18 years Cluster of Excellence
We come together at TU Berlin to celebrate 18 years of outstanding catalysis research.
The Cluster of Excellence UniCat – Unifying Concepts in Catalysis was launched in November 2007 as a Berlin-based research network focused on catalysis. After two successful funding periods, it was succeeded in 2019 by UniSysCat – Unifying Systems in Catalysis, which has been dedicated to studying complex catalytic networks. UniSysCat will formally conclude at the end of 2025, but this does not mark the end of collaborative catalysis research in Berlin. Rather, it is an opportunity to reorient and focus our efforts towards the future.
Shortly before the UniCat Cluster of Excellence, the BIG-NSE doctoral program was launched in May 2007. From its beginnings, the doctoral program was closely linked to the Clusters of Excellence. From 2019, within UniSysCat, the BIG-NSE has been further developed under the umbrella of the Einstein Center of Catalysis (EC²), funded by the Einstein Foundation Berlin. The mission of the graduate school is to overcome the frontiers of classical disciplines in catalysis.
After 18 years of the Excellence Clusters and the doctoral program, it's time to celebrate! Therefore, in December 2025, we will come together once again to reflect and have a party. All current and former researchers and staff of UniCat and UniSysCat, their Scientific Advisory Board members and the students and alumni of (EC²)/BIG-NSE are warmly invited to commemorate and celebrate 18 remarkable years of collaborative catalysis research.
Preliminary Programme
From 4:00 pm: Lectures on the Occasion of the Anniversary
- Welcome by the Presidium of TU Berlin
- Address by the UniSysCat Speaker Team
- Retrospective on UniCat and UniSysCat
- Talk: The Transformation of Chemistry
- Short Science Slam by PhD Students from UniSysCat
- Outlook on the Future of Catalysis Research in Berlin
From 6:00 pm: Reception with Snacks and Drinks