JGU's cooperation programs with other research institutions and businesses contribute to the continuous strengthening of the university when it comes to its national and international competitiveness. Particularly close partnerships have long been maintained with the two Mainz-based institutes of the Max Planck Society – the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research – that are located on the JGU campus. JGU's collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and TU Kaiserslautern in the field of materials research resulted in the approval of the Materials Science in Mainz (MAINZ) Graduate School of Excellence in 2007 as well as a continuation of its financing in 2012. JGU also maintains close contacts with the Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA), the Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research (LIR), and the Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG).
The restructuring of the Faculty of Biology at JGU involved the integration of the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), established on the JGU campus in 2011 and financed by the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation. JGU also collaborates closely in the sector of the life sciences with its subsidiary, the Institut für Biotechnologie und Wirkstoff-Forschung (IBWF gGmbH). There are cooperation programs with the Fraunhofer IMM in Mainz and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM) for the fields of micro-system technologies and particle physics. In 2012, the cooperation between JGU, HIM and the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt led to the recognition of the PRISMA unit at JGU as a Cluster of Excellence, whose follow-up application PRISMA+ (Precision Physics, Fundamental Interactions and Structure of Matter) is being funded through Germany's Excellence Strategy program.
Major Regional Collaboration Projects
Classic examples of the extensive networking of JGU in the region are the large scale medical joint projects Ci3 and rmn². Through the Cluster für Individualisierte ImmunIntervention (Ci3) sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, the University Medical Center at JGU collaborates with some 120 partners from science and business, including the Frankfurt University Medical Center, TU Darmstadt, the Paul Ehrlich Institute in Langen and the Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON). The Rhine-Main Neuroscience Network (rmn²) brings together JGU, the IMB, TU Darmstadt and Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. In 2015, JGU signed the Strategic Alliance Agreement of the Rhine Main Universities (RMU) with TU Darmstadt and Goethe University. By doing so, the three partners are systematically promoting their conviction that they will stand better chances at promoting their individual strengths by engaging in closer collaboration in research, teaching and in the provision of infrastructure.
Not only are there the IMB and RMU but also numerous other cooperation programs that illustrate the enormous dynamism that has characterized the science hub Mainz over the past few years. The Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology was established in 2017 as a spin-off of JGU and its University Medical Center. The Fraunhofer ICT-IMM was created in 2013 by incorporating the Institute for Microtechnology Mainz in the Fraunhofer Society. The Institute of European History was integrated in the Leibniz Association in 2012 and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz was founded in 2009.