GEORG-AUGUST-UNIVERSITAT GOTTINGEN STIFTUNG OFFENTLICHEN RECHTS

Their core work

Georg-August-Universität Göttingen is a major German research university with deep strengths in open science infrastructure, fundamental chemistry, brain simulation, and agricultural economics. The university hosts leading research groups that build the digital backbone of European open access systems, advance catalytic chemistry (particularly C-H activation), and model terrestrial ecosystems and carbon cycles. With 15 ERC grants (Advanced and Consolidator) across its H2020 portfolio, Göttingen attracts principal investigators who define their fields — from number theory and ancient economic history to neuroinformatics and forest management.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2015–2018), Göttingen was heavily invested in building open science infrastructure — open access platforms, research information systems, and digital humanities tools (OpenAIRE2020, PARTHENOS, HaS-DARIAH). By the later period (2019–2022), the university shifted toward computationally intensive research: brain simulation and neuroinformatics, C-H activation chemistry, and ecosystem modelling. This reflects a move from enabling research infrastructure for others toward pushing the boundaries of their own computational and experimental science.

Göttingen is moving toward high-performance computing applications in both neuroscience and chemistry, making them a strong partner for projects requiring advanced simulation and data-intensive research.

How they like to work

Göttingen operates as both a project leader and a reliable consortium partner — coordinating 30 of 96 projects (31%), which is high for a university, indicating confidence and capacity to manage large grants. With 756 unique partners across 61 countries, they function as a major network hub rather than relying on a small circle of repeat collaborators. Their mix of ERC individual grants (where they lead by definition) and large RIA consortia shows they can anchor a project around a single PI or embed flexibly in a 15-partner consortium.

With 756 unique consortium partners spanning 61 countries, Göttingen maintains one of the broadest collaboration networks among German universities in H2020 — truly global reach with especially dense connections across the EU and strong ties to institutions in West and South Asia through cultural heritage projects.

What sets them apart

Göttingen's rare strength is combining deep fundamental science (ERC-level chemistry, mathematics, physics) with practical infrastructure building (open access platforms, FAIR data systems) and real-world application in agriculture and ecosystem management. Unlike purely technical universities, they bring strong social sciences and humanities capabilities — from Bronze Age economics to contemporary Islamic studies — making them valuable in interdisciplinary consortia that need both hard science and societal context. Their 15 ERC grants signal that they attract the kind of principal investigators who set research agendas, not just follow them.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PrivatePieties
  Largest single grant at €2.49M as coordinator — an ambitious ERC project on Islam and social dynamics, reflecting Göttingen's strength in culturally sensitive social science research.
• N2FEED
  €2M ERC grant tackling synthetic nitrogen fixation beyond the century-old Haber-Bosch process — a fundamental chemistry challenge with massive industrial and environmental implications.
• OpenAIRE2020
  €700K contribution to the flagship project that built Europe's open access infrastructure — positioned Göttingen at the center of the EU's open science ecosystem.