Creation of the Network of University Medicine

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March 2020, virtually nothing was known about this disease. As a result, numerous research activities developed very quickly. However, most of these were very small-scale and fragmented. As a rule, there was no bundling or coordination of similar activities. In addition, there was a lack of nationwide structures in Germany at the time to quickly provide large amounts of meaningful data from patient care and clinical studies for COVID-19 research. Instead, Germany had to rely on data and findings from countries such as the UK and Israel.

To counteract this fragmentation and the lack of research data, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) launched the Network of University Medicine (NUM) in April 2020 and provided considerable funding for this purpose. During the first funding period (April 2020 to December 2021, funding volume EUR 150 million), the scientists worked together in 13 cross-location Projects. The second funding period started in January 2022 (funding volume EUR 240 million).

The NUM's research activities to date have made important contributions to combating the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, a considerable amount of research and data infrastructure has been set up in a very short period of time to enable cross-site research collaboration, data collection and data utilisation. With the help of these infrastructures, valuable data collections on COVID-19 have been created, which can now also be used for post-COVID research.

In this development work, the NUM has built on existing infrastructures as far as possible, such as the clinical study platform of the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), the emergency admission register AKTIN or the data integration centres of the Medical Informatics Initiative (MII).

Milestones NUM

Foundation

At a press conference at the end of March 2020 with Professor Heyo K. Kroemer and Professor Christian Drosten, the then Federal Minister of Research Anja Karliczek presents the Network University Medicine (NUM) for the first time.
The NUM was launched on 1 April 2020 as part of the crisis management against the COVID-19 pandemic to coordinate clinical COVID-19 research throughout university medicine. The German government funds the network with 150 million euros.

June 2021: 1,500 scientists have worked on project ideas for the 2nd funding phase. 281 abstracts have been submitted to the KS.

June 2021:475 publications have been produced so far as part of the NUM

September 2021: first successful international review

Result:13 completed large collaborative projects in the 1st funding phase, successful establishment and deployment of numerous multicentre Reseach Infrastructures

January 2022:

6 Reseach Infrastructures are being operated: AKTIN@NUM, GenSurv, NATON 2.0, NUKLEUS, NUM-RDP, RACOON; in addition, 18 new research projects are underway
The short-term implementation of 3 ad hoc research projects also demonstrates the ability to react quickly.

January 2023: Data Integration Centres of the MII are transferred to NUM funding

January 2024: 1st NUM Convention takes place with approx. 500 participants, including 60 speakers

July 2024: 2,000 scientists have worked on project ideas for the 3rd funding phase. 93 abstracts were ultimately submitted to the Coordination Office.

December 2024: LinkedIn account reaches 2,000 followers - just under a year after the launch

February 2024: Second successful international review

January 2025: 6,000 users have registered on the NUM Hub

February 2025:2nd NUM Convention takes place with more than 500 participants, including over 100 speakers

April 2025: Despite the current difficult budget situation, the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) - then the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) - funds the Network University Medicine (NUM) from July 2025 in a third funding phase over the next five years.

April 2025: The continuation of the NUM is included in the coalition agreement between the CDU, CSU and SPD for the 21st legislative period.

May 2025: Over 700 publications by over 6,000 authors have been produced within the framework of the NUM to date.

Result:18 completed research projects in the 2nd funding phase

July 2025:

9 Reseach Infrastructures are operated: ACTIN, NUM-DIZ, NATON, NUCLEUS, RACOON, NUM-SAR, NUM-SN, SNID, NUM-MB
2 further Reseach Infrastructures will follow ahead. on 01.02.2026: the specialist networks Intensive Care Medicine and Stroke
The German Biobank Node (GBN) is integrated into the NUM. As part of the integration, GBN will also operate under the new name "German Biobank Network (GBN)". The German Biobank Alliance (GBA), which is coordinated by the GBN, is merged into it.
The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) describes the continuation of the NUM in its"High-Tech Agenda Germany" in the "Health Research" chapter, thus concretising the announcement from the coalition agreement: "The continuation of the NUM is planned for 2026 at the latest and the connection to the EHDS in March 2029."

February 2026:18 new research projects start ahead. on 01.02.2026