This chapter presents a Danish research excellence initiative (REI), the Investment Capital for University Research (UNIK) and its four centres of excellence (CoEs). It discusses the REI’s aims and funding, its implementation, the fields of science covered, the management and funding of the CoEs, as well as its impact and effects. Overall, the perception is that the initiative has enhanced national research competitiveness and has helped to internationalise Danish research by fostering collaboration between national and international research institutions.

This chapter discusses the German Excellence Initiative (EI) and its three lines of funding. It considers the universities’ approaches to and views on the initiative, the main features of the funding, governance structures, recruitment strategies, collaboration with other universities and with non-university research institutions, co-operation between departments and scientific disciplines, the international visibility of German research, and doctoral training. The EI has had a positive impact on a variety of measures and this has prompted federal and state governments to agree on a second five-year funding phase. More generally, the EI has triggered broad public debate about university research, priority setting and specialisation.

This chapter describes two examples of research excellence initiatives (REIs) in Japan: the Global Centres of Excellence (GCOE) Programme, which aims to strengthen the education and research functions of graduate schools and improve the development of human resources in doctoral programmes, and the World Premier International Research Centres (WPI) Initiative, which aims to create world-class research centres, with a superior research environment and extremely high research standards, by supporting systemic reform at universities. It presents the background and historical development of the two programmes, describes the programmes and ends with a general overview.

This chapter presents the Norwegian Centre of Excellence (CoE) scheme and its impact on research activities and organisational structures. The scheme is found to increase the visibility, reputation and internationalisation of Norwegian research, but the temporary nature of the CoEs presents challenges for the organisational structures of universities and their faculties. These challenges relate particularly to the allocation of financial resources, the boundaries and autonomy of the centres, the wind-up of centres and responsibility for personnel.

This chapter discusses Portugal’s centres of excellence (CoEs) and associated laboratories (ALs), which are supported by a multi-year funding programme of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). A considerable share of public research in Portugal takes place in research centres supported by the FCT. The centres are closely linked with higher education institutions and they perform a variety of functions, combining research with training, education and technology transfer, among others. The programme has strengthened research institutions and enhanced research quality by building research capacity.

This chapter reviews research excellence initiatives (REIs) in Slovenia. It discusses priority research and technology areas and measures adopted to build interdisciplinary research. The current CoE programme is Slovenia’s largest and most concentrated investment in research and development (R and D). The mid-term evaluation of the programme found signs of progress in international scientific excellence and in linking different spheres of research. The Ministry of Education, Science and Sports plans further support for REIs as a result of the performance of the CoE programme.