The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is establishing 14 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 €65.7 million, including a 22-percent programme allowance for indirect project costs. In addition to establishing these 14 new groups, the decision was made to extend the funding of seven Research Units for an additional period.
One of the newly established Research Units will be funded jointly within the D-A-CH cooperation together with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF); another will be funded jointly with the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). Among the extended Research Units, one will also be funded jointly with the FWF and another with the SNSF.
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 196 Research Units, 9 Clinical Research Units and 17 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 Units in detail
(in alphabetical order of the spokespersons’ higher education institutions):
It is difficult to predict when wear will lead to the unplanned failure of machine components, resulting in high costs. But wear caused by friction can be significantly reduced by chemical reaction layers at the contact surfaces. The Research Unit Multiscale modelling of tribological boundary layer formation aims to develop integrated experimental and simulation-based modelling chains that will make it possible to understand and reproduce the formation of wear-reducing reaction layers in machine components as desired. The relevant physical and chemical processes at the atomic level form the basis for understanding these layers. Multiscale modelling enables the insights gained to be transferred to the operation and manufacture of machine components. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr.-Ing. Georg Jacobs, RWTH Aachen)
In order to enable technological and cultural transformation towards a sustainable future after the era of “petromodernism”, it is first necessary to understand how profoundly “energy” shapes all areas of modern life, whether in politics, the economy, culture or private life. Eastern Europe has a key role to play here as an energy producer, a transit region for energy and also as a site of escalating energy conflicts. Yet the still relatively young field of “energy humanities” has so far neglected the region. The Research Unit Energy Entanglements. Actors, Spaces and Narratives in Eastern Europe aims to address this and lay the foundations for a new research paradigm, namely “energy humanities east”. Among other things, it will seek to answer which terms, topoi and concepts shape energy discourse in the region and in which formal and informal network structures human and non-human actors shape energy environments. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Susanne Strätling, FU Berlin)
In the southern Levant, in what is now Israel and Palestine, monotheism became established in the first millennium BCE. The Research Unit Epistemology of the Divine: In Search of the Religious Thought Structures/Patterns of Ancient Palestine/Israel adopts a novel approach to these historical and cultural developments. This is the first time that research will be devoted comprehensively to the intellectual history of ancient Israel and explore how knowledge of the divine was constructed, structured, remembered, transmitted and communicated. In addition to biblical and non-biblical textual sources, material artefacts such as architectural remains, the remains of cult sites and religious imagery are also to be examined from an epistemological perspective. In addition, artificial intelligence will be used to identify patterns, social groups and networks and to address the question of how the transition to monotheism took place. The Research Unit is funded under the framework of the D-A-CH cooperation together with the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Jan Dietrich, University of Bonn)
China has established an official military base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. Under its “New Silk Road” initiative, Beijing is developing trade and infrastructure projects in more than a hundred countries. Chinese companies are also exporting digital infrastructures and surveillance technologies, not least through platforms such as TikTok and devices such as Huawei smartphones. The list of indications that China is systematically expanding its political, economic, military and cultural influence is long. Is China a novel type of empire? If so, how are its modern imperial practices to be categorised? The Research Unit Learning Empire. Autonomy, Dependence, and China’s Emerging Imperial Practices addresses this question by examining Chinese practices of empire-building in key areas: finance and foreign investment, infrastructure, raw materials, ideology and science. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Tobias ten Brink, Constructor University Bremen)
Complex components are manufactured in large quantities using highly precise, computer-controlled production processes. The milling process is based on a broad data foundation to ensure that the geometry of the desired component is implemented precisely, while cutting paths, directions and optimum parameters are maintained or adapted depending on the material in question. The Research Unit Increasing resource efficiency in data-driven modeling for the design of NC milling processes focuses on how this process can be made even more efficient. It aims to develop models based on high-quality, process-informed data. Sensors in the machines are to continuously provide measurement data during milling, while model adaptation is to be carried out on a continuous basis. In addition to experimental data, simulation data will also be incorporated into the modelling process. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr.-Ing. Petra Wiederkehr, TU Dortmund)
In the event of a heart attack, the innate immune system responds immediately, although the resulting inflammatory response can further exacerbate tissue damage. The Research Unit Intervening in the Innate Immune Response early after Myocardial Infarction aims to prevent this in future by developing immunomodulatory strategies targeting specific cell populations of the innate immune system and applying them at the optimum time during the wound healing process. The researchers intend to pharmacologically modify the cells involved at an early stage after the infarction so that they limit harmful persistent inflammatory responses and strengthen healing mechanisms. The long-term vision is to test and implement the first ever curative, short-term pharmacological intervention for patients after a heart attack. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Ali El-Armouche, TU Dresden)
To this day, the humanities continue to be shaped by the idea of a sovereign and stable subject, typically conceived as white and male, as found in the aesthetics of genius and subject-centred philosophy. The transdisciplinary Research Unit The Makeability of the Self: Diachronic Perspectives on Self-Forming Processes in Media contrasts this with the paradigm of the constructed self, which emerges in dependence on diverse historically and culturally variable external and internal conditions. The objects of study include texts, bodies, art collections and (digital) artefacts that, across disciplines and periods, bear witness to (media) practices and conceptualisations of self-formation beyond a European universalism. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Valeska von Rosen, University of Düsseldorf)
For a healthy heart, not only cardiac muscle cells are important. Non-muscular cells of the so-called interstitium – the space between cells – also play a crucial role, as do those in vascular fluid and in the extracellular matrix. Cells of the interstitium are not only involved in regulating the electromechanical activity of cardiac muscle cells; in the event of a heart attack, inflammation or hypertension, they also initiate repair and remodelling processes. Scar tissue leads to a loss of elasticity, however. The aim of the interdisciplinary Research Unit The Interstitium – a Key Determinant of Cardiac Function is to investigate the complex but still insufficiently understood interplay of signals within the interstitial communication network, from the nanoscale of cells to the function of cells for the organism as a whole. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Peter Kohl, University Hospital Freiburg)
Commonly known as “cold viruses”, adenoviruses cause a wide range of diseases in humans with diverse symptoms and can be particularly dangerous for children and immunocompromised patients. When modified in the laboratory, non-replicating adenovirus vectors are highly efficient at delivering DNA to cells and organisms as “gene taxis”. Vaccines based on adenoviral vectors are considered very safe. In extremely rare cases, immunological interactions with the adenovirus vector can lead to life-threatening thromboses. Adenoviral vectors are also increasingly important in oncolytic tumour therapy. Experts in molecular virology, immunology, cell biology and translational medicine involved in the Research Unit AdBHealth: Raising Knowledge & Boosting Technology - Advancing Adenovirus Biology for a Healthy Future therefore aim both to gain a better understanding of the biological diversity of human adenoviruses (AdV) as pathogens and to advance the foundations for developing even safer AdV-based vaccines and oncolytic virotherapy. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Sabrina Schreiner, University of Freiburg)
Whether hospitals, water and electricity supply, the internet or public transport: infrastructures for basic services have to be adapted in response to social and technological change, particularly in rural peripheral areas. Only in this way will it be possible to achieve the constitutionally enshrined objective of ensuring equivalent living conditions throughout Germany. In order to gain a better understanding of the processes required, the Research Unit Adaptation processes of infrastructures for services of general interest in rural peripheral areas (Adaptlnfra) aims to identify “archetypes” of different infrastructures, assess their capacity for adaptation and derive generalisable principles for designing adaptive infrastructures. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Volker Beckmann, University of Greifswald)
The aim of the Research Unit DELight: Direct Search Experiment for Light Dark Matter with Superfluid Helium is to build an experiment to detect dark matter particles with low mass, known as light dark matter (LDM). Previous experiments have only been sensitive to dark matter in a higher mass range and have so far failed to detect such particles. In order to search for LDM, the Research Unit uses the properties of superfluid helium as a target material. If LDM particles interact with the superfluid helium, this would manifest itself through a series of measurable processes, such as an increase in temperature. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Belina von Krosigk, University of Heidelberg)
High-pressure systems in the atmosphere, the movement of water masses due to tides and the melting of polar ice sheets all affect the Earth’s rotation. Accurate measurements of the Earth’s rotation are essential not only for climate research but also for functioning navigation systems. The Research Unit RING: Rotational Motions in Physics, Geophysics, and Geodesy aims to improve the conditions for such measurements. It will seek to refine laser-optical instruments and incorporate the high-resolution results into methods of geodesy and geophysics. This could enable highly sensitive measurement methods with an unprecedented degree of short- and long-term stability for recording rotational movements in both geodesy and geophysics. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Heiner Igel, LMU Munich)
As a result of global warming, plants are increasingly exposed to drought stress – which they counter by closing the stomata in their leaves and reducing water loss. Ideally, the hydraulic system transporting water between soil, plant and atmosphere functions in such a way that water loss via the leaves is directly proportional to the difference in water potential between soil and leaves. The Research Unit Soil-plant hydraulics impacting transpiration and plant growth in response to drought [SOPHY] will investigate how plants maintain this hydraulic linearity even under drought stress. The aim is to develop a predictive model for transpiration rates as a function of soil dryness across different soil types, climatic conditions and plant species. The Research Unit is funded under the D-A-CH cooperation with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Mutez Ali Ahmed, TU Munich)
Cyber-physical production systems (CPPS) are networked systems of machines, sensors and software that monitor and control physical processes in real time. They form the backbone of Industry 4.0 and enable highly automated, flexible and decentralised production, leading to intelligent self-optimisation of manufacturing processes. The problem is that attackers repeatedly succeed in circumventing security mechanisms and disabling these systems. The Research Unit Securely Engineering Cyber-physical Systems with Model-based Defense in Depth addresses this issue at the design stage of CPPS. It will seek to develop defence strategies that anticipate attacks on subsystems from the outset. Methodologically, a “defense in depth” approach is to establish inherently multi-layered protection, with contributions from computer science, production engineering and economics. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Eric Bodden, University of Paderborn)
The Research Units with their funding extended for an additional 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 The Dynamics of the Spine: Mechanics, Morphology and Motion towards a Comprehensive Diagnosis of Low Back Pain (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Hendrik Schmidt, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin)
• Research Unit Translational Polytrauma Research to Provide Diagnostic and Therapeutic Tools for Improving Outcomes (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Ingo Marzi, University of Frankfurt/Main)
• Research Unit Persistent Somatic Symptoms Across Diseases: From Risk Factors to Modifications (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Bernd Löwe, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf)
• Research Unit Resolving the prefrontal circuits of cognitive flexibility: Dynamic prefrontal representations of cognitive variability (Spokesperson:: Professor Dr. Ileana L. Hanganu-Opatz, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf). The Research Unit is funded under the framework of the D-A-CH cooperation together with the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).
• Research Unit Controversial discourses. Language history as contemporary historysince 1990 (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Martin Wengeler, University of Trier). The Research Unit is funded under the D-A-CH cooperation with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
• Research Unit Long-range interacting Quantum Spin systems out of equilibrium: Experiment, Theory and Mathematics (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Igor Lesanovsky, University of Tübingen)
• Research Unit Enhancing the structural diversity between patches for improving multidiversity and multifunctionality in production forests (Spokesperson: Professor Dr.Jörg Müller, University of Würzburg)
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Links to DFG Research Units:
• https://www.dfg.de/en/research-funding/funding-opportunities/programmes/coordinated-programmes/research-units
• https://www.dfg.de/en/research-funding/funding-opportunities/programmes/coordinated-programmes/clinical-research-units
• www.dfg.de/advanced_studies_centre |
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