自1980年以後，追求學術上的卓越成就，是許多國家高等教育進行改革的重要目標之一。德國由於其高等教育系統的特徵，所以在傳統上並無所謂的「菁英大學」。但近年來在國際競爭白熱化之趨勢下，德國也不得不面對挑戰，積極進行提升學術成就的相關計畫。聯邦教育與研究部自2006年開始推動「聯邦與邦獎勵德國高等學校之學術與研究卓越計畫」，期限共5年，資金總額為19億歐元，其中菁英大學的選拔是資助的重要項目之一。本研究的目的即一方面在釐清菁英大學此概念與政策在德國的歷史演進與發展狀況，另一方面則將焦點放在此計畫所面臨的問題與討論，期能對國內提振高等教育學術水準有所助益。

The pursuit of academic excellence has become an important goal of the higher education reform in many countries since 1980. Traditionally, there is no elite university in Germany due to the character of its higher education system. Recently, facing with the challenge of globalization, German government has taken a series of policy adjustments in higher education in order to improve its national competitiveness and ranking in the world. Since 2006, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research has initiated a five-year project called “Exzellenzinitiative” with a fund of 19 billion euro in total. The selection of elite universities is one of the most important parts of this project. The aim of this study includes thus two aspects: First, it will try to discuss historical development of the concept of elite and the policy in German society. Second, it will focus on the relevant discussions and problems of this project. We hope that the study can provide valuable reference for relevant measures in Taiwan.