Rhein-Main Universitäten (RMU)

Listing all the great developments and events in the RMU Alliance is all but impossible here, and the “Best of 2025” below by no means claims to be an exhaustive list.

In 2025: 

• the focus was on excellence: when it was announced in May that five cluster initiatives of the Rhine-Main Universities would receive funding as Clusters of Excellence, the requirements for a joint proposal as an excellence consortium were met. This proposal „RMU-EXCITE – Excellent. Collaborative. Transformative.“ was finally submitted in November. A real milestone in the RMU’s history! 

• In 2025, old favorites returned: For example, the Postdoc Career Weeks continued with great success in June and July. New formats such as the first RMU Scholarship Fair in May, a science breakfast with numerous regional stakeholders in July and the first-time presentation of the RMU Awards in November were an instant hit.

• In 2025, a revised RMU cooperation agreement was signed : To honor the RMU’s 10th anniversary, the three alliance partners sent a strong message for the future of the RMU with a new cooperation agreement that will enable even more dynamic collaboration across all areas – from research and research infrastructure to study, teaching and administration to knowledge exchange with society. 

• In 2025, the RMU received strong backing from politics: With two identically worded resolutions passed simultaneously in the respective state parliaments and by signing an administrative agreement, the states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate confirmed their support for the RMU and the Rhine-Main science region. 

• In 2025, new startup programs were initiated: In spring, the three universities established the RMU Startup Academy, and by joining forces with Futury – The Future Factory, the RMU, together with Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, helped launch a groundbreaking initiative aimed at fostering academic entrepreneurship in the region. In summer, the success of Futury in the “Startup Factories” lighthouse competition of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy gave an additional boost to the Rhine-Main startup ecosystem. 

• In 2025, the RMU had plenty of reasons to celebrate, for example at the 7th RMU Day in July, held together with the summer party and the first RMU Olympics to celebrate 10 years of RMU, or at the first joint appearance of the three university choirs for the RMU end-of-year get-together in November.

• In 2025, the RMU also introduced two new joint degree programs, Urban Science and Particle Accelerator Science, increasing the number of joint RMU degree programs to ten.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a happy new year with lots of brilliant RMU moments!