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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Three Excellence Clusters for the University of Giessen—Research on the heart and lung, batteries, and perception succeeded in the competition
It couldn't have gone better for Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU); all three initiatives with which the university participated in the nationwide Excellence Strategy will be funded. This distinction underscores the high quality and competitiveness of research at JLU in key scientific fields.
The following cluster proposals were successful:
• The established Cardio-Pulmonary Institute (CPI), an excellence cluster in heart–lung research, will continue. JLU collaborates in CPI with Goethe University Frankfurt and the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim.
• The battery research cluster POLiS—Post Lithium Energy Storage, in which JLU already participated during the initial funding phase, will be extended. For the first time, JLU is acting as a co-applicant alongside Ulm University and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), significantly contributing its expertise in interface analysis.
• TAM—The Adaptive Mind in perception research, led by JLU in collaboration with Philipps University Marburg and the Technical University of Darmstadt, has been approved as a new excellence cluster.
“This result exceeds our wildest expectations and is an impressive testament to the excellence and dedication of our researchers,” said Prof. Dr. Katharina Lorenz, president of JLU, following the announcement of the decisions. “Successfully securing three excellence clusters strengthens JLU's position among the major research universities in Germany and will significantly increase its visibility in the national and international scientific landscapes.” She extended special thanks to the participating scientists: “They have not only deeply impressed me; their outstanding commitment and scientific expertise made this success possible in the first place. Moreover, this success is a team achievement of the entire university and the result of years of strategic efforts.”
The three clusters, each with different partners, are evidence of JLU's successful network-building both within and outside of Hesse. “The longstanding and successful partnership in CPI demonstrates how excellent research can be collaboratively shaped in Hesse. We are confident that our new excellence alliances will continue this tradition,” stated JLU’s president. She extended her gratitude to the partner universities involved and added, “I would especially like to thank the state of Hesse for the continuous support over the past years.”
JLU will now conduct an in-depth internal review of the implications of this outstanding success for the second funding line of the Excellence Strategy, the Universities of Excellence, and will share further considerations in due course.
Successful Excellence Cluster: CPI—Cardio-Pulmonary Institute
Participating Institutions: Justus Liebig University Giessen, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research Bad Nauheim
Research Focus: Molecular mechanisms of heart and lung diseases and the development of new therapeutic approaches through interdisciplinary model systems and translational research. The cluster is part of JLU's focus area Cardiopulmonary System.
Speakers: Prof. Dr. Dr. med. Susanne Herold (JLU) and Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Stefanie Dimmeler (Goethe University Frankfurt).
Worldwide, diseases of the lungs and cardiovascular system are the most common causes of death. The Cardio-Pulmonary Institute (CPI) excellence cluster, involving Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU), Goethe University Frankfurt (GUF), and the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim, investigates the molecular biological processes underlying the functioning of these organs and their failure in diseases. To achieve this, CPI researchers develop cross-university model systems and combine the results with patient data to discover new therapeutic approaches. The excellence initiative of the federal and state governments has been continuously funding the cluster, initially known as the Excellence Cluster Cardio-Pulmonary System (ECCPS), since 2006, and it has once again succeeded. Lung researcher Prof. Dr. Dr. med. Susanne Herold from Giessen and heart researcher Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Stefanie Dimmeler from Frankfurt (GUF) lead CPI.
“We are extremely pleased with this renewed success in the Excellence Strategy,” emphasized Prof. Susanne Herold. “This enables us to discover and clinically develop new therapeutic approaches for complex heart and lung diseases such as those following an infection. With the continuation of funding, innovative model systems can be developed that address increasingly complex questions.” Prof. Stefanie Dimmeler added, “This brings us significantly closer to our vision of improving the prognosis of heart and lung diseases through innovative diagnostic and therapeutic options, or even preventing their occurrence.”
With CPI 2.0, the cluster is addressing new challenges in heart–lung research associated with demographic change, emerging risk factors, and comorbidities. Under the motto ‘Precision Biology Drives Precision Medicine’, heart and lung diseases and their molecular causes are being explored in six research areas called Discovery Areas, with the aim of finding therapeutic options. CPI 2.0 will introduce a new research field that focuses on the complex dynamics between cardiac muscle, pulmonary vessels, and innervation. Additional overarching thematic areas pursue an integrative multidisciplinary approach. Translational and technological platforms, which connect basic and clinical research on various levels such as disease model development, data integration, and clinical trials support the research areas.
Not only do future medical challenges in heart–lung research take center stage in CPI 2.0, but also the training of tomorrow's scientists who will need to address these challenges. A focused and sustainable junior research program will prepare the next generation for these tasks.
POLiS—Post Lithium Energy Storage
Participating Institutions: University of Ulm, KIT—Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Justus Liebig University Giessen
Research Focus: Future generations of batteries beyond lithium-ion technology, with an emphasis on performance, reliability, sustainability, and environmental friendliness. JLU contributes its expertise in interface analysis. The cluster is part of JLU's focus area Material and Energy.
Speakers: Prof. Dr. Birgit Esser (University of Ulm), Prof. Dr. Helmut Ehrenberg (KIT Karlsruhe), Prof. Dr. Jürgen Janek (JLU).
Batteries have made the technological revolution of mobile devices possible. At the same time, they play a central role in the energy and transportation transitions. In the excellence cluster POLiS—Post Lithium Energy Storage, the foundations for next-generation batteries are being researched, aiming to become more powerful, reliable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly than current lithium-ion batteries. JLU was already involved in the ongoing excellence cluster led by the University of Ulm and KIT during the first funding phase and is now, for the first time, among the applying universities. JLU strengthens the consortium with its expertise in interface analysis.
“I am relieved and thrilled that the work of the last six years is now paying off,” stated Prof. Dr. Jürgen Janek, the Giessen spokesperson for the Excellence Cluster. “The joint application of the three universities and our scientific concepts have convinced the evaluators, and I am looking forward to further intensifying our collaborative research—also in the future research building currently being constructed on Giessen’s campus for natural and life sciences." Cluster speaker Prof. Dr. Birgit Esser (University of Ulm) is confident: “The extension of the successful excellence cluster will have a lasting impact on Germany’s battery landscape.”
In this excellence cluster, chemists, physicists, and materials and engineering scientists are researching groundbreaking solutions for electrochemical energy storage (EES). Their goal is to develop lithium-free batteries that are safe, powerful, and sustainable. During the first funding phase, the focus was on developing individual battery components, with particular attention on finding suitable materials for electrodes and electrolytes, as well as analyzing fundamental processes at interfaces. POLiS II is now taking a significant step forward by focusing on building full cells and examining the interactions between battery components throughout the entire cell.
What makes POLiS unique worldwide is the cluster's investigation of a wide range of different shuttling ions and materials, including both organic and inorganic substances, as well as materials from solid state chemistry and liquids. Sustainability is particularly important to the partners at the three locations; the shared goal is to develop future-proof solutions that are both economically and ecologically viable. Therefore, sustainability screening, lifecycle analysis, and the identification of ‘game stoppers’ such as the limited availability of raw materials, are also on the battery cluster's agenda. Electrochemical energy storage is a fundamental pillar of sustainable energy technology and serves as a key technology that significantly contributes to the success of the energy transition.
TAM—The Adaptive Mind
Participating Institutions: Justus Liebig University Giessen, Philipps University Marburg, Technical University of Darmstadt, with involvement from Goethe University Frankfurt and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS)
Research Focus: Universal principles of human adaptability in behavior and cognition aimed at enhancing the understanding of mental health and contributing to the development of more robust AI and robotics systems. At JLU, the initiative is part of the focus area Perception and Adaptive Behavior.
Speakers: Prof. Dr. Roland Fleming and Prof. Dr. Katja Fiehler (both JLU).
The ability to adapt behavior appropriately to different situations is a fundamentally important human trait. A disturbance in this ability can lead to mental health disorders. Despite its central importance to daily life, the mechanisms that enable and regulate human adaptability remain largely unknown. Even the latest artificial intelligence and robotics systems lack this adaptability. The collaboration within the excellence cluster The Adaptive Mind between Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU), Philipps University Marburg, and TU Darmstadt brings together researchers from psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience with experts in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics to decipher the universal principles of human adaptability. In the long term, the researchers aim to contribute to advances in mental health, as well as the development of more robust robotics and AI systems.
“We are all eager to start and can't wait to finally put our many research ideas into action and to train the next generation of young researchers,” said Prof. Dr. Roland Fleming, a perception psychologist from Giessen and one of the speakers of the new cluster. “This is a wonderful confirmation of the immense support we have received from the state of Hesse, the universities, and our researchers over many, many years.” His JLU colleague and co-speaker, Prof. Dr. Katja Fiehler, added: “Understanding human behavior is certainly one of the greatest scientific challenges. With this excellence cluster, we will fundamentally change psychological research and rewrite textbook knowledge. We will finally be able to explain and predict human behavior and its tremendous adaptability outside of artificial laboratory conditions in the real world.”
Humans are unmatched in dealing with changes; the human eye can adjust to the brightness of the surroundings, whether it's midday on the beach or on a moonless night. People never forget how to ride a bicycle, even as their bodies change over the course of their lives. And they can handle different liquids—from water to honey. For robots, such adaptability is still out of reach. Humans respond to changes in circumstances, sometimes with stability and other times with adaptation. This requires a great deal of flexibility to thrive in a dynamic and uncertain world.
But how does the human brain decide which strategy to use? What is the relationship between stability and adaptation? And what happens when the adaptation process fails? These questions are being explored by researchers from various disciplines in the upcoming excellence cluster. The researchers aim to decipher the universal principles of human adaptability. This topic appears not only in cognitive and neuroscience and psychology but also in the context of learning robots and the training of neural networks. The lead is with Justus Liebig University Giessen, with TU Darmstadt and Philipps University Marburg as co-applicants. Goethe University Frankfurt and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) are also involved.
Participation in Another Excellence Cluster at Philipps University of Marburg
Congratulations were extended to the team of the successful M4C—Microbes-for-Climate excellence cluster at Philipps University of Marburg. The cluster, which focuses on tackling the climate crisis and the carbon cycle, is also a success for JLU; the research group of bioinformatician and JLU vice president Prof. Dr. Alexander Goesmann is involved in the new excellence cluster.
http://www.exzellenzstrategie.de
https://cpi-online.de/
https://www.postlithiumstorage.org/
https://www.theadaptivemind.de/
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