@article{Kehm_2009, title={Germany: The Quest for World Class}, url={https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ihe/article/view/8456}, DOI={10.6017/ihe.2009.57.8456}, abstractNote={In 2004 the education and research federal minister made a proposal to identify Germany’s top-level institutions to secure Germany’s competitiveness and economic future in the emerging knowledge society and to strengthen the international visibility of German universities as high-quality institutions with cutting-edge research. This plan formed the birth of the German "excellence initiative." The initiative not only triggered more competition among German universities; it also marked a conscious shift toward a more vertical differentiation of the system as a whole.}, number={57}, journal={International Higher Education}, author={Kehm, Barbara}, year={2009}, month={Mar.} }