The MHH is vying for the title of “University of Excellence”- and for funding of up to 15 million euros annually.
Many dedicated people want to make the MHH a more sustainable and resilient place—in line with the motto: Every day for life! Copyright: André Schweigler/MHH
Now it’s crunch time: On Wednesday and Thursday (June 10 and 11, 2026), the Hannover Medical School (MHH) will present its future program INSPIREfutureHealth to an international panel of experts. The so-called on-site visit concerns funding of up to 15 million euros annually for the long-term strategic development and expansion of the university’s leading international position. “We want to become a university of excellence,” says MHH President Prof. Dr. Hilfiker-Kleiner. “As a supramaximal care provider, the MHH stands for excellent, patient-centered medicine, supported by science-based, translation-oriented teaching and interprofessional collaboration among all healthcare professions. With our future strategy INSPIREfutureHealth, we aim to integrate research, teaching, and therapy even more closely and rethink them, thereby serving as the model for future university medicine.”
Since its founding 60 years ago, the MHH has been doing pioneering work for the future of health research. The university focuses on innovation, translation, and transfer to better understand diseases, prevent them whenever possible, and cure them. With the best minds from around the world—researchers, physicians, students, professionals, and trainees—the MHH is becoming organizationally, digitally, and ecologically sustainable. The medical campus of the future integrates holistic medicine, Nursing, and the latest technologies for timely prevention, better prediction, and precise treatment in a highly participatory approach—benefiting not only patients but all employees and society as a whole.
Review on Wednesday and Thursday
The MHH is the only purely medical university in Germany to have submitted an application as a University of Excellence (ExU) in the nationwide competition for top-level research. The MHH submitted its written application in November 2025. This week, the focus is on demonstrating to the 13 renowned international reviewers—through discussions and three campus tours—that the MHH will achieve the goals outlined in the application using the measures also described therein.
Ten Universities of Excellence for the funding period from 2027 to 2033 have already been selected. Of the eleven universities that also aspire to become “Universities of Excellence” in the future, no more than five additional institutions will receive the title this fall. The Excellence Commission will announce its decision on October 2, 2026.
Text: Inka Burow