A jazz band set the tone for the evening. Dr. Martin Mann, Executive Director of Berlin University Alliance, delivered the official welcome address. Prof. Dr. Günter M. Ziegler, Spokesperson for Berlin University Alliance and President of Freie Universität Berlin, focused on the further development of the joint structures in the coming years and on the achievements made together. “Perhaps,” Ziegler invited the audience, “we could vote on which statements from the Committee of Experts' report on the evaluation of the Excellence alliance we like best?”
“Through the consistent implementation of its proposal ‘Crossing Boundaries toward an Integrated Research Environment’, BUA has established a compelling model that is, to date, unique in the German university landscape on this scale.”
“A strong culture of collaboration and mutual trust has developed among the consortium partners—a transformative cultural shift in Berlin’s higher education landscape that should be regarded as an outstanding achievement of the consortium and as a central foundation for the future development of Berlin as a center of science.”
“The BUA is strongly encouraged to further develop its considerable transformative potential and to make targeted use of its prominent location in Berlin to assume a leading role in initiating fundamental systemic changes at the national and international levels.”