This month, the main German agency for research funding, the DFG, reported results of the country’s Excellence Initiative. Begun in 2006, the program will spend €4.6 billion ($5 billion) over 11 years to strengthen prestigious German universities. From 2011 to 2013, 45 institutions received more than €1 billion to run graduate programs and establish clusters of excellence. Since 2002, those universities have increased their scientific publications 43% in chemistry and physics, compared with a 34% rise by all German institutions. Articles by 14 elite universities have increased from 29% in 2002 to about 35% of total German science papers. But other universities not targeted by the Initiative have made similar gains in research citations, and although the elite universities claimed 40% of 2011–13 DFG funding, their 2002–04 share was similar. The Initiative’s effects are difficult to discern due to a coincidental rise in German research funding over the last 10 years. The findings of an international panel evaluating the Initiative are expected in January 2016.

Source: Nature