LOEWE

The State Offensive for the Development of Scientific and Economic Excellence (LOEWE for short) is an excellence program launched by the State of Hessen in 2008 to promote outstanding and innovative research projects intended to make universities and research institutions in Hessen more competitive both nationally and internationally.

Funding lines 1 (LOEWE Research Centres) and 2 (LOEWE Research Clusters) are implemented in a two-stage procedure. Participation in this funding program with promising applications is of particular importance for the scientific development and profile building of the University of Kassel. The Presidium supports it to the best of its ability. The HMWK usually issues the call for proposals on December 1 of each year. Since only a limited number of outlines can be submitted by the university, the two-stage application process is preceded by an internal pre-selection by the Presidium.

The new funding line 5 - LOEWE Exploration, introduced in August 2020, aims to open up the possibility of implementing novel, highly innovative, and daring research ideas that challenge or substantially expand current scientific understanding. Funding is directed toward a time-limited, exploratory phase in which the viability of a new or unconventional research approach is to be tested. Risk, courage to fail, and unexpected findings are integral components of the program. Applications can only be submitted in the course of an HMWK call for proposals. Calls for proposals are usually issued twice a year.

The Presidium invites the departments via the Deans' Offices to submit their expressions of interest (documents can be found here), including an outline in the specified format by November 15.  After selection, the draft is usually to be prepared in close coordination with the Research Support by the beginning of April according to the given format of the LOEWE office. The submission is made through the Presidium. For the further steps of the selection process, please refer to the homepage of the LOEWE office.

Applications can only be submitted in the course of an HMWK call for proposals. Calls for proposals are usually issued twice a year. The submission must be notified to the head of the institution at the latest upon submission of the proposal. Anonymized application documents, i.e., the participating scientists' identity, career stage, and institutional affiliation must not be revealed. References to own publications are only permissible insofar as they do not allow conclusions to be drawn about the identity of the participating scientists.

Dr. Nina Felgen