Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz focuses on research in clearly defined fields, thus making it a key player in the international arena. JGU is a comprehensive university that covers a wide range of disciplines. This lays the groundwork for competitive, quality-oriented processes for identifying interdisciplinary and innovative core research areas, which receive targeted support. With an executive committee comprising leading researchers based at both JGU and at non-university partner research institutes, the Gutenberg Research College (GRC) serves as a central strategic instrument to promote cutting-edge research at JGU, continuously reviewing and modifying the university’s areas of focus.

The Mainz-based particle physicists working in the PRISMA++ Cluster of Excellence are among the world’s leading researchers in their field. JGU is also a key player in various other research disciplines, such as the materials sciences, quantum and atomic physics, sustainable chemistry and polymer chemistry, the life sciences and translational medicine.

Within Germany’s Excellence Strategy program, JGU is applying for funding under the Universities of Excellence funding line as part of the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU). JGU, Goethe University Frankfurt, and Technical University of Darmstadt submitted a joint proposal entitled “RMU-EXCITE – Excellent. Collaborative. Transformative.”

JGU is the applicant or a co-applicant for the following

JGU is involved with the following

JGU is the applicant or a co-applicant for the following

JGU is involved with the following

The spokespersons of the following are at JGU

JGU is involved with the following

The spokespersons of the following are at JGU

JGU is involved with the following

Funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation

Funded by the Federal Joint Committee

Funded by the Snow Medical Research Foundation

The Rhineland-Palatinate Research Initiative of the state’s Ministry of Science and Health (MWG) supports JGU in the national and international competition for funding and the recruitment of top-level researchers and early-career academics. The ministry is currently financing twelve joint research projects of JGU with an endowment of up to EUR 9.4 million in total per year. These projects represent the university’s most advanced research fields, alongside other institutions and networks such as the PRISMA+ Cluster of Excellence.

JGU’s Top-level Research Areas bring together internationally established working groups that have already produced excellent results.

The Ministry of Science and Health of Rhineland-Palatinate is currently funding the following Top-level Research Areas at JGU:

Researchers in JGU’s High-potential Research Areas collaborate to tap into new fields of research with the potential to make an essential contribution to enhancing the university’s scope and impact in the future.

The Ministry of Science and Health of Rhineland-Palatinate is currently funding the following High-potential Research Areas of JGU:

Outstanding awards and accolades are regularly bestowed on scientists based at JGU. In recent years these have represented a significant proportion of the third-party funds raised by the university. 

ERC Advanced Grants

ERC Consolidator Grants

ERC Starting Grants

ERC Synergy Grants (with JGU involvement)

Within Germany’s Excellence Strategy program, JGU is applying for funding under the Universities of Excellence funding line as part of the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU). In November 2025, JGU, Goethe University Frankfurt, and Technical University of Darmstadt submitted a joint proposal entitled “RMU-EXCITE – Excellent. Collaborative. Transformative.”

The strong performance of the three universities in the Clusters of Excellence funding line made this application possible: In May 2025, five RMU projects were approved for funding starting in 2026.

At JGU

At Goethe University Frankfurt

At TU Darmstadt

The state of Rhineland-Palatinate and JGU have developed a strategy that has given rise to remarkable achievements, earning Mainz its reputation as a science hub. Since 2007, the number of research institutes based in the vicinity of JGU and co-financed by the federal government has tripled. The following non-university institutions engaged in top-level research are located either directly on the JGU campus or within a radius of just a few kilometers.

JGU has joined forces with these institutions and other research centers in Mainz and its surroundings – including the Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz as well as the research-driven pharmaceutical companies BioNTech and Boehringer Ingelheim – to form the Mainz Science Alliance. Under the umbrella of the Mainz Science Alliance, the Mainz Campus Research Council (MCRC) was founded in 2020 to intensify strategic collaboration and joint activities in research.

JGU, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, and Technical University of Darmstadt formed the strategic alliance of the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) in 2015. The universities have a combined total of more than 90,000 students and 1,500 professors and cooperate closely in research, studying and teaching. These renowned research universities are shaping the Frankfurt-Rhine-Main region as an internationally visible academic hub.

Founded in 2019, the FORTHEM Alliance is one of now 50 European University Alliances established by the European Commission through several calls to test various models of transnational academic collaboration. The original members of the FORTHEM Alliance are the University of Burgundy in France, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany, the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, the University of Opole in Poland, the University of Palermo in Italy, the University of Latvia in Riga and the University of València in Spain. Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu in Romania and the University of Agder in Norway joined FORTHEM in late 2022 during the second funding phase.

The FIT FORTHEM project (short for “Fostering Institutional Transformation of R&I Policies in European Universities”), coordinated by Mainz University over the entire term from 2021 to 2023, ambitiously mapped out a shared research agenda and proposed various infrastructure sharing and open science policies for all FORTHEM partners.

As an international research hub, JGU is dedicated to promoting cross-border cooperation between nations and cultures. This commitment is enshrined in its mission statement and its strategic concept, finding expression in its strong international relationships and global networks. The international character of the work of its researchers is sustained by a network of some 150 joint projects with partner universities on all continents.

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) sees itself as an integral part of society, with which it cooperates closely and openly. It perceives knowledge transfer as one of its primary objectives. In doing so, JGU addresses three dimensions of transfer:

  • Openness: exchanging knowledge and sharing it with other stakeholders.
  • Innovation: applying knowledge and turning it into innovations.
  • Responsibility: deriving action from knowledge and thus acting responsibly.

JGU cooperates with partners in the Mainz and the Rhine-Main region, in Germany and worldwide. As an open university, it supports numerous activities in the field of open science. Especially for the non-university audience in and around Mainz, JGU offers a multifaceted portfolio of knowledge transfer.

JGU supports the further development of scientific results and insights in the form of inventions and promotes knowledge-based spin-offs. It is also a strong partner for Rhineland Palatinate’s biotechnology initiative and for the transition of the city of Mainz into an internationally renowned life science and biotechnology hub.

The Knowledge and Technology Transfer Unit provides active support for cooperation projects with companies and other partners outside academia as well as for the commercialisation of scientific results that are eligible for patent protection.

The Startup Center of JGU and the University Medicine Startup Office  (web page in German) offer advice and support for prospective founders. The university is a partner of the Young Entrepreneurs in Science (YES) training program, which aims at raising entrepreneurial thinking among early career scientists.

Our partners in the start-up ecosystem:

JGU sees itself as a competent, advisory and trustworthy partner for science and society, politics, business and culture. It actively participates in scientific, artistic, social and political discussions and thus contributes to the further development of society.

Open science is a concept that encompasses all academic disciplines and aspects of scholarly work. The underlying intention is to provide access to research findings and processes without technological, financial, legal or other constraints, making these freely available to the various interested parties and facilitating social participation. Open science practices promote the accessibility, availability, subsequent use and transparency of the results of scientific work. They foster advances in knowledge generation and reinforce the credibility of research findings. Open science also includes the general public in research processes and ensures that the results of research are comprehensible for everyone.

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) regards the visibility and traceability of research results as an essential prerequisite for excellent science and is committed to the open access concept. As early as 2012, JGU published its own Open Access Policy. The university also supports the relevant national and international projects and strategies designed to provide free access to academic and scientific knowledge. Joining many other research institutions, funding organizations, professional associations, and other scientific bodies, JGU signed the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities in 2013. In 2016, JGU was one of the first German universities to join the Open Access 2020 initiative (OA2020) that aims to implement free online access to and largely unrestricted use and re-use of scientific research articles on a large scale.

Moreover, JGU places considerable emphasis on making research data open and available. Several years ago, it produced Guidelines on the Handling of Research Data (for download, in German). JGU welcomes the publication of research data in (specialist) open access repositories. Advice on this is provided by the Research Data Experts team of JGU. The university is also a member of several consortia of the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI).

JGU’s commitment to open science has already given rise to numerous activities and related outcomes, including Gutenberg Open Science, the university’s open access repository, and has led to the financing of open access publication costs from the university’s publication fund and the provision of transformative agreements (web page in German) for the members of JGU. The latter enable reading access to journals and at the same time regulate open access publishing in them. JGU also organizes frequent information and outreach events and actively motivates its early-career researchers to employ open science practices as part of their everyday work ethic. Furthermore, members of JGU’s Institute of Psychology have established the Mainz Open Science Initiative (in German) on their own initiative.

Together with its partners in the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) alliance, JGU will be hosting the Open Science Festival in 2024. This festival is designed as an ongoing series of national events and is held at different research institutions in Germany every year. In keeping with its motto of “Meet, Share, Inspire, Care” the event features international panels that discuss current trends in the realm of open science as well as workshops that create a space to exchange views and generate new ideas.

The FORTHEM Alliance also assists students and early-career researchers in integrating the full array of open science aspects into their own research activities by organizing various programs on this very topic.

Through the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) program established by the federal and state governments, valuable data obtained from publicly funded science and research are systematically accessed, networked, and made usable in a sustainable and qualitative manner for the entire German science system. JGU is a member of the related non-profit NFDI Association that coordinates the activities involved in the creation of a national research data infrastructure. JGU is involved in the following consortia supported by NFDI.

As a co-applicant:

Involved: