With the “Private Excellence Initiative Johanna Quandt”, Stiftung Charité is supporting the establishment and development of the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH). In doing so, it is making a substantial contribution to the strengthening of translational health research in Berlin and the important intensification of cooperation between Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), which is crucial to this endeavor.

The Private Excellence Initiative concentrates in particular on sponsoring outstanding individuals in all phases of their academic career, from studying through to professorship. It supports individual projects generating a major added value for translational and systems medicine-oriented research. With its focus on individual funding, Stiftung Charité complements more structurally conceived research funding within BIH. In this context, it has not only opted for the conventional methods applied in individual funding but also seeks to take advantage of the program lines developed in the Private Excellence Initiative by acting as a creative initiator in Berlin’s medical research.

A total of up to 40 million euro has been provided for the Private Excellence Initiative for the period of 2014 to 2022. Funding is allocated in accordance with recognized academic criteria and in a competitive framework. An Academic Advisory Council has been appointed for the Private Excellence Initiative to maintain quality assurance regarding the program lines and funding decisions.

„I want to contribute to our offering the best conditions to the best brains. Students, physicians, and top-level scientists from all over the world are to have the opportunity to engage in outstanding and internationally visible translational research at the BIH. This will push forward not only biomedical research in Germany, but also Berlin as a science and research location.”
JOHANNA QUANDT, FOUNDER OF STIFTUNG CHARITÉ