Excellence Lost

No, it's not Paradise Lost, but following a re-evaluation of Germany's universities, Freiburg's alma mater lost the status of excellence it gained five years ago. The lost grade is not only a blow to Freiburg's self-esteem but also means losing special funding. The total money involved in the program for Germany's now eleven elite universities will amount to 2.5 billion euros over the next five years.

People who gathered at Freiburg's university rectorate last night for a party to celebrate the university's confirmation in the rank of excellence were devastated when Rector Hans-Jochen Schiewer announced the bad news. Today Freiburg's media spread a general morning-after feeling (Katerstimmung). The Badische Zeitung published a photo with the university flag at half-mast.

Photo Badische Zeitung

The following map shows Germany's new distribution of elite universities, the lighthouses of science. Yellow stars mark the newcomers, while blue stars mark the losers.

Map dpa

I am sad to see Göttingen, where I passed my Vordiplom (some sort of bachelor's degree) in physics in 1957, marked with a blue star, but I am happy to see Berlin's venerable Humboldt University among the winners. Berlin's oldest university was in the east, following the city's division into four Allied sectors. 

With American funding, the Free University was founded in Berlin's western sectors, so today there are three universities in our nation's capital, two of which are labeled excellent. 

The choice of Tübingen, where I started my studies in 1955, fills me with joy. 

In Dresden, following the fall of the Wall, I participated in a somewhat unofficial evaluation of one of the physics institutes in the spring of 1990.

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