German understatement

The whole thing must seem odd for the English speaking world. A lot of Germans also wonder if the "Exzellenzinitiative" is a good idea. In its attempt to close ranks with the Harvards and Oxfords of this world, the Federal Government decided to fund a number of universities with a speacial grant. This grant is called "initiative for excellence" and worth EUR1.9bn. According to the department of education and research it was founded "to establish internationally visible research beacons in Germany". Exzellenzinitiative may be a catchy title and also gives it the academic touch it probably needs. It is, however, rather hard to pronounce. Konstanz Uni's press office has already had some problems with it (see below).

In the second round of the initiative six more universities were chosen by the German Research Association (DFG) and the Science Council yesterday. The Technical University Karlsruhe and both of Munich's universities (LMU and TH) won in the first round in October 2006. Germany's new elite universities are:

RWTH Aachen, FU Berlin and Universities Freiburg, Göttingen, Heidelberg and Konstanz.

The decision entitles them to some EUR100m in Government funds over the next couple of years. Let's prentend for one moment that this is a very good idea and that there is no criticism.

You would expect the lucky winners to promote this success in any way they can to attract students and business, wouldn't you? Let's have a look at their websites then.

It seems that no one of the Heidelberg staff has noticed that their employer was awarded a new title. There is absolutely nothing on the website. Oh, sorry. I missed it. There is a link in the menu on the left hand side. Almost invissibly. 1/10.












Some 100km further South, the colleagues in Konstanz are indeed aware of their prize. The didn't feel, however, that it is worth more than a press release. 3/10. Take a closer look at the wording of the headline. It honestly says, even in the English version: "Exzellenzinitiative: Universität Konstanz wird Exzellenzuniversität. Exzellenzuniversität Konstanz - mehr Informationen". Hello, McFly? Anybody home? A five year old could have been more creative. I have sent them an email saying that I have never read anything that boring.

Similarly unspectacular, FU Berlin calls itself "light tower of science". There is a nice image on Spiegel online. My god, welcome your students to the Elite University in the capital!

Even duller is Göttingen's version (my home uni btw!): "Excellence initiative: success." Wow! That's creative. 2/10. What about: Wer in Göttingen studiert ist exzellent!

The only university that has a good PR team seems to be Aachen. They actually use the term "exzellent" in the headline of the press release and furthermore have created a new logo - even better than Munich's. Almost there, guys. Just one more thing. An English translation of the website might attract foreign students and business as well. 8/10.