University of Konstanz
Top-level research, excellence in teaching and studies, internationality and interdisciplinary collaboration have stood for the University of Konstanz since its foundation as a Reform University in 1966. This clear orientation soon led to a unique profile that is defined not only through high quality but also through innovation, creativity and a distinct zest for research. The strategy of modernisation and reform from within is being consistently advanced, and the University of Konstanz's "success story" (Lord Dahrendorf, 2006) is something that all members experience. The consistent expansion of its strengths, innovative concepts and ideas within with the university’s Institutional Strategy "Modell Konstanz – Towards a Culture of Creativity" has contributed significantly to the success of the University of Konstanz since October 2007 in both phases of the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal and State Governments to promote top-level research at German universities. Konstanz is therefore one of the eleven universities whose Institutional Strategies are being funded by the federal and state governments to expand university top-level research. In the first call for proposals under the Excellence Initiative, the Cluster of Excellence "Cultural Foundations of Social Integration" was already approved in 2006. This was followed by the Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology which was awarded funding in 2007. In the second phase of the Excellence Initiative the profile of the University of Konstanz was further enhanced in 2012 by the founding of the new Graduate School of Decision Sciences.