The Clusters of Excellence of the University of Münster

The two Clusters of Excellence, which the University of Münster has acquired as part of the federal and state Excellence Strategy, comprise faculties from the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. The Department of Mathematics was successful with the Cluster of Excellence "Mathematics Münster: Dynamics - Geometry - Structure". The Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics", funded for the third time, comprises around 200 researchers in the humanities and social sciences from 20 disciplines.

Researchers working with a simulation
© Uni MS - Peter Leßmann

Cluster of Excellence "Mathematics Münster"

The Cluster of Excellence "Mathematics Münster: Dynamics - Geometry - Structure" will tackle fundamentally important mathematical problems, viewing mathematics as an organic whole with countless interactions. The research is unified by three major approaches: focusing on the underlying structure of a given problem, taking the geometric viewpoint and studying the relevant dynamics of group or semigroup actions.

Spokespersons: Prof. Dr. Christopher Deninger und Prof. Dr. Mario Ohlberger; both Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
Participating Institutes: Institute for Analysis and Numerics, Institute for Mathematical Stochastics, Institute for Mathematical Logic and Foundations of Mathematics, Mathematical Institute
 

© Wilfried Gerharz

Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics"

The Cluster of Excellence has been investigating since 2007 the complex relationship between religion and politics across eras and cultures. The 140 researchers from 20 disciplines in the humanities and social sciences focus on the “dynamics of tradition and innovation”. They analyze in transepochal studies ranging from antiquity to the present day the conditions and factors that make religion an engine of political and social change, with their focus being above all on the paradox that religions often develop their innovative potential precisely by drawing on their traditions.

Spokeperson: Prof. Dr. Michael Seewald, Professor of Dogmatic Theology and the History of Dogma
Participating disciplines: History, Law, Political Studies, Sociology of Religion, Religious Studies, Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and Islamic Theology, Classical and Modern Philology and Philosophy, Art History, Arabic Studies, Ethnology, Ancient Middle Eastern Studies, Archaeology, Egyptology, Jewish Studies, Byzantine Studies, Musicology and Book Studies of the University of Münster
 

Completed Clusters of Excellence

The concept of the "Cells in Motion" Cluster of Excellence which has been receiving funding from 2012 to 2019 will be continued in an interfaculty institution.

© Uni MS - Peter Leßmann

Cluster of Excellence "Cells in Motion"

In this network, researchers investigate how cells move and behave in organisms. To make processes in the body visible and to be able to analyse them, we employ and develop innovative imaging methods. Scientists from biology, medicine, chemistry, pharmacy, mathematics, computer science and physics work closely together for the purpose. The Cluster of Excellence has established structures that link the different disciplines involved in a sustainable way and provide a long-term foundation for the research area. The university is continuing the concept in an interfaculty research institution.

Coordination team: Prof. PhD Lydia Sorokin (speaker), Prof. Dr. Volker Gerke and Prof. Dr. Michael Schäfers; all from the Faculty of Medicine
Participating faculties and non-university facilities: Faculties of Medicine, Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Mathematics and Computer Science, and Physics of the University of Münster; Max Planck Institute of Molecular Biomedicine
Project duration: 11/2012 – 10/2019