successful in applying for DFG funding for their research projects. Currently, about two dozen DFG-funded projects are ongoing at the KU. These include larger grants with a volume of several million euros each. For example, in a DFG research group led by KU geographers ("Sensitivity of High-Alpine Geosystems to Climate Change from 1850 onwards", SEHAG), researchers from several universities are collaborating across countries to research the consequences of climate change in the Alpine region. And the DFG-funded research training group "Practicing Place" enables doctoral students and postdocs at the KU to conduct interdisciplinary research in the thematic field of space and place.
As a full member of the DFG, the KU will in future be able to have a say in important matters concerning the association and will have voting rights in elections for DFG committees "First and foremost, however, admission to the DFG is a sign of recognition of our scientific achievements and free, independent research", says KU President Gien. Three years ago, the academic autonomy of the church-run University was underlined even more clearly by an amendment to the Foundation Charter.
The KU submitted its application for admission to the DFG in January 2022 and also submitted a 700-page report on the University's research strategy and achievements. In October 2022, an inspection by the DFG took place in Eichstätt. Subsequently, the Ad Hoc committee, the DFG Executive Committee and the DFG Senate recommended to the DFG General Assembly that the KU be admitted.
For Prof. Dr. Jens Hogreve, Vice President for Research, admission to the DFG is an important signal that the KU has taken the right path with its research strategy. "We already began paving the way for application for admission several years ago, when we made the decision to establish a Research Service Center." Subsequently, a pool of measures was implemented to accompany and advise researchers during the application process for funding or to improve the framework conditions for the implementation of projects.
New structures have been established with the founding of two research groups in the natural sciences and the humanities, cultural and social sciences, the “KU Center for Religion, Church and Society in Transformation”, and other research institutes such as the “Mathematical Institute for Machine Learning and Data Science” (MIDS). The KU's research profile was also sharpened by establishing three thematic focus areas: One in the field of society and responsibility, another in the field of nature and the environment, and a focus area for digitalization. The last cross-cutting topic area intends to establish a relationship between technological progress and social change, uncover possible tension fields, risks and challenges and contribute to the formation of a human-centered digital society from an academic perspective. "In this context, we want to contribute our own personal note as a University with a focus on the humanities and social sciences", explains Hogreve.
"The profiling process implemented at the KU over recent years has paid off", says the Vice President for Research, referring to the significant increases in third-party funding income. Repeated successes in important competitive funding programs, such as the acquisition of seven tenure-track professorships in the federal state and government program for the promotion of early-career researchers also confirmed the KU’s right course. This further development in the area of academic careers is just one component in the KU's efforts to improve conditions for early-career researchers, which include scholarships and mentoring programs as well as training and qualification opportunities. He continued to say that it was also important that research was made more visible, for example through new transfer formats that involved citizens or companies in the research process. "At the KU, we have succeeded in bringing together transfer and fundamental research", Hogreve said.
The Vice President points out that admission to the DFG is not a final point. "We will consistently continue on the course we have set to enhance the KU's research accomplishments even further."