Crossdisciplinary Learning
University of Hamburg—University of Excellence has established an interdisciplinary curriculum in the elective areas of all bachelor’s degree programs. This should raise students’ awareness of complex societal issues, strengthen their interdisciplinary skills, and foster their critical and reflective general academic knowledge.
Over 650 inter- and transdisciplinary courses are offered within the scope of the crossdisciplinary learning approach. Innovative teaching formats that are closely related to strategic future topics and the University of Hamburg’s excellent research profile are being funded through the Excellence Strategy.
Projects until 2024
Visiting scholars in the Studium Generale
To build the Studium Generale, University of Hamburg—University of Excellence recruited outstanding researchers to work here on a semester basis.
Interdiciplinary teaching teams
University of Hamburg—University of Excellence funded interdisciplinary teaching teams with at least 2 lecturers from different faculties or departments. Together, they developed and tested numerous innovative research-related teaching formats on topics such as mobility, sustainability, and digitalization.
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News about the Excellence Strategy
Photo: CC0
18 December 2025|Excellence StrategyDigital Tools to Improve Maternal Health in Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, an estimated 400 out of every 100,000 women die during pregnancy, childbirth, or in the puerperium. Thus, maternal mortality is more than 150 times higher than in Germany. A knowledge exchange project at the University of Hamburg now aims to provide information on health, hygiene, and nutrition, especially for...
Photo: MPSD
17 November 2025|Excellence StrategyThe German Physical Society Honors University of Hamburg Physicist
The German Physical Society has awarded Prof. Dr. Andrea Cavalleri the Stern-Gerlach Medal for outstanding work in experimental physics. Cavalleri is the leading researcher in the Cluster of Excellence CUI: Advanced Images of Matter at the University of Hamburg.
Photo: Rafa Neddermeyer/Cop30
10 November 2025|Excellence Strategy“Belém is a signal.”
In the Cluster of Excellence Climate, Climatic Change, and Society (CLICCS), Brazilian-born sociology professor Eduardo Gonçalves Gresse is researching how international climate conferences work. He is taking part as an observer in this year’s UN Climate Change Conference in his native country, and says he is cautiously...
Photo: Private
6 November 2025|Excellence StrategyUltrafast meets ultrashort: CUI team receives prestigious ERC Synergy Grant
A research team in the Cluster of Excellence CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter at the University of Hamburg and DESY has been awarded the prestigious Synergy Grant from the European Research Council. It will receive €14 million to combine atomic-scale imaging with attosecond science, the most advanced approach to ultrafast...
Photo: ESO/B. Tafreshi
21 October 2025|Excellence StrategyThe Sky in All Its Colors
A few days ago, the European Southern Observatory launched operation of a new type of instrument, the 4-meter Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST), which will carry out unique sky surveys over the next five years. The University of Hamburg is involved in this milestone of the international 4MOST consortium with its...
Photo: Charles Steitler
7 October 2025|Excellence StrategyX-Ray Insight into Ancient Letters
The cuneiform tablets of Mesopotamia are considered the world’s oldest written artifacts. Many of them are hidden in clay envelopes, their contents still a mystery. The world’s first mobile CT scanner for cultural goods is now enabling the Cluster of Excellence Understanding Written Artefacts (UWA) to read the texts for the...
