Carsten Watzl becomes a member of two DFG Senate committees
The Senate of the German Research Foundation (DFG) has elected Prof. Dr. Carsten Watzl, Scientific Director and Head of the Immunology Department at the Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment in Dortmund (IfADo), to become a member of the Senate Committee for the Collaborative Research Centres and also to become a scientific member of the Grants Committee for the Collaborative Research Centres.
From July 1, 2025, Carsten Watzl will be a member of the Senate Committee and will accompany both subject-related and non-subject-related reviews of Collaborative Research Centres and report on the evaluations and assessments of the reviewers in the committee. He will also be jointly responsible on the Grants Committee for selecting the Collaborative Research Centres that are to receive funding. Prof. Watzl will hold this office until June 30, 2028.
Background: The Senate Committee for the Collaborative Research Centres is appointed by the Senate of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and is responsible for supporting the Collaborative Research Centres from the initial consultation on initiatives to the review and decision of proposals and the evaluation of results, as well as for shaping the further development of the program and its review and decision-making procedures. The committee currently consists of 39 scientists from all disciplines, who are also members of the Grants Committee for the funding of the Collaborative Research Centres.
Collaborative Research Centers are long-term university research institutions lasting up to twelve years in which scientists work together as part of an interdisciplinary research program. They make it possible to work on innovative, demanding, complex and long-term research projects by coordinating and concentrating people and resources at the applicant universities. In this way, they serve to develop institutional priorities and structures. Cooperation with non-university research institutions is expressly encouraged. Collaborative Research Centers consist of a large number of sub-projects. The number and size of the sub-projects are determined by the research program of the network. The sub-projects are led by individual scientists or by several scientists working together.
Objective of funding (compact): Realization of excellent collaborative research; focus and structural development at the applicant universities; interdisciplinary cooperation; promotion of researchers in early career phases and equal opportunities for scientists.