of excellence as part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative from 2012 to 2019. It is consistently ranked among the top 20 German universities in the world rankings.

The University of Cologne has 5 Clusters of Excellence: CECAD Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research, Cluster of Excellence ECONtribute: Markets & Public Policy, CEPLAS Cluster of Excellence for Plant Sciences, ML4Q Cluster of Excellence Matter and Light for Quantum Information and DYNAVERSE