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Two new research groups at Heidelberg University are to start work thanks to funding from the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung. Dr Michael Gerlt will conduct his research at the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials in the field of acoustic microfluidics, i.e., acoustofluidics, which means that particles are impacted in fluids with the help of sound waves. Dr Victor Ksoll’s group at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics will focus on developing highly efficient evaluation methods for large quantities of data from astronomical observations. The Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung is funding the research studies to the tune of 1.8 million euros each for five years.
Press Release
Heidelberg, 10 September 2025
Acoustofluidics and Astrophysics: Two New Research Groups at Universität Heidelberg
Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung provides funding worth 1.8 million euros each for projects in the CZS Nexus Program
Two new research groups at Heidelberg University are to start work thanks to funding from the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung. Dr Michael Gerlt will conduct his research at the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials in the field of acoustic microfluidics, i.e., acoustofluidics, which means that particles are impacted in fluids with the help of sound waves. Dr Victor Ksoll’s group at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics will focus on developing highly efficient evaluation methods for large quantities of data from astronomical observations. The Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung (CZS) is funding the research studies through the CZS Nexus Program to the tune of 1.8 million euros each for five years.
As part of his acoustofluidics research, Dr Gerlt is developing novel tools to selectively isolate nanoparticles such as extracellular vesicles from complex biological fluids at the microliter scale. These vesicles transport biological information from cell to cell and reflect the disease state of the tissue. With his CZS Nexus project “Acoustofluidic Isolation of Extracellular Vesicles for Early Cancer Theranostics” (TheraSonic), he aims to translate this technology into preclinical applications for cancer research. The goal is to optimize the reproducibility, robustness, and cost-effectiveness of the method in order to ensure access to patient samples and biobank material. This will lead to the development of a workflow that can be seamlessly integrated into existing diagnostic and translational laboratory environments. Michael Gerlt is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Lund University (Sweden) and will establish his own research group at the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials at Heidelberg University starting in March next year.
With his research group, Dr Ksoll aims to develop highly efficient evaluation algorithms based on machine learning for observational data in astrophysics – particularly for investigating star formation. Modern astronomy generates enormous amounts of observational data, and conventional statistical approaches are slowly reaching their limits when it comes to comprehensive analysis thereof. In his project “Machine Learning Solutions for Star Formation” (StarForML) the scientist wants, among other things, to apply what are called transfer learning techniques to astrophysics in order to create robust tools, for example to determine the age, mass and chemical composition of young stars. That is expected to fill potential gaps between real observational data and corresponding astrophysical simulations. Dr Ksoll’s research studies at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics are to start in January 2026.
The goal of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung is to create an open environment for scientific breakthroughs by supporting not only basic but also application-oriented research in the STEM disciplines, i.e., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
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