Various formats exist at the University of Stuttgart to promote and bundle interdisciplinary research. Within these structures, researchers can establish and expand collaborations and test the potential of their interdisciplinary work. The resulting platforms connect people and projects beyond specialist boundaries and form the creative basis for the "Stuttgart Way".
Stuttgart alliances
[Images: o.A., IZI/Universität Stuttgart, o.A., o.A., o.A., o.A., Max Kovalenko, Uli Regenscheit/Universität Stuttgart, Zentrum für Sonnenenergie und Wasserstoffforschung (ZWS), ITC / Universität Stuttgart, Florian Sterl / Sterltech Optics, o.A., o.A., o.A., Fraunhofer IPA]
The structure of the Alliances of the Stuttgart Way was revised in the summer of 2025. Since then, there have been three alliance formats. The formats vary in terms of external funding, the number of participating institutes, and the involvement of non-university partners.
The Stuttgart Research Center (SRC) offers long-standing, successful interdisciplinary research a durable institutional base and reinforces a research area of exceptional significance for the university. The Stuttgart Research Focus (SRF) promotes established interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers and offers them an institutional structure. The Stuttgart Research Interface (SRI) serves as a starting point for alliances that are expected to grow in the future. At the same time, it provides structure and support for interdisciplinary research within a well-defined, smaller research group.
The current alliance structure and the corresponding guidelines are available from the Administrative Office of the Research Council.
Until summer 2025 research alliances at the University of Stuttgart, were categorized into two types: Primarily university-led alliances (which could include external partners) and alliances in which external partners participated on an equal footing. These primarily included collaborations with industrial companies.
The research alliances were each classified into four categories based on external funding and the number of participating institutions. These are called:
- Stuttgart Center (SC) and Research Campus Stuttgart (RCS),
- Stuttgart Research Center (SRC) and Stuttgart Technology Partnership (STP),
- Stuttgart Research Focus (SRF) and Stuttgart Research Partnership (SRP),
- Stuttgart Research Initiative (SRI) and Stuttgart Partnership Initiative (SPI).
The existing alliances are currently being integrated into the new structure, the "Stuttgart Way Alliances".
Funding programs "Terra incognita" and "Una terra"
[Images: o.A., Max Kroll]
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[Images: ICD/ITKE/University of Stuttgart, HyEnD / University of Stuttgart]
Courtney Burrell
Dr.Research Consultant, Office Research Council
Nicole Bach
Research Consultant