We are excellent in battery research!
With the POLiS (Post Lithium Storage) cluster of excellence, which was approved in 2018 and extended in 2025, Ulm University has achieved an important success in the competition for excellence. In this network, our female scientists are researching innovative battery concepts beyond lithium - a key contribution to the energy transition and sustainable mobility.
Like its predecessor, the "Excellence Initiative", the "Excellence Strategy" is a financial support programme of the federal and state governments to strengthen world-class research in Germany. Their common goal is to reinforce Germany's position as a centre of science and research and its international competitiveness. The Excellence Strategy is divided into two funding lines: the "Clusters of Excellence" and the "Universities of Excellence".
The POLiS (Post Lithium Storage) network is the flagship of the Green Energy Campus at Ulm University. Female and male scientists from Ulm University, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Giessen are conducting joint research into innovative battery materials and storage technologies in Germany's only cluster of excellence for battery research. The cluster of excellence was approved for the first time in 2018 and was endowed with 47 million euros for seven years. In 2025, the funding was extended for a further seven years.
The funding of POLiS II is a clear signal: Ulm is and will remain the centre of German battery research, which is also among the best internationally.
Prof Michael Weber
President
The International Graduate School in Molecular Medicine Ulm (IGradU) was funded by the DFG in 2007 as part of the Excellence Initiative as one of only 45 graduate schools in Germany. Since its foundation in 2005, it has developed into an internationally visible institution with six interdisciplinary Research Training Groups and numerous doctoral projects.
Even after DFG funding ends in 2019, IGradU will continue to be supported by the state of Baden-Württemberg, Ulm University and the Medical Faculty - an example of the sustainable impact of the Excellence Initiative. The competition has been continued as the Excellence Strategy since 2016.