Topics range from signal transmission in nerve cells to the analysis of conspiracy theories / A total of approximately €40 million for the first funding period

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is establishing nine new Research Units. This was decided by the DFG Joint Committee on the recommendation of the Senate. The new Research Units will receive total funding of approximately €40 million, including a 22-percent programme allowance for indirect project costs. In addition to these nine newly created Research Units, the decision was made to extend six Research Units and one Centre for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences for an additional funding period. One of the newly approved Research Units is being funded jointly with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) under the D-A-CH cooperation.

Research Units enable researchers to pursue current and pressing issues in their areas of research and take innovative directions in their work. They are funded for up to eight years. In total, the DFG is currently funding 191 Research Units, seven Clinical Research Units and 15 Centres for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences. Clinical Research Units are also characterised by the close connection between research and clinical work, while Centres for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences are specifically tailored to forms of work in the humanities and social sciences.

The new research networks in detail
(in alphabetical order of the spokespersons’ higher education institutions)

Swamps, peatlands and marshes: wetlands were long regarded as sinister, difficult-to-control spaces that needed to be cultivated. Today, we know that these boundary and transition zones perform vital functions: wetlands sequester carbon dioxide and protect coastlines, as well as filtering and purifying water. Working within the environmental humanities, the Research Unit Thinking with wetlands. Histories from the quaking zone 1630-1997 takes a fresh look at the ambivalent experiences and often contested visions and terminology that have shaped the relationship between people and wetlands. Its overall aim is to shed light on how people in Central and Western Europe lived and thought with swamps, regarded them as a source of philosophical inspiration – and began campaigning for their protection at an early stage. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Simone Müller, University of Augsburg)

The Research Unit examines Media Practices of Contradicting in Networked Publics as a relational, dynamic form of communication in which people who have previously been disadvantaged socially, economically or culturally raise their voices in a democratic context against a form of dominance they perceive to be hegemonic. In addition to discursive practices of dissent in which media convey particular content, the unit will focus on the digital conditions that have significantly changed such practices, including social media, for example. It will also examine in greater detail material and creative practices in which media themselves – as organisations, infrastructures and technologies – become the object of dissent. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Margreth Lünenborg, FU Berlin)

Information is transmitted through the nervous system in different ways. In addition to conventional, highly targeted communication between nerve cells at synapses, messenger substances can also exert effects beyond the boundaries of individual synapses. Recent research is revealing in ever greater detail the diversity and dynamic nature of the interplay between these different signalling pathways. This is the focus of the Research Unit Inside and outside the synapse: Challenging dogmas of synaptic signalling and neuromodulation. It seeks to develop a deeper understanding of neuronal communication pathways and determine how adaptable they are. The unit will investigate how nervous tissue filters and translates information and converts it into activity. The aim is to review established ideas about synaptic transmission and broaden our understanding of information processing in the brain. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Christian Henneberger, University of Bonn)

The German Climate Change Act has set the ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to such an extent that Germany will be completely climate-neutral by 2045. Achieving this requires a clear, legally binding roadmap setting out the fundamental changes that must be made to the economy and society. At the same time, the question of how legislation can bring about this transformation is itself changing the legal system. This is the central premise of the Research Unit Transformative climate law: space – time – society. It will examine the economic, environmental and social changes involved in the transition to climate neutrality in the dimensions that are crucial to this process, thereby identifying the new framework required for effective, future-oriented and therefore sustainable climate law. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Claudio Franzius, University of Bremen)

Humans are the only known species to process food using heat. Heat-treated foods are easier to digest, but they also cause metabolic and physiological changes, for example due to altered lipid compounds in dietary fats. To date, little is known about the bioactivity of these compounds. The Research Unit Heat-treated dietary lipids (HTDL): chemistry, physiology, evolutionary impact will investigate whether HTDL leads to changes in lipidomes – the complete set of lipids – and in the membrane and biophysical properties of cells, neurometabolic processes, metabolic signalling pathways and reproductive processes, and whether these changes can alter the evolution of organisms that consume HTDL. The Research Unit is funded under the D-A-CH cooperation with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Klaus Reinhardt, Dresden University of Technology)

In component design, iron-based shape-memory alloys offer potential new applications compared with established materials such as nickel-titanium alloys. To date, however, the various shape-memory effects have largely been considered and used separately. There is also no suitable alloy design that would allow such combined effects to be used systematically in applications. The Research Unit Combined effects in Fe-based shape memory alloys – Model-driven alloy design taking into account process-microstructure-property relationships aims to investigate these combined effects in depth, use model-driven alloy design to develop high-performance iron-based shape-memory alloys in a targeted manner, and gain a fundamental understanding of the relevant mechanisms. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr.-Ing. Thomas Niendorf, University of Kassel)

The Research Unit Beyond Crazy: Integrating Benefits into the Analysis of Conspiracy Beliefs asks what potential functions and benefits conspiracy beliefs may offer their adherents from the perspectives of communication, psychology and society. By investigating this systematically, the unit aims to gain a better understanding of the popularity and appeal of conspiracy theories. In doing so, it goes beyond previous research, which has focused almost exclusively on their negative consequences. This different perspective is to contribute to a more nuanced theoretical understanding of conspiracy beliefs and advance the methodological development of the field. The focus is on interdisciplinary approaches drawn from psychology and communication studies. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Roland Imhoff, University of Mainz)

Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) is an autoimmune skin disease that manifests in various forms and can sometimes cause severe scarring. The permanent, visible skin damage and hair loss often associated with CLE can severely affect the day-to-day quality of life of those concerned. Despite its clinical relevance, no therapies have been approved for CLE other than treatment with glucocorticosteroids – commonly known as cortisone. At the same time, understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms remains incomplete at best, and the observable subtypes have not been adequately defined. The Research Unit Decipher the immunopathology of cutaneous lupus aims to address these issues and lay the foundations for new therapeutic approaches in the future. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Claudia Günther, University of Tübingen)

A problematic term coined during Donald Trump’s first presidency, “alternative facts” pose a serious threat to contemporary societies. The phenomenon itself is much older, however, and can be traced far back into the past. The Research Unit ‘Alternative Facts’ in the Sixteenth Century places the phenomenon in its historical context by focusing on the early modern period – an era that had a significant influence on Europe’s understanding of itself – and the transformation of the media that occurred at the time. It defines its key concept as a linguistic practice that challenges accepted standards of knowledge and deliberately seeks to undermine them through competing claims—for example in rhetoric, religion or politics—in order to obstruct dialogue, disrupt discourse, create uncertainty or stage particular narratives. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Regina Toepfer, University of Würzburg)


The research networks extended for a second funding period (in alphabetical order of the spokespersons’ higher education institutions and with references to the project descriptions in the DFG’s online database GEPRIS):

Research Unit Model-based determination of nonlinear properties of piezoceramics for high-power ultrasound applications II (NEPTUN) (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Andrea Walther, HU Berlin)
https://gepris.dfg.de/project/444955436/2

Research Unit Bioinspired Oxidation Catalysis with Iron Complexes (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Thorsten Glaser, University of Bielefeld)
https://gepris.dfg.de/project/445916766/2

Research Unit Functional surfaces through adiabatic high-speed processes: Microstructure, mechanisms and model development – FUNDAM³ENT (Spokesperson: Professor Dr.-Ing. Thomas Lampke, Chemnitz University of Technology)
https://gepris.dfg.de/project/460484491/3

Research Unit Practices for referring to persons: usage-based approaches to personal, indefinite and demonstrative pronouns (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Wolfgang Imo, University of Hamburg)
https://gepris.dfg.de/project/457855466/2

Centre for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences Universalism and Particularism in European Contemporary History (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Kiran Patel, LMU Munich)
https://gepris.dfg.de/project/449772505/2


Research Unit iMAGO – Personalized diagnostics for the treatment of obesity (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Martin Klingenspor, TU Munich)
https://gepris.dfg.de/project/455422993/2

Research Unit Learning to Sense (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Michael Möller, University of Siegen)
https://gepris.dfg.de/project/459284860/2

Further Information