Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz focuses on research in clearly defined fields, thus making it a key player in the international arena. JGU is a comprehensive university that covers a wide range of disciplines. This lays the groundwork for competitive, quality-oriented processes for identifying interdisciplinary and innovative core research areas, which receive targeted support. With an executive committee comprising leading researchers based at both JGU and at non-university partner research institutes, the Gutenberg Research College (GRC) serves as a central strategic instrument to promote cutting-edge research at JGU, continuously reviewing and modifying the university’s areas of focus.

The Mainz-based particle physicists working in the PRISMA+ Cluster of Excellence are among the world’s leading researchers in their field. JGU is also a key player in various other research disciplines, such as the materials sciences, quantum and atomic physics, sustainable chemistry and polymer chemistry, the life sciences and translational medicine.

The Rhineland-Palatinate Research Initiative of the state’s Ministry of Science and Health (MWG) supports JGU in the national and international competition for funding and the recruitment of top-level researchers and early-career academics. The ministry is currently financing twelve joint research projects of JGU with an endowment of up to EUR 9.4 million in total per year. These projects represent the university’s most advanced research fields, alongside other institutions and networks such as the PRISMA+ Cluster of Excellence.

Outstanding awards and accolades are regularly bestowed on scientists based at JGU. In recent years these have represented a significant proportion of the third-party funds raised by the university. 

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) sees itself as an integral part of society, with which it cooperates closely and openly. It perceives knowledge transfer as one of its primary objectives. In doing so, JGU addresses three dimensions of transfer:

  • Openness: exchanging knowledge and sharing it with other stakeholders.
  • Innovation: applying knowledge and turning it into innovations.
  • Responsibility: deriving action from knowledge and thus acting responsibly.

JGU cooperates with partners in the Mainz and the Rhine-Main region, in Germany and worldwide. As an open university, it supports numerous activities in the field of open science. Especially for the non-university audience in and around Mainz, JGU offers a multifaceted portfolio of knowledge transfer.

JGU supports the further development of scientific results and insights in the form of inventions and promotes knowledge-based spin-offs. It is also a strong partner for Rhineland Palatinate’s biotechnology initiative and for the transition of the city of Mainz into an internationally renowned life science and biotechnology hub.

JGU sees itself as a competent, advisory and trustworthy partner for science and society, politics, business and culture. It actively participates in scientific, artistic, social and political discussions and thus contributes to the further development of society.

Open science is a concept that encompasses all academic disciplines and aspects of scholarly work. The underlying intention is to provide access to research findings and processes without technological, financial, legal or other constraints, making these freely available to the various interested parties and facilitating social participation. Open science practices promote the accessibility, availability, subsequent use and transparency of the results of scientific work. They foster advances in knowledge generation and reinforce the credibility of research findings. Open science also includes the general public in research processes and ensures that the results of research are comprehensible for everyone.

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) regards the visibility and traceability of research results as an essential prerequisite for excellent science and is committed to the open access concept. As early as 2012, JGU published its own Open Access Policy. The university also supports the relevant national and international projects and strategies designed to provide free access to academic and scientific knowledge. Joining many other research institutions, funding organizations, professional associations, and other scientific bodies, JGU signed the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities in 2013. In 2016, JGU was one of the first German universities to join the Open Access 2020 initiative (OA2020) that aims to implement free online access to and largely unrestricted use and re-use of scientific research articles on a large scale.

Moreover, JGU places considerable emphasis on making research data open and available. Several years ago, it produced Guidelines on the Handling of Research Data (for download, in German). JGU welcomes the publication of research data in (specialist) open access repositories. Advice on this is provided by the Research Data Experts team of JGU. The university is also a member of several consortia of the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI).

JGU’s commitment to open science has already given rise to numerous activities and related outcomes, including Gutenberg Open Science, the university’s open access repository, and has led to the financing of open access publication costs from the university’s publication fund and the provision of transformative agreements (web page in German) for the members of JGU. The latter enable reading access to journals and at the same time regulate open access publishing in them. JGU also organizes frequent information and outreach events and actively motivates its early-career researchers to employ open science practices as part of their everyday work ethic. Furthermore, members of JGU’s Institute of Psychology have established the Mainz Open Science Initiative (in German) on their own initiative.

Together with its partners in the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) alliance, JGU will be hosting the Open Science Festival in 2024. This festival is designed as an ongoing series of national events and is held at different research institutions in Germany every year. In keeping with its motto of “Meet, Share, Inspire, Care” the event features international panels that discuss current trends in the realm of open science as well as workshops that create a space to exchange views and generate new ideas.

The FORTHEM Alliance also assists students and early-career researchers in integrating the full array of open science aspects into their own research activities by organizing various programs on this very topic.

Through the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) program established by the federal and state governments, valuable data obtained from publicly funded science and research are systematically accessed, networked, and made usable in a sustainable and qualitative manner for the entire German science system. JGU is a member of the related non-profit NFDI Association that coordinates the activities involved in the creation of a national research data infrastructure. JGU is involved in the following consortia supported by NFDI.

As a co-applicant:

Involved: