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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Major Research Network on Religious Coexistence – LOEWE Research Cluster on Tissue Self-Regulation – Joint LOEWE Research Cluster on Medical Technology with TU Darmstadt
Goethe University Frankfurt has been successful with several proposals in the Hessian State Offensive for the Development of Scientific and Economic Excellence (LOEWE): the religion research project “DynaRel” will receive €19 million in funding over the next four years as the only LOEWE Center in the 18th funding round. The new LOEWE Research Cluster “Lipid Space,” which investigates the role of lipophilic substances in tissue self-regulation, will also receive €4.3 million over four years. Goethe University is also a partner in the medical technology LOEWE Research Cluster “MultiDrug-TDM”, led by TU Darmstadt, and will also receive funding in the LOEWE-Exploration line for a physics project on the structure of water in nanopores.
“This is a significant success – for our colleagues, for our university as a whole, and for the strategic Rhine-Main Universities alliance,” said Goethe University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff. “This success highlights both the breadth of research conducted at Goethe University and how we are addressing the major questions of our time. I am extremely pleased that the long-term preparation has borne fruit in the form of a LOEWE Center. The funding is a strong signal: In addition to acknowledging the outstanding work of those involved, the decision also confirms the trust in and the strategic further development of the humanities – which deliver such essential contributions to understanding and shaping our coexistence. ‘DynaRel’ strengthens our ‘Universality and Diversity’ profile area and firmly establishes the socially and politically relevant topic of interreligious relations as a central research focus at our university. I am proud of my colleagues and look forward to implementing the project – even more so since it also reinforces RMU thanks to our link to Mainz.
“An innovative research approach in the life sciences is also being funded,” Schleiff continued, adding that, “‘Lipid Space’ builds new connections between molecular basic research and our Clusters of Excellence CPI and SCALE. This fits perfectly into our ‘Science for Health’ profile area and develops it strategically. The funding of the LOEWE Research Cluster ‘MultiDrug-TDM’, which is led by TU Darmstadt and in which Goethe University is involved, also underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration across university boundaries: groundbreaking medical technology is being developed here that could significantly improve life-saving therapies. All of this – including the funding of a LOEWE-Exploration project by our physicists – illustrates just how broad and well-networked our research is.”
The LOEWE Center “DynaRel – Dynamics of the Religious: Ambivalent Neighborhoods between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in Historical and Contemporary Contexts” is the only center in Hesse to be funded in the current round and the second LOEWE Center with its spokesperson located at Goethe University (the other one is the “Frankfurt Cancer Institute”). “DynaRel” investigates the diverse and complex religious, cultural, and political dynamics between the three major monotheistic religions. Central to this approach is the concept of “ambivalent neighborhoods”: the project is based on the premise that it is only by addressing the close historical spatial and cultural interconnections between the religions that current questions at the intersection of religion and politics can be adequately addressed. In addition to exploring conflicts between religions, the researchers at the new center also examine how religious traditions can provide resources for engaging constructively with diversity and difference in today’s pluralistic, post-migrant societies. The center also develops innovative educational concepts – and maintains a focus on multireligious coexistence in the state of Hesse and the Rhine-Main region. Scholars from a wide range of disciplines – from religious studies to social sciences, educational sciences, as well as language and cultural studies – cooperate in the new LOEWE Center headed by Goethe University. The Universities of Marburg and Giessen are also involved, along with numerous international research institutions and non-university partners.
Funding Period: January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2029: ~ €19 million
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Christian Wiese, Protestant Theology, Goethe University Frankfurt, c.wiese@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Co-Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Armina Omerika, Language and Cultural Studies, Goethe University Frankfurt, omerika@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Co-Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Antje Röder, Sociology, Philipps University Marburg, roeder@uni-marbuerg.de
The LOEWE Research Cluster “Lipid Space – Temporally and Spatially Resolved Regulation of Tissue Homeostasis by Lipids in the Micro- and Nano-Environment” investigates how lipids – such as those forming cell membranes – and smaller fatty acids function as signaling molecules and contribute to tissue self-regulation. The scientists aim to understand how cells, e.g. in the heart or blood vessels, use lipids to communicate with neighboring cells, how this communication operates on the molecular level, and what causes and consequences disruptions have. The goal is to identify potential targets for the development of novel therapeutics for cardiovascular diseases, various types of inflammation, and cancer. The LOEWE Research Cluster, led by Goethe University Frankfurt, brings together researchers from the University of Giessen, the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies.
Funding Period: January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2029: ~ €4.3 million
Spokesperson: Prof. Ingrid Fleming, PhD, Vascular Signaling, Goethe University Frankfurt, fleming@vrc.uni-frankfurt.de
Co-Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Andreas Weigert, Inflammatory Immunology, University of Heidelberg, andreas.weigert@medma.uni-heidelberg.de
Goethe University is also participating in the LOEWE Research Cluster MultiDrug-TDM – “Personalized Medical Technology for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring at the Point-of-Care in Pediatric Oncology.” The research cluster focuses on the development of diagnostic blood tests that can be performed directly at the bedside of children and adolescents with cancer. The aim of MultiDrug-TDM is to develop a measurement system capable of determining the required levels of various pharmaceutical agents from minimal blood volumes. The researchers hope this will allow for much faster adjustment of drug dosages.
Funding Period: January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2029: ~ €4.3 million
Goethe University is also receiving funding in the LOEWE-Exploration funding line for the project: The Most Important Liquid of Life: How Do Nanopores Lead to Ordered Structures in Water?”
The study of water inside carbon nanotubes is of interest for several reasons: the tubes are considered for use in water purification, but also as miniature reactors for chemical processes. They also serve as simplified model systems for molecular biological pores. Research on these tubes – which are 50,000 times thinner than a human hair – has shown that water behaves differently inside them than it does in its “free” form. Theoretical studies suggest that this is due to a different, specifically ordered structure of the water molecules. The project aims to experimentally verify this high degree of molecular ordering.
Principal Investigator: PD Dr. Mark Thomsen, Institute of Physics, Goethe University Frankfurt
Funding period: 2 years; Funding amount: €300,000
The State of Hessen’s LOEWE Research Funding Program
The State Offensive for the Development of Scientific and Economic Excellence – abbreviated by its German acronym LOEWE – includes several funding lines. The aim of funding LOEWE Centers is to further develop already established research alliances at universities and other research institutions into internationally visible research hubs. LOEWE Research Clusters [LOEWE-Schwerpunkte] support research areas in which existing expertise is to be consolidated, expanded, and further developed, with the goal of evolving into long-term research focuses. The LOEWE-Exploration funding line is designed to give researchers the freedom to pursue novel, innovative research ideas and to test hypotheses.
https://Further information: https://wissenschaft.hessen.de/forschen/landesprogramm-loewe
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