At the dialogue forums, Dortmund Rector Manfred Bayer (left) and Bochum Rector Martin Paul (right) exchanged ideas with the Bochum campus community.
Excellence Strategy Dialogue Forums
Co-Creating Ideas for the Ruhr Innovation Lab
In July 2025, all RUB members had the opportunity to discuss with the Rectorate about their ideas for the Consortium of Excellence proposal. Bochum and Dortmund jointly apply as Ruhr Innovation Lab.
Cooperation is a strength of the Ruhr region. This is why the ideas for the Excellence Strategy at Ruhr University Bochum are developed in collaboration with the campus community, not simply top down. At the dialogue forums in July 2025, everyone from students to professors had the opportunity to contribute suggestions for the second funding line application. In this funding line, Ruhr University Bochum is applying with TU Dortmund University as “Ruhr Innovation Lab” for funding as a Consortium of Excellence. The two institutions have a long history of collaboration through the University Alliance Ruhr (UA Ruhr), which has fostered numerous connections between the Ruhr universities since 2007.
Thanks to our UA Ruhr cooperation, we have a long track record of successful joint initiatives – a special feature of our Ruhr region alliance.
“Two for three” is how Bochum Rector Professor Martin Paul described the application’s motto during the event. Ideally, the application would have been possible as a three-way alliance with the University of Duisburg-Essen. However, since the formal requirements for this were not met, Bochum and Dortmund enter the competition as a team of two. “Thanks to our UA Ruhr cooperation, we have a long track record of successful joint initiatives – a special feature of our Ruhr region alliance,” Paul emphasized.
At the beginning of the events, the participants got information about the next steps in the Excellence Strategy in a presentation.
Everything revolved around the Bochum-Dortmund network called Ruhr Innovation Lab.
This was followed by group discussions on various topics.
The campus community contributed numerous suggestions on topics such as research, teaching, and transfer.
During the dialogue forums, Professor Manfred Bayer, Rector of TU Dortmund University, and the Rector of Ruhr University Bochum jointly provided information on the next steps in the Excellence Strategy. Participants then discussed the Excellence Strategy’s core topics with the rectors and other members of the rectorate, as well as with staff from the Department of University Development and Strategy. These topics included, for instance, research, transfer, teaching, and governance. The ideas will be incorporated into the process of the proposal preparation, which has to be submitted by November 12, 2025.
In addition to the Ruhr Innovation Lab from Bochum and Dortmund, ten other alliances and individual universities have declared their intention to apply in the second funding line. Furthermore, ten defending titleholders are also eligible. Up to 15 concepts will be funded in total.
