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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Dr Michael Kathan has been awarded 1.5 million euros in funding for an ERC Starting Grant for his project “CATENATOR: Fabricating Interlocked Nanochains with Molecular Machines” as well as Dr Maxime le Calvé for his project “Aporia – Augmenting Poiesis: Relational Inquiries in the Age of AI”.
Dr Michael Kathan, a researcher at the Department of Chemistry at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), has been awarded a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for his research project ‘CATENATOR: Fabricating Interlocked Nanochains with Molecular Machines’. Together with his research group, he aims to use artificial molecular machines to construct complex molecular chains of defined length and sequence, held together solely by mechanical bonds. This provides access to molecular architectures that are not attainable with current synthetic methods. In the long term, this could enable new possibilities in drug development, chemical biology or functional materials.
Dr. Michael Kathan: “Our current research has shown that artificial molecular machines can precisely shape molecules. CATENATOR now has a new objective: we want to develop a general synthetic strategy that will enable the controlled assembly of complex molecular chains. In the long term, mechanical bonding could, alongside chemical bonding, become a new design principle in organic synthesis.”
Dr Maxime Le Calvé, a reasearcher at the Cluster of Excellence „Matters of Activity“ (MoA), has been awarded an ERC grant for his research project “Aporia – Augmenting Poiesis: Relational Inquiries in the Age of AI”.
In the research project Le Calvé investigates whether, and in what ways, AI technologies are more likely to devalue human creative abilities and knowledge or contribute to their further development. Whether in education, scientific research or professional life, there are always questions to which no immediate answers can be found. This triggers a process of reflection, creativity and experimentation in people. However, when using AI tools, these steps are often skipped. AI tools present clear answers and specific perspectives, enabling a work process to continue smoothly. For their research, the scientists will analyse the day-to-day use of AI tools in the increasingly digital fields of design, anthropology and neurosurgery.
The focus is on the process of gaining knowledge and on the role that moments of puzzlement play in understanding a particular subject. To explore this, the researchers will develop playful experiments in which AI is used as one of several tools, but does not present the solution or dominate the process of gaining insight.
Michael Kathan
Michael Kathan is currently the Emmy Noether Group Leader at HU, where he develops molecular machines to control chemical synthesis. Previously, he worked as a postdoc with Nobel Laureate Prof. Dr Ben Feringa at the University of Groningen and completed his PhD with Prof. Dr Stefan Hecht at the Department of Chemistry at HU. He studied chemistry at the Freie Universität Berlin, including a research stay at ETH Zurich. In 2026, Michael Kathan received the Sauvage-Stoddart-Feringa Junior Award.
Maxime Le Calvé
Maxime Le Calvé is a research fellow at the ‘Matters of Activity’ Cluster of Excellence at HU Berlin. He holds a joint PhD in Social Anthropology and Theatre Studies from the EHESS in Paris and Freie Universität Berlin, and has been a visiting researcher at the University of Oxford and Concordia University in Montreal. In September 2026 he started as a research fellow at the Cluster of Excellence ‘Machine Learning’ at the University of Tübingen.
ERC Starting Grant
The European Research Council (ERC) funds groundbreaking project ideas from outstanding researchers across all fields of research. The key evaluation criterion is the scientific excellence of the research proposal submitted and of the applicants. The ERC provides funding through various funding schemes tailored to the appropriate career stage. Under the ERC Starting Grant, researchers within two to seven years of completing their PhD are awarded up to 1.5 million euros over a maximum of five years.
Dr. Michael Kathan
Department of Chemistry at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
E-Mail: michael.peter.kathan@hu-berlin.de
Dr. Maxime Le Calvé
Associated Member to the Cluster of Excellence “Matters of Activity”
Universität Tübingen (since 1. September 2026)
Cluster of Excellence „Machine Learning in Science”
E-Mail maxime.le.calve@hu-berlin.de
https://erc.europa.eu/news-events/news/erc-2026-starting-grants-results
https://www.kathanlab.de
https://maximelecalve.com
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