UniCat was the result of concerted efforts and a cooperation agreement signed in 2007 between the following six research institutions in the Berlin region:
In addition to the original funding partner of UniCat, new partners have since joined the UniSysCat cluster:
Since the EC2/BIG-NSE is a "child" of UniCat and also bound to UniSysCat, its "parents" are the same as those of UniSysCat.
However, in Germany, only universities (the first three institutions on the list plus the University of Potsdam) are entitled to award the degree of doctor to a PhD student, so the EC2/BIG-NSE students will first have to register at one of the four universities of the consortium, even if they perform their research work at one of the last two institutions. However, they can count on the active support of all institutions for the success of their work and spend days, weeks, or even more time at all these institutions if it is necessary for their research.
Theoretically, all equipment available at the nine participating institutions can also be used by all EC2/BIG-NSE students for their work (an overview of the competence and equipment of all participating institutions will be made available as a database to the students).
