Under the umbrella of the Research Campus of Central Hessen the Justus Liebig University Gießen (JLU), the Philipps University of Marburg (UMR) and the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen ( THM ) will in future offer young engineers the opportunity to further their academic development in a partnership to qualify. For this purpose, the three universities have founded the “ Graduate Centre for Engineering Sciences at the Research Campus of Central Hessen ”. The research campus, which opened in 2016 and is financially supported by the state of Hesse, aims to consolidate Central Hesse's position as a location for cutting-edge research and to create structural and strategic added value for the partners involved and the entire region. The new doctoral center represents an important step in its further development.

“We are taking a new path with the cross-university doctoral center and are consistently implementing our strategy of regional network formation to exploit synergy potential. The fact that the Science Council honors this path and highlights the Research Campus of Central Hessen in its recently published 'Recommendations on regional cooperation between scientific institutions' as an exemplary model for cross-university collaboration is an additional encouragement to us," explains Prof. Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee, President of JLU.

Prof. Dr. Matthias Willems, President of the THM , sees the establishment of the joint doctoral center from his university's perspective as a logical follow-up to the more than twenty-year tradition of cross-university cooperation in Central Hesse: "The amended Hessian Higher Education Act has given us the opportunity to exercise the right to award doctorates on our own in research-intensive subject areas. But the cooperation between the universities in Central Hesse has a long tradition and has proven itself in many joint projects. That is why the THM presidium has also maintained the cooperative course in the field of doctorates and worked towards the joint solution that has now been implemented. However, the joint doctoral center also offers points of contact for applying for the THM 's independent right to award doctorates in other engineering disciplines under the umbrella of the Research Campus of Central Hessen ."  

The JLU, the UMR and the THM name the "promotion of young scientists in the field of engineering through the organization and processing of engineering doctorate procedures" as a goal in the statutes of the joint doctorate center. The members of the doctoral center are professors from the three universities whose research is geared towards engineering and technology. The members from the ranks of the THM are also expected to have shown themselves to be strong in research in the sense of the HHG through achievements in research and development.

The partners also see their initiative for the cooperative promotion of young scientists in technology-oriented disciplines as a contribution to regional development, because the doctoral center closes a gap in the academic qualification spectrum of the state of Hesse. For the first time there is now also the possibility of acquiring a doctorate in engineering in Central Hesse. The Hessian Minister for Science and Art, Boris Rhein, predicts positive effects for the region: "By creating the opportunity to acquire a doctorate in engineering in Central Hesse, the attractiveness of the region is increased and at the same time counteracts the tendency for ambitious young people, who specialize in future technologies migrate to the metropolises. This strengthens the technology-based business location of Central Hesse.”

Prof. Dr. Katharina Krause, President of the UMR, explains the advantages for everyone involved: “The establishment of the doctoral center for engineering is an ideal example of how we bundle our strengths in the Research Campus of Central Hessen in order to develop our potential even better and do more together “Through centers like this, we make the most of the potential of our university network to promote young talent and counteract the impending shortage of skilled workers among companies in the region.”