Funded projects in the Leibniz Competition

Nanoengineering of SUstainable PERovskites for SOLar cells

Photovoltaics is a key technology towards a sustainable electricity production. Perovskite solar cells are a promising possibility to render photovoltaics more efficient. The project within the Leibniz Programme for Women Professors will establish a new line of research for development of sustainable technologies at the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden. It will particularly advance the development of perovskite materials using nanoengineering methods and study the integration of these novel materials into photovoltaics. The project will therefore strengthen Germany's position internationally in the field of new solar energy technologies.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW)

Cooperating university: Technische Universität Dresden

Project leader: Yana Vaynzof

Leibniz Professorship for Applied Microeconomics at the Technische Universität Berlin on Social Inequality, Charitable Giving and Media Bias.

The project deals with the overarching question of how the availability and use of different information (for example, in news, media or propaganda) influences individual behaviour and various inequalities between people. Field and laboratory experiments will be used to investigate how behaviour changes when people are exposed to different media content. One question is whether charitable giving can be increased by providing specific information in different ways and at different times. In addition, it will be investigated whether the provision of specific information can alter men's and women's behaviour in such a way that this leads to a reduction in inequality between men and women.

Institute: WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Cooperating university: Technische Universität Berlin

Keeping the brain engaged: sensory & motor circuits during active learning

Information from our environment is constantly taken in through our senses and used to guide our behavior. This is evident in actions as simple as walking down the street to more complex behaviors like driving a car. These sensory-motor interactions modify the neural circuits of our brains as we learn. Using advanced brain imaging techniques, this project in the Leibniz Programme for Women Professors aims to uncover how active sensory engagement can optimize ongoing motor behaviors, and how these perception-action loops are integrated across distributed brain networks. A better understanding of these processes will have therapeutic relevance for disorders where these perception-action loops are interrupted, such as Parkinson’s disease.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN)

Cooperating university: Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg

Project leader: Janelle Pakan

A Long-term Observatory of the North Atlantic Gateway to the Arctic

Marine habitats in the Arctic are not only exposed to severe climate change, but also to increasing threats from fishing, potential deep-sea mining and commercial shipping. In this project of the Leibniz Programme for Women Professors observatories will be set up at the border between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean – the so-called "North Atlantic Gateway" – in order to monitor the biological diversity of the deep sea with the help of long-term sampling. The data from the project can serve as a basis for political decisions and thus make an important contribution to the sustainable management of the oceans.

Institute: Senckenberg Society for Nature Research - Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research (SGN)

Cooperating university: Universität Hamburg

Leibniz Professorship for Empirical Banking at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

The project aims at better understanding how the financial sector, and banks in particular, can contribute to the net-zero transformation of the economy. One sub-project focuses on the causal impact of climate regulations and investor preferences on bank lending to firms and the greening of firms’ activities. The second sub-project seeks to identify how credit can effectively be used to finance households’ investments in energy efficiency improvements. The aim is to provide rigorous evidence on how to balance the need for energy-saving measures, prudential lending standards affecting households’ borrowing capacity and financial stability.

Institute: ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Cooperating university: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

The Role of Multinational Enterprises in the Global Financial Cycle

The project intends to explore how multinational firms contribute to the existence of a global financial cycle, that is, the phenomenon that financial conditions and in particular the costs of and the tightness of access to capital move globally. The focus is on the role of multinational firms in transmitting global financial shocks. To this end, the project will trace how German subsidiaries of US multinationals react to changes in financial conditions in the US and how the internal capital markets of multinationals pass on financial stress to other local firms.

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH)

Cooperating university: Universität Leipzig

Sustainable Tourism: Evolving Paradigms for sustainable Systems

Tourism is one of the most influential global economic sectors, yet frequently gives rise to undesirable social and environmental outcomes. Sustainability transformations have proven elusive. In this project the Coronavirus pandemic is explored as an inflection point for global tourism. The project applies interdisciplinary mixed methods including modeling approaches and machine learning to identify and question possible pathways for social transformations of tourism in tropical island destinations, where tourism is a key source of livelihoods as well as conflicts. Results will broadly inform sustainability transformations, and work will be carried out in close collaboration with local partners to ground the study findings while providing a direct pathway to transfer results.

Institute: Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT)

Cooperating university: Universität Bremen

Atomic Scale Processing of Materials and Integration Platforms for 2D Electronics

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) has become an emerging technology to deposit very thin layers with precise thickness control over complex geometries and high conformality. The aim of the project is to establish a unique platform for ALD processing of advanced functional materials for future technological applications employing novel precursor chemistries.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW)

Cooperating university: TU Dresden

Project leader: Anjana Devi

Leibniz Professorship for Phytonutrient Management at the Technische Universität Berlin

Climate change is challenging horticulture to produce healthy food in a more sustainable way. A project in the Leibniz Programme for Women Professors is focusing on researching the mechanisms of formation and degradation of health-promoting phytochemicals of vegetables. The aim is to safeguard and improve the nutrient quality of cruciferous vegetables in particular under changed climatic conditions, and to consider the effect of food processing in the value chain. The project thus combines topics from nutrition and health with (bio)chemistry as well as basic research in plant science with aspects of environmental sciences.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ)

Cooperating University: Technische Universität Berlin

The Gender Wealth Gap: Participation in Financial Markets

A striking finding in household finance research is the low participation rate in capital markets, particularly in Germany, despite the high equity premium (“equity premium puzzle”). This cannot be explained by high relative risk aversion. Stock market participation is especially low among women, who are, at the same time, more financially fragile than men. In a project in the Leibniz Programme for Women Professors, Professor Christine Laudenbach wants to better understand the causes for the low participation rates in capital markets among women and to use the insights to test ways to overcome causes that are not motivated by differences in (risk) preferences, but by knowledge gaps and confidence, misperceptions or behavioral mistakes.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE- Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe

Cooperating University: Goethe Universität Frankfurt

Project leader: Christine Laudenbach

Intersectoral Impact Attribution to Climate Change

Humans already have a deep impact on earth through e.g. land use changes, water management or pollution. In addition, the influence of climate change is increasing. To quantify the damages already caused by today’s levels of climate change, its impacts have to be separated from the contribution of the other socio-economic drivers. In this way you can e.g. quantify the contribution of climate change to observed changes in the occurrence of extreme events such as droughts, wildfires and flooding and assess its influence on associated displacement and economic damages. These questions are addressed by the project funded by the Leibniz Programme for Women Professors. The project uses satellite data and latest simulations by climate impact models to quantify the damages already caused by observed climate change.

Institute: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

Cooperating University: Universität Potsdam

New selective synthesis methods on supported metals: Hydrogen transfer reactions, to challenge the boundaries of asymmetric possibilities

Transfer hydrogenation is the process by which hydrogen is transferred from a donor molecule to other compounds. The process is extremely important in the chemical industry as it opens new possibilities for selective synthesis methods. The project in the Leibniz Programme for Women Professors aims to establish a new process chain for the transfer hydrogenation of unsaturated compounds. Alkyl amines are supposed to act as hydrogen sources. The project combines theoretical and experimental research, and the results promise to make significant contributions both to the scientific understanding of the reaction cascade and to future technical applications.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT)

Cooperating University: Universität Rostock

Next generation SustaInable semicoNductors For Optoelectronic aNd spIntronic Applications

We live in an electronic world. Displays for smartphones and curved television screens are just but a few examples of the increasing presence of disordered electronics in our daily lives. Economy, health, and national security rely on such electronic technologies. This project wants to investigate next-generation semiconductors aiming for state-of-the-art environmentally benign solar cells and over the horizon ideas such as quantum computing. In a project in the Leibniz Programme for Women Professors, the project leader is planning to produce a new generation of complex semiconductor materials. The proposed research tackles fundamental questions concerning the physics of organic semiconductor solar cells, and also more applied aspects that will ultimately impact technology roll-out by studying the electro-optics of these systems.

Institute: Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics (PDI)

Cooperating University: Universität Potsdam

Project leader: Safa Shoaee

Leibniz Professorship for Evolutionary Ethology at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Culture, that is, socially learned behaviors that are passed on from generation to generation, is not unique to humans but also found in non-human animals. Mirjam Knörnschild is interested in the question of whether animal culture can have an influence on speciation. The extensive animal sound archive of the Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science will be used in the project to investigate acoustic communication in bats. This promises insights into culturally transmitted song in bats and the relationship between social and vocal complexity. Machine learning methods will be applied to detect and analyze acoustic patterns in bat songs.

Institute: Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science (MfN)

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Mirjam Knörnschild

Cooperating University: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Leibniz Professorship for Computational Pharmacology at the Technical University of Munich

The senses of smell and taste are crucial for food perception. Off-flavors, for example, warn us of the consumption of toxic and spoiled food. However, unpleasant or bitter tastes also often occur with plant proteins or health food additives, with a negative impact on their acceptance. This is a major problem for the food industry and the sustainable production of food. Dr. Antonella Di Pizio is therefore researching the molecular functions of odorant and taste receptors as part of the project she is leading, using the latest computer-aided analysis methods to find new ways of reducing off-flavors in health-promoting foods.

Institute: Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (LSB)

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Antonella Di Pizio

Cooperating University: Technische Universität München

Ultrafast charge, spin, and nuclear dynamics in complex magnetic materials

Technological advances are often presaged by the discovery of fundamental physics at smaller time and length scales. As a theoretical physicist, Sangeeta Sharma employs time-dependent density functional theory to explore magnetic solids at femtosecond time scales – one femtosecond is the billionths part of a millionths second. The goal is to establish key theoretical concepts and computation methods relevant for the emerging field of ultrafast magnetism. This will both lead to fundamental new knowledge in the field of theoretical physics, but also address key technological needs such as faster and more environmentally sustainable memory storage.

Institute: Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI)

Project leader: Prof. Dr.Sangeeta Sharma

Cooperating University: Freie Universität Berlin

From phenome to genome: How exceptional novelties open the mechanisms of evolution

It is a central dogma of biology that the genetic information (the genome) of an organism constrains its morphological appearance (the phenome). Molluscs are the most diverse animal phylum, including forms from snails less than 1 millimeter to squids with a length of more than 15 meters, and many remarkable body forms. It is unclear what the genetic determinants of this disparity are. This project, led by Julia Sigwart, aims to use whole-genome sequencing to study how a limited genetic spectrum can give rise to such an astonishing morphological diversity. It will therefore generate new knowledge in the field of evolutionary biology and start answering the question of why organisms look the ways they do.

Institute: Senckenberg Society for Nature Research – Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research (SGN)

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Julia Sigwart

Cooperating University: Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main

Dehumanization Online: Measurements and Consequences

Social media harbours a risk of dehumanisation – the extreme devaluation of people with other opinions, backgrounds or lifestyles – as a result of phenomena like hate speech. The aim of the project is, first of all, to measure the extent of dehumanisation on various social media platforms using new automated text recognition methods. In a second step, this data will be used to investigate which channels and individuals are most affected. The findings of this interdisciplinary collaborative project involving the social sciences and computer science may be of great significance for the development of government policy, for example the regulation of social media.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences (GESIS)

Project leader: Claudia Wagner

Cooperating University: RWTH Aachen

Integrated cropping systems analysis: methods and models for climate risk and adaptation assessments

Across world regions, farmers are exposed to a range of risks due to extreme weather events, pest infestations, price shocks and labour shortages. Managing these risks requires that farmers reduce their impacts as well as have sufficient savings or insurance to allow them to withstand shocks. However, given the range of challenges facing agriculture, they must also be able to take prudent and informed risks as they try new practices supporting sustainable development of farming operations. This project plans to carry out a detailed investigation of methods and models for identifying risk management options to support farmers in making their farms more sustainable in the context of climate change.

Institute: Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)

Project leader: Heidi Webber

Cooperating University: BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg

Navigating the digital everyday life: Elderly participants’ use of mundane technologies in and for social interaction

Digital technologies have the potential to support the everyday lives of older people in a number of different ways by, for instance, opening up new ways of participating in society. The project is investigating how older people actually use these technologies and the associated social interactions. For instance, the researchers plan to find out what appropriation strategies are used by older people and what problems they encounter when using digital technologies. The selection of case studies makes it possible to compare usage in social, learning and family contexts.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for the German Language (IDS)

Project leader: Florence Oloff

Cooperating University: Universität Mannheim

ImmunoPROteasomes in LUNG health and disease

A promising approach to treating chronic diseases is to combat chronic inflammatory processes by the therapeutic use of immunoproteasome inhibitors. These are drugs that inhibit the breakdown of proteins in immune cells by specialized immunoproteasomes. Building on basic research into the activity of the various forms of the immunoproteasome in the diverse immune cells of the body, the team will explore their impairment in chronic diseases and the potential of therapeutic targeting of the immunoproteasome in lung diseases.

Institute: Research Center Borstel - Leibniz Lung Center (FZB)

Project leader: Silke Meiners

Cooperating University: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

A Framework for Knowledge Graphs based on Semantic Integration, Representation, and Curation of Scientific Data to enable Trustable and Interpretable Knowledge Exploration and Discovery

Research projects around the world produce a tide of data every day. The potential lies primarily in connecting the pieces of information and extends far beyond the individual project results. The project will develop computational methods for transforming biomedical data into semantically rich and linked knowledge graphs. These methods will enable interpretable large-scale data integration to empower Artificial Intelligence with semantic descriptions and transparency. The project will use these computational tools as building blocks for supporting individual treatment approaches in lung and breast cancer, and Covid-19 patients.

Institute: TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology

Project leader: Maria-Esther Vidal

Cooperating University: Leibniz Universität Hannover

Leibniz Professorship for Empirical Environmental Economics at the University of Mannheim

Germany’s manufacturing sector is an important part of the national economy and is responsible for a large share of the country’s energy consumption and emissions of CO2 and local pollutants. In order for Germany to reach its climate goals, this sector must also lower emissions significantly – something that has not been achieved so far. The project will investigate the impact of environmental policy and international trade on the economic success and emissions of German manufacturing companies. The aim is for the results to help adjust regulations to make them more effective while also maintaining the companies’ competitive strength.

Institute: ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Project leader: Kathrine von Graevenitz

Cooperating University: Universität Mannheim

Behavioural Insights Research Center on Preventive Health (BIRCH)

The project will focus on interdisciplinary basic and applied research in behavioral science and psychological health communication, with the aim of developing interventions and strategies to improve preventive health behaviors. Based at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, the project collects and compares data in different cultural contexts, including with partners on the African continent. The three main topics being addressed are understanding protective behavior regarding infectious diseases, prudent use of antibiotics and promoting sustainable food and nutrition behaviors. The results are expected to help improve health policies and health communication.

Institute: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)

Project leader: Cornelia Betsch

Cooperating University: Universität Erfurt

In the Leibniz Competition 2020 no projects were funded in this programme

Combined Evolution of Star-Planet Systems

The project is in the field of stellar physics and exoplanets. It makes use of an observational method for star activity developed by the project leader that will be applied to current observational data.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP)

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Katja Poppenhaeger

Cooperating University: University of Potsdam

The Cellular Interactome in Health and Disease

The project deals with proteomic mass spectrometry and, in particular, with the use of chemical cross-linkers, which can enable new insights into the quantitative and qualitative architecture of protein complexes.

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP)

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Fan Liu

Cooperating University: Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Democratic Institutions in the Global South. The Limits of Presidential Accountability

The project investigates presidential regimes in Latin America and their vulnerability to a relapse into authoritarian forms of government. Despite the focus on Latin American states and the Global South, implications for other nations will also be highlighted. In the context of more recent developments in countries like Russia, Turkey and even the USA, the issue of the resilience of presidential democracies is particularly pressing.

Institute: GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies - Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Cooperating University: Universität Hamburg

Freshwater Megafauna Futures: Diversity, Functions, Threats, and Implications for Biodiversity Conservation

Despite their extraordinary biodiversity and their importance for human use, inland waters are not managed sustainably, with serious consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem balance. Large fresh-water species in particular, such as hippos and giant salamanders, are at serious risk because of worsening conditions. The project will investigate the biodiversity of these species.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB)

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Sonja Jähnig

Cooperating University: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Influenza at the Animal-Human Interface: One Health

The main aim of our research is to understand the molecular basis of highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus (HPAIV) interspecies transmission from birds to humans. A particular focus here lies on HPAIV pathogenesis in humans upon zoonotic infection. Therefore, we are modelling various aspects of influenza disease in respective small animals. In order to identify and analyze the impact of viral and cellular determinants of HPAIV mediated disease in mammals, we are additionally employing various high-end in vitro techniques. Findings from the respective animal models are then challenged regarding their human relevance by recruitment of human influenza cohorts. Furthermore, findings with influenza A viruses are translated to other viral pathogens in order to understand and identify potential common disease pathways which might act as targets for therapeutic intervention. Finally, we aim to establish novel antiviral treatment strategies against influenza which are then evaluated in vitro and in vivo regarding their efficacy.

Institute: Heinrich-Pette-Institute – Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology (HPI)

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Gülsah Gabriel

Cooperating University: University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation (TiHo)

Geobiodiversity: assessing the impacts of mountain building and climate change on evolution and ecology of mammals and birds

To address the fundamental global challenges of biodiversity protection and sustainable use of natural resources by humankind, we need to understand and model the distribution of biological diversity in time and space. Diversity patterns and their underlying processes are studied in evolution and ecology with living species in the present-day environment, whereas the fields of paleontology and paleoecology study the same processes but use extinct species and a deep-time, geological perspective. Until recently, there has been very little overlap and communication between these fields. Therefore, it is not fully understood how evolution and ecology of organisms are influenced by Earth-system processes such as mountain building and climate change, and how human activities modify such interactions. The core goal of the proposed geobiodiversity professorship is to provide a much-needed integration across geology, paleontology, evolution, and ecology, to understand and model the specific impacts of Earth-system dynamics and anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity in time and space. The candidate, Dr Susanne Fritz, has excellent qualifications for this professorship. She has a high-impact publication record, including integrative work at the intersection of paleontology with evolution and ecology, and core expertise in macroevolution and biogeography of mammals and birds. As an Emmy Noether research group leader, she has acquired prestigious third-party funding, and she has five years of international research experience. The proposal aims to establish an institutionalized cooperation professorship at Goethe University Frankfurt and Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, which would be embedded in an existing strong cooperation and provide a crucial conceptual and methodological bridge between the Senckenberg mission and major focal research areas across the Departments of Geosciences/Geography and Biosciences at Goethe University.

Institute: Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (SGN),

Cooperating University: Goethe University Frankfurt

Leibniz Professorship for Applied Labour Economics at the University of Heidelberg

The proposal aims at establishing a professorship for applied labour economics at Heidelberg University joint with the ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research. The proposed candidate, Melanie Arntz, focuses on the effects of macroeconomic phenomena on labour markets and individual workers. Her work is grounded in labor and regional economics. Together with a team of researchers at ZEW, she looks at phenomena such as the international division of labor or the ongoing digitalization of the labour market in order to examine the consequences that these structural changes have on individual workers, their careers as well as their adjustment strategies in terms of occupational, industrial and spatial mobility. In addition, she is also interested in understanding how these impacts differ across European countries and regions by taking account of institutional and structural differences between regional and national labour markets in Europe that may contribute to regional disparities in these outcomes. Hence, her research approach bridges a gap between the micro-oriented perspective of labour economics and the more macro-oriented perspective of regional economics. For ZEW as well as Heidelberg University, this research agenda is highly complementary, but at the same time has sufficient overlap to other research groups to allow for fruitful discussions and an exchange of ideas. At the University of Heidelberg, the proposed Leibniz professorship would strengthen applied labour economics within the Alfred-Weber-Institute for Economics (AWI) and also provide opportunities for students and professors to get involved in policy-oriented research. For ZEW, the affiliation to Heidelberg University, among others, provides the opportunity to intensify the exchange and cooperation with scholars from Heidelberg University in order to develop and pursue a research agenda that is state of the art.

Institute: ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Melanie Arntz

Cooperating University: Heidelberg University

Professorship Neurocognitive Development

The Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN) and Dr. habil. Nicole Wetzel will jointly apply for the Leibniz Program for Women Professors 2018.  The newly established research professorship Neurocognitive Development will represent the field of neurocognitive development during childhood and will be affiliated at the LIN and the Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal (HS).  The professorship focuses on the development of auditory cognition including their underlying neuronal mechanisms. The research plan comprises in particular the systematic investigation of the developmental pathway of attention control and effects of influencing factors such as motivation, emotion, and the social context in healthy children. Attention control will also be investigated in real life situations and in atypically developed children. The special aim of the professorship is the translation of basic research findings into application as well as research-related teaching in the field of neurocognitive development. This project is of high social relevance as it can significantly contribute to improve the conditions for learning and for child development in the long term. The focus of the LIN on basic research on learning and memory mechanisms in animals and humans and the outstanding expertise in application-oriented research on early learning and education at the Department of Applied Human Sciences at the HS provide an excellent basis for successful collaboration. The professorship will be embedded in well-established research networks of both institutions and in the Leibniz Education Research Network. Furthermore, it will be located at an interdisciplinary interface that enables the development of new and innovative approaches to understand the development of cognitive functions and their neural basis. The scientific background and the excellent academic qualifications of the candidate ensure the successful realization of this innovative and interdisciplinary project.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN)

Project leader: Prof.Dr. Nicole Wetzel

Cooperating University: Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences

W2-tenure track professorship as a joint appointment of DWI - Leibniz-Institute and RWTH Aachen University

Together with RWTH University, we propose Dr.-Ing. De Laporte for a W2-professorship. She is highly qualified (ERC starting grant, habilitation in progress) and DWI has agreed with the RWTH on the tenure track procedure. The field of her research and scholarship concerns the interface of synthetic materials and living matter. Her research focuses on the controlled interaction of synthetic matrices with living cells by the development of hierarchically structured biomaterials. Materials will be explored for in vitro, ex vivo (organ models), and in vivo biohybrid constructs, where the mutual interaction of the material with mammalian cells will be directed to generating physiologically functional tissue useful in medical applications. Particular challenges concern hydrogel components that can be injected as a liquid but then structured in situ. The term hierarchically denotes controlled structural variation on the length scales from functional molecular subunits up to macroscopic dimensions, but also the time scales due to the alterations upon interaction with living cells. Parameters are anisotropy, porosity, as well as gradients in mechanical properties, ligands, and biochemical signals, as well as time-dependent degradation, mechanical relaxation and stiffening, and the release of biochemical factors. The tools and methods to generate such hierarchical structures involve (i) a biocompatible hydrogel chemistry, (ii) new concepts for structuring such gels via self-assembly and in external fields, and (iii) 3D-printing of these gels to establish layered and hierarchical structures. A further aspect concerns (iv) the mechanical actuation of these types of materials. More specifically, Dr. De Laporte studies mechanical and biological guidance of nerve cells, layered gels to better mimic the native anisotropic architecture of cartilage, and new concepts for local mechano-stimulation.

Institute: DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

Project leader: Dr. Laura De Laporte

Cooperating University: RWTH Aachen

There are no finished projects in this funding programme.

A bird's eye view: Modeling population responses to long-term climate and recent anthropogenic change using historical genomes

Preventing biodiversity loss is one of the major challenges of our lifetime. To predict future changes in biodiversity, much can be learnt by studying how populations have responded to environmental disturbance in the past. Museums and herbaria, are archives of biodiversity and can be used to study biodiversity change over time. The Leibniz-Junior Research group led by Dr. Mozes Blom will use simulations and genetic data from museum specimens to understand how bird populations have been affected by long-term (climate) and short-term (pesticides) environmental disturbances. These insights will be key to identify populations and species at risk and will help to guide conservation policy.

Institute: Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science (MfN)

Project leader: Mozes Blom

Photonics with ultra-pure fluoride crystals

Photonics has opened up technologies in a variety of areas from fundamental research to applications in industry. Materials that govern light-matter interactions play a crucial role in photonics, and the limited purity of the materials has prevented the realization of various promising technologies, including nonlinear optics in the vacuum UV and laser cooling of solids. This is where the Leibniz-Junior Research Group led by Dr Hiroshi Tanaka starts: the aim is to use an elaborate, complex process to develop crystals of the highest purity and to further confirm their suitability for the abovementioned technologies in laboratory experiments. The group combines interdisciplinary expertise on crystal growth and photonic technologies in one place and will use this expertise to develop innovative solutions for applications in modern photonics.

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ)

Project leader: Hiroki Tanaka

Sustainable Finance Law in Europe - Navigating between Regulation, Contractual Practice, Litigation, and Regulatory Competition

Under the direction of Dr Nikolai Badenhoop, the project between law and financial economics aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the legal framework for so-called sustainable financial products. The research group examines the interrelated layers of regulation, contractual practice, litigation, and regulatory competition. It focuses on bonds and funds advertised as green, social or sustainable. The project investigates to what extent sustainability promises are met and how greenwashing or socialwashing can be prevented.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE

Project leader: Nikolai Badenhoop

Optical Lab for Lidar Applications

The project led by Dr Moritz Haarig deals with measurements of desert dust using LIDAR technology. Such mineral dust particles play an important role in atmospheric processes such as cloud formation and precipitation and influence the radiation budget of the Earth. The irregular shape of mineral dust particles makes it difficult to describe and predict their scattering properties. The project will establish a specialized laboratory to enable novel and highly relevant measurements in the exact backscatter direction, thus making important contributions in the areas of climate change and air quality.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS)

Project leader: Moritz Haarig

Modeling multiphase media in and around galaxies in a cosmological context

Galaxies are the large-scale building-blocks of the Universe. Their formation and evolution depend critically on internal, small-scale feedback: energetic processes in massive stars and active galactic nuclei drive a cycling of gas, both spatially and in its state, thereby affecting the overall evolution of the host galaxy. Making use of novel computational techniques, the Leibniz Junior Research Group led by Dr Rainer Weinberger studies this gas cycling in global models of galaxy formation. Using large-scale computer simulations, the group connects the complex physics of galactic gas with observational results, revealing how the Universe evolved into the state we can observe today.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP)

Project leader: Rainer Weinberger

Following Complex Spin Structures in Time and Space

While magnetic nanostructures are at the heart of current and future data storage applications, already today researchers are incorporating ultrashort light pulses to increase the speed of these devices by a factor of 1000 and beyond. However, understanding and controlling the underlying processes requires access to magnetization profiles with high temporal and spatial resolution. Based on unique laser-driven soft X-ray sources, the Leibniz Junior Research Group of Dr Daniel Schick can now investigate such complex spin structures in small-scale laboratories as opposed to large-scale facilities, as was previously the case. This allows studying fundamental aspects of photoinduced spin dynamics in a variety of relevant nanostructures in a more systematic way than ever before.

Institute: Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI)

Project leader: Daniel Schick

Neural Mechanisms and Environmental Modifiers of Empathy and Prosocial Behaviour

Empathy and prosocial behaviour are centuries-old psychological concepts, traditionally attributed solely to humans. However, increasing research evidence shows that also animals and even rodents are capable of displaying empathy and prosocial behavior. Using tools of modern neuroscience, the junior research group led by Dr Bauer Mikulovic will first determine the factors that promote innate and learned prosocial behavior in mice, second identify the neural circuits that control cognitive and emotional aspects of prosocial behavior and third examine how stress and fear influence prosocial behavior in mice on a neuronal basis.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN)

Project leader: Sanja Bauer Mikulovic

Mouthfeel - How texture makes flavor: Probing and manipulating nanobiophysical properties of mouthfeel in flavor perception

Although the consumption of low-fat dairy products can be beneficial to health, their texture however, is often perceived as less pleasant. In addition to the specific taste and smell of a food, the perception of the texture is decisive for the comprehensive taste sensation. How exactly the texture influences the perception of taste and eventually makes flavor, however, has not yet been researched. The junior research group led by Melanie Köhler is therefore investigating the molecular foundations that influence the perception of food texture. This involves combining findings and methods from biophysics and food science. The results are intended to contribute to the development of novel low-fat and likewise tasty foods that promote healthy eating habits.

Institute: Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (LSB)

Project leader: Melanie Köhler

Computational Study of Iron-Oxo Complexes: Reactivity of (Artificial) Metalloenzymes and Biomimetic Complexes

Specific activation of Carbon-Hydrogen bonds (C-H bonds) represents an attractive opportunity for industrial applications, such as the synthesis of complex polymers or drug development, but it is a challenging task to achieve in a laboratory setting. Some enzymes existing in nature are able to do exactly this, they efficiently and specifically activate C-H bonds. The junior research group led by Dr. Milica Feldt will make use of such enzymes: by studying existing systems the group wants to gather information how to optimize the process of C-H activation in the laboratory. By using theoretical modelling approaches focusing on C-H oxidation systems the group aims to understand the underlying mechanisms of catalysis and will translate these findings into future applications.

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Katalyse e.V. (LIKAT Rostock)

Project leader: Milica Feldt

Breaking the limits in faba bean (Vicia faba L.) research: improving its nutritional value for reduced dependence on imported protein and promoting eco-friendly farming in Europe

The growing global demand of soybean as animal feed has resulted in the transformation of millions of hectares of forests, grasslands and savannahs into soybean fields. Faba bean, which is a temperate grain legume, could be a promising alternative to the use of soybean, but some substances in faba bean are difficult to digest or can even be toxic. To eliminate these components, characterization of genetic resources and unlocking the genomic diversity of faba bean are required. In this way, it is possible to find out which breeding lines need to be crossed to make the faba bean more easily digestible. This task is being tackled by the junior research group led by Murukarthick Jayakodi.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK)

Project leader: Murukarthick Jayakodi

Additive manufacturing of graded structures from iron-based shape memory alloys

Shape memory alloys are metallic materials that return to their undeformed shape when heated after being plastically deformed. The project of the Junior Research Group led by Dr. Anastasiya Tönies is based on a novel 3D printing method for locally adjusting the alloy composition during the laser powder bed fusion process. This enables the production of components with a tailored, graded alloy composition and opens up entirely new possibilities for the manufacturing of cost-efficient, innovative, lightweight and smart components. The methodology will also be transferred to other functional materials in collaboration with partners from science and industry. Based on this project, a methodology will be provided to investigate a large number of alloy variations with unprecedented material efficiency.

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Werkstofforientierte Technologien - IWT

Project leader: Anastasiya Tönjes

Rural well-being in transition: multidimensional drivers and effects on (im)mobility

Europe's rural areas are threatened by a vicious cycle of out-migration and ageing: as populations decrease, the well-being of those who stay back often declines, which further fuels out-migration. The junior research group led by Dr Antje Jantsch is investigating the link between (im)mobility and rural well-being by adding a new lens: the concept of place attachment. A multidimensional well-being index will be further developed and adapted to better capture the complexity of well-being through the inclusion of the concept of place attachment. In this way, (im)mobility in selected rural regions in Germany and Southeastern Europe can be better understood and explained.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO)

Project leader: Antje Jantsch

Cosmic Choreographies: Studying Systems of Satellite Galaxies and Their Phase-Space Correlations

According to a widespread assumption in astronomy, the cosmos consists to a large extent of unknown particles: dark matter. However, new research into the movement of satellite galaxies indicates that this assumption could be false, and researchers are drawing up alternative theories for understanding our universe. The Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) has recruited a scientist with expertise in this new field of research: Dr Marcel Pawlowski. He has chosen an innovative approach that combines simulation and observational studies. His junior research group combines theoretical calculations of correlations in the movements of galaxies with broader observational studies.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP)

Project leader: Marcel Pawlowski

Hybrid swarm evolution of native and invasive Phoxinus spp. to the river Sieg, Germany

In biodiversity research, little is known so far about how hybridizations of a native and a non-native species can lead to the evolution of an invasive hybrid. A group of researchers led by Dr Madlen Stange is now studying this aspect in a project at the Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig – Leibniz Institute for Animal Biodiversity (ZFMK). The group is investigating the spread of Phoxinus, an ecologically important schooling fish, in the River Sieg, a 155 km tributary of the River Rhine. The researchers are investigating the native and hybridized invasive populations on ecological, morphological, and genetic level to understand mechanisms and impact of hybridisation-invasions.

Institute: Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig - Leibniz Institute for Animal Biodiversity (ZFMK)

Project leader: Madlen Stange

2D Heterostructures for fermionic and bosonic topological phases

The behaviour of some new materials – such as graphene, which was only discovered in 2004 – when subjected to powerful magnetic fields and low temperatures reveals some surprising phenomena. In particular, extremely thin materials - sometimes down to a single atom thickness - have revealed a variety of new phenomena. The researchers hope that exploitation of these phenomena can lead to progress in lossless electrical transport, in the development of quantum computers and the manufacture of more efficient electronic components. The junior research group led by Dr Louis Veyrat is focused on the manufacture and analysis of these thin 2D materials, with the aim of developing and describing new and exotic material states.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW)

Project leader: Louis Veyrat

Broad Adaptations to Brain Connectivity due to Maternal Influences on Neurocircuits caused by Diet

An unhealthy diet and excessive body weight gain of the mother during pregnancy increases the risk of long-term health problems in children, e.g. diabetes or obesity, but behavior patterns controlled by the brain can also be influenced. However, it is not yet clear exactly how maternal eating habits and changes to a mother’s metabolism affect the baby’s developing brain, especially the connections between nerve cells. The junior research group led by Dr. Rachel Lippert is addressing this complex of topics using neurodevelopmental studies in mouse models, nutritional interventions and highly efficient analytical methods.

Institute: German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke (DIfE)

Project leader: Rachel Lippert

Neuropathology of Lassa fever NEULA

In West Africa, hundreds of thousands of people are infected with the Lassa virus every year. In some patients life-threatening courses of the disease occur. So far little is known about the exact cause of these severe disease courses. There is currently no approved treatment and no vaccine. The junior research group led by medical doctor/clinician Dr Till Omansen will be performing clinical studies with patients in Nigeria, as well as laboratory experiments at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg. The researchers hope to gain important insights into the pathology of the disease for the diagnosis and treatment of Lassa fever.

Institute: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)

Project leader: Till Omansen

Probabilistic Methods for Dynamic Communication Networks

In our increasingly connected world an overwhelming amount of data must be rapidly transmitted through highly complex networks. This requires a revolution in many aspects of the network architecture. In this context, device-to-device communication is becoming a key technology pervading a highly diverse set of use cases, ranging from coverage extensions in emerging markets to network robustness and green networking, the systems however become less controllable. Here, the junior research group led by Dr Benedikt Jahnel is developing possible solutions for stable and more secure dynamic communication networks with the help of probabilistic methods.

Institute: Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics (WIAS)

Project leader: Benedikt Jahnel

Urban human-nature resonance for sustainability transformation

To what extent do people in cities have a responsive connection with the environment and nature? To find this out, the project led by Dr Martina Artmann will develop and test an innovative concept of urban human-nature resonance. Her team will investigate whether strengthening this resonance can increase the probability of staying within planetary boundaries, in view of rapid urbanisation. The project will include the previously neglected spiritual dimension of the relationship between humans and the environment, making it an interdisciplinary undertaking involving environmental psychology, sociology, philosophy, urban planning and other disciplines.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER)

Project leader: Dr. Martina Artmann

Contentious Mobilities: rethinking mobility transitions through a decolonial lens

Mobility forms and cultures need to change if global sustainability goals are to be met. The project led by Dr Wladimir Sgibnev will investigate mobility reforms and conflicts. Empirically, the group is focusing on post-socialist cities where mobility transformations have been particularly evident in recent decades. The project takes a decolonial perspective to allow more complex interpretations of social change. The hypothesis is that previous – technocratic and Eurocentric – political strategies will need to become more inclusive and sensitive to the everyday experience of transport users for lasting changes to be made to mobility cultures. 

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography (IfL)

Project leader: Dr. Wladimir Sgibnev

Numerics for innovative semiconductor devices

To improve the efficiency of standard solar cells and reduce costs, alternative materials are being investigated for semiconductor elements, such as perovskites and resource-efficient nanowires. However, with these materials, physics often dictates that electrons and holes diffuse nonlinearly, e.g. several orders faster when highly concentrated. This nonlinearity severely complicates simulations because classic numerical methods violate basic physical principles. So there is a need for new numerical methods to be developed, analysed and optimised, which is the aim of this project led by Dr Patricio Farrell.

Institute: Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics (WIAS)

Project leader: Dr. Patricio Farrell

Global freshwater biodiversity, biogeography and conservation

Global biodiversity is declining across all ecosystems, and freshwater biodiversity is particularly at risk. There has not been much research into its significance and distinctiveness, however, compared with terrestrial and marine ecosystems. A number of anthropogenic pressures, such as climate change, land use changes and chemical pollution have been shown to affect freshwater habitats. A comprehensive picture is needed of the current situation before appropriate countermeasures can be found to prevent a further decline in biodiversity. Dr Sami Domisch and his Junior Research Group are therefore focusing their research on freshwater organisms and their habitats.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB)

Project leader: Dr. Sami Domisch

“Man hört, man spricht”: Informal Communication and Information “From Below” in Nazi Europe

How did individuals in Nazi Germany and its occupied territories interpret information under conditions of censorship, repression and state propaganda? What does the emergence and perception of informal information reveal about practices of inclusion and exclusion, gender relations, ethnic categorisations and the distribution of power in a society? The focus of Dr Caroline Mezger’s project is on the formation of rumours and legends in a totalitarian system. With her Junior Research Group she will investigate the interface between official and informal communication in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe. The research programme will involve various case studies for Germany, France and Poland.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ)

Project leader: Dr. Caroline Mezger

Correlated materials from first principles: solving the nexus of charge, orbital and spin

The properties of various modern functional materials, such as high-temperature superconductors, are based on interacting electrons. So far, it has not been possible to calculate the ensuing electronic correlation, even in very simple systems. The research group led by Dr Oleg Janson will focus on investigating these correlations using computer-based methods with predictive power. The researchers will use a combination of new theories: DFT code fplo combined with current many-body methods (DMFT and DGA). This will allow them to make predictions about correlation even in complicated materials in actual use.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW)

Project leader: Dr. Oleg Janson

The Economics of Violence Against Women: Understanding Causes and Identifying Remedies

It is estimated that one in five women in the European Union experiences domestic violence at some point in her life, and the figure for many developing countries is even higher. Violence against women not only produces health and social problems, but also has a negative impact on economic development. The global costs of domestic violence are estimated to be over five per cent of global GDP, making it more expensive than any other form of violence. Against this background, the Junior Research Group led by Dr Sofia Amaral will investigate the cultural and socioeconomic causes and consequences of violence against women, and will also examine the effectiveness of various intervention options.

Institute: ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich

Project leader: Dr. Sofia Amaral

Cognition and Motivation in Educational Testing

Educational tests are used both in the context of large-scale assessments and in everyday school settings. However, little is known about the psychological processes that take place when students respond to test questions. Dr Marlit Annalena Lindner and her research group will investigate the cognitive, metacognitive and motivational effects of tests. The focus is on the use of text-picture combinations in test materials and the impact of instant digital feedback.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Kiel (IPN)

Project leader: Dr. Marlit Annalena Lindner

Pathological host responses to Lassa virus infection - from mice to man

Lassa virus is a virus spread by rodents that is endemic in several West African countries and causes annual outbreaks of Lassa fever with a high fatality rate. Dr Lisa Oestereich and her research group are studying the virus. In her previous work, she developed a mouse model that simulates key features of Lassa fever in humans. The model makes it possible, for the first time, to carry out mechanistic studies of the host response to the virus. In addition to the molecular immunological studies with the mouse model, the project will also conduct clinical trials in Nigeria. In this way, it will make a contribution to the development of medical countermeasures.

Institute: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)

Project leader: Dr. Lisa Oestereich

„Constructing Transnational Spaces of Higher Education: International Branch Campus Development at the Interface of Network and Territorial Embeddedness“

The globalisation of the knowledge economy has occurred in conjunction with the internationalisation of higher education. Beyond raising the number of foreign students, universities have sought new markets through the creation of international branch campuses (IBCs) abroad. An investigation of IBCs is timely, not only due to their rapid proliferation, but also because of their qualitative transformations, which include new spatial forms (entire education cities instead of single campuses), new players (including more active European universities), and new and increasingly complex geographies (shifting from the Middle East towards Asia), all of which are embedded in dynamic and changing political-economic contexts. Both the drivers and the implications of this rapidly unfolding phenomenon of transnational higher education, however, remain poorly understood.  IBCs can be conceptualised as crystallisation points of globalisation. The proposed economic-geographic study investigates how enterprising universities form global (production) networks of higher education, how national and local actors engage in the construction of IBCs and education hubs, how students and staff are recruited to IBCs, and how the value of international academic degrees is constructed. Using an innovatively combined relational (network-based) and territorial (place-based) analysis, drawing on economic and urban geography, we examine how newly emerging transnational spaces of higher education are simultaneously becoming embedded in networks and territories.  This will be the first comprehensive and grounded qualitative study from a socio-economic and spatial perspective that examines the rise of IBCs from a multi-scalar and multi-locational perspective. The findings are relevant for decision-makers of both sending and hosting countries, and will contribute to a deeper theorisation of globalisation, which is particularly relevant in the context of a growing populist backlash against globalisation.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS)

Project leader: Dr. Jana Maria Kleibert

Optimization of Glucosinolate Degradation Pathways for Increased Quality and Health Benefit of Brassica Products

Glucosinolates in Brassicales vegetables are precursors to cancer preventive isothiocyanates. Food preparation reduces glucosinolate levels due to degradation or leaching. Here, enzymatic and chemical degradation pathways are of importance and the formation of the products is highly dependent on the conditions (enzymes, pH, temperature-).  However, the bioactivity as well as the follow-up reactivity of the products is very diverse and often genotoxic nitriles and reactive epithionitriles derive instead of isothiocyanates. Moreover, these compounds affect sensory vegetable quality and off-odors may occur.  Therefore, the Junior Research Group will explore enzymatic and process-induced degradation pathways with the aim to optimize isothiocyanate formation and will characterize the bioactivity and sensory potential of newly identified products. For the first time, the interaction of other plant secondary metabolites (e.g. polyphenols) in glucosinolate degradation will be comprehensively investigated.  Consequently, the Junior Research Group will systematically study the influence of biochemical and physicochemical parameters on enzymatic and non-enzymatic glucosinolate degradation using model as well as plant systems (for example tilling/ CRISPR/Cas mutants with defined polyphenol spectrum). Sensory attributes and bioactivity of newly identified compounds will be evaluated.  The results will enable us to develop strategies to enhance glucosinolate stability and to optimize the formation of health preventive isothiocyanates in order to contribute to the development of healthy food.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ)

Project leader: Dr. Franziska Hanschen

Shedding light on plasticity of monoaminergic circuits in the brain

Psychiatric disorders like attention deficit or major depression are thought to be associated with altered monoamine levels. The three major neuronal monoaminergic systems share similar structural principles with a confined subcortical neuron population which spreads axonal projections throughout the entire cerebral cortex. So far, psychiatric drug treatments mainly focus on the efferents of these monoaminergic systems. Only recently, the discovery of inhibitory neurons in close proximity to dopaminergic, serotonergic and noradrenergic nuclei raised the scientific interest in the input/output organization of these nodes. Further experimental evidence emerges for cortically driven postsynaptic plasticity in monoaminergic neurons. These findings shift the decade-lasting paradigm of local, synaptic control of monoamine release to more global, circuit-driven control. The here proposed lab under my supervision will shed light on this emerging paradigm using state-of-the-art optogenetic approaches. In the first instance we focus on the noradrenergic system and propose the following scientific program: • To characterize synaptic connections between newly discovered GABAergic nodes and noradrenergic cells • To investigate how cortical network activity controls firing patterns in a particular monoaminergic nucleus • To map brain-wide cortical innervation profiles of a given neuromodulator system and identify fiber tracts carrying most efferent neuromodulatory inputs to specific brain region • To alter monoamine levels in mouse models via chronic light stimulation of the identified fiber tracts to study plasticity changes evoked by local manipulations I will continue to apply and develop new optical technologies together with new genetic tools, which I have been fortunate to gain the necessary expertise in excellent labs from great mentors during my early scientific career to be ready to start my own lab in the scientific environment of the LIN Magdeburg.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN)

Project leader:  Dr. Matthias Prigge

Prediction of T cell communication and differentiation dynamics by quantitative mathematical modeling

The mammalian immune response depends on the efficient interaction and collaboration of many, highly individual cells. Given that complexity, it is not surprising that the effects of drugs targeting cell-to-cell communication remain incompletely understood: Despite success stories of -biologic therapies’, e.g. TNF-alpha blockers in rheumatoid arthritis, only a limited number of patients show a major treatment response. Analysis of complex networks requires mathematical methods. The junior research group will apply and develop advanced mathematical modeling and data analysis techniques to investigate the regulation of immune responses, drawing on quantitative single-cell technologies (multicolor FACS, single-cell sequencing, multiplexed histology, etc.) and ample collaborative opportunities available at the DRFZ. The group will investigate the effects of perturbations, such as inhibition of cell communication pathways, on the type and strength of an immune response, and thus pave the road for optimization of targeted therapies in the future.  Dr Kevin Thurley is an outstanding candidate for heading a Leibniz Junior-research group. He worked at internationally renowned institutions, the Max-Delbrück-Center and the Charité-Universitätsmedizin in Berlin, the University of Cambridge UK, and the University of California San Francisco, and his pioneering work is documented in high-ranking scientific journals, including PNAS, Science Signaling, PLoS Biology. His core interest is elucidating biological complexity, and he has shown how stochastic intracellular calcium signals can reliably transfer information, how the mammalian circadian clock coordinates metabolic functions, and how diffusible cytokines can serve as local messengers between immune cells. With his track record of developing broad-ranging systems-biology models and quantitative data analysis methods in close collaboration with biologists, Dr Thurley is an ideal match for the scientific community at the DRFZ.

Institute: German Rheumatism Research Center Berlin (DRFZ)

Project leader: Dr. Kevin Thurley

Sources and Consequences of Legitimation Strategies of Regional Organizations

This Leibniz Junior Research Group is motivated by the question: When, how and with what effects do regional organizations claim legitimacy? Regional organizations have grown enormously in their political authority in recent decades, and this expansion has led them to become increasingly active in justifying their right to rule vis-à-vis relevant audiences. A growing literature addresses the nature, sources and consequences of legitimacy beliefs and legitimation dynamics in major global organizations and the European Union, but our knowledge of such processes in regional organizations outside of Europe is limited. Studying non-Western regional organizations offers the unique opportunity to generate new insights into the dynamics of legitimacy and legitimation in international organizations, and to assess whether existing findings travel beyond the organizations in which they were initially developed. The contribution of this Research Group is threefold. First, it maps the discursive and institutional legitimation strategies of 30 regional organizations from 1980 to 2015. Second, it develops a novel theoretical account of the sources and consequences of legitimation strategies of regional organizations by drawing on work in a variety of disciplines including comparative politics, political theory, sociology and psychology. Third, it provides a rigorous and systematic test of theoretical expectations against new data in a mixed-methods research design that combines statistical analysis and comparative case studies of regional organizations in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.

Institute: GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies / Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Tobias Lenz

QUiet-sun Event STatistics

The project "QUEST" (QUiet-sun Event STatistics) led by Dr. Catherine Fischer focuses on researching the dynamics of small-scale magnetic fields in the sun's atmosphere.

Previously neglected, we now know that the quiet-sun magnetic field outside of sunspots is omnipresent and covers 99% of the solar surface at any given time. It is not only responsible for the energy required to maintain the hot corona, but is also the main contributor to the solar irradiance variability influencing our climate on earth. Although its importance is beyond doubt, studies of the quiet-sun magnetic field are difficult because of its small scale as well as weak signal, and its weakest component remains unresolved. However, its traces are clearly seen with the currently available resolution in, e.g., transient events which leave signatures in the heating of the atmosphere, oscillations of parameters such as intensity and magnetic field strength, or magnetic flux appearing and disappearing on the solar surface.  This project will characterize the quiet-sun magnetic field by studying its events signatures and taking advantage of multi-instrument data sets exposing different aspects of its nature. Building up statistics of these events and correlating the changes of physical parameters enable us to unearth its behavior, gaining a more complete picture of the still enigmatic quiet-sun. We will thereby fully exploit the multi-instrument data of the Hinode and GREGOR telescopes as well as the DKIST, the biggest solar telescope being built, coming online in 2020.  The statistical results together with correlations we find between changes in the physical parameters are tagged with their significance allowing to formulate conclusions dictating limits on the theoretical description of the quiet-sun magnetic field and developing the cornerstones for new models. We will answer fundamental questions such as the magnetic flux emergence and removal rates determining the solar magnetic flux budget and how one quiet-sun magnetic field population is transformed into the other by, e.g., magnetic field intensification or magnetic flux expulsion by the granular motions.

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Sonnenphysik (KIS)

Project leader: Dr. Catherine Fischer

Religion, Morality and Boko in West Africa: Students Training for a Good Life

Once dominated by leftist movements and secular ideologies, universities in Africa have grown into arenas of religious activism. Religiosity is now crucial to identity formation, interactions and the hope to lead a good life. This is a shift not only in the moral references of universities, but also in the ways in which boko, usually taken to mean secular education, is perceived. In Niger and Nigeria, boko is criticized for being morally corruptive, culturally alienating and socially unfit because it supposedly lacks grounding in religious values. This raises the issue of the socio-cultural model of boko and its relation to religiosity. How is religiosity affecting attitudes towards learning, social interactions and campus regulations? How can the promotion of critical abilities and the enlightenment of students be reconciled with the effort to nourish and imbue souls with absolute certainties? Is this signaling the de-secularization of academia?   This project seeks to answer these questions by focusing on the rise of Salafism and Pentecostalism on two secular campuses (Université Abdou Moumouni, Niamey, Niger, and University of Ibadan, Nigeria). Both religious trends are known for seeking an empowered life while campuses train students for leadership skills and the values that will ensure a good life. As these formulations are transformative of the student moral and cultural model, the campus is a window for studying societal dynamics and the relationships between religion, youth and the future. Beyond Salafi and Pentecostal activisms, this project engages with the question of the redefinition of the student as a socio-cultural model. How boko is both appealing and rejected is at the center of this historical and anthropological project. It emerges from current research carried out at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) and builds on a collaboration that ZMO recently established with two universities in West Africa, one in Niger and one in Nigeria.

Institute: Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO)

Project leader: Dr. Abdoulaye Sounaye

Compliant Magnetosensory Systems: Enabling magnetic functionalities for e-skins, soft robots and healthcare

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Festkörper- und Werkstoffforschung Dresden (IFW)

Period: 1 January 2018 - 31 December 2022

Phosphoinositide-mediated nutrient response in metabolic disease

The project aims to analyze the role of lipids, particularly phosphoinositides (PIPs), during nutrient signaling and metabolism in health and disease. Building on preliminary work, the team wants to test the hypothesis that PIPs are key factors for the adaptation of cells and tissues to changes in nutrient availability. They propose to study the role of PIPs and PIP-modifying enzymes on a molecular and functional level, during nutrient signaling as well as in healthy metabolism and in metabolic diseases.

Institute: Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP)

Cooperating partners: Deutsches Institut für Ernährungsforschung Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE); Leibniz-Institut für Analytische Wissenschaften - ISAS

Reordering Yugoslavia, Rethinking Europe: A Transregional History of the Yugoslav Wars and the Post-Cold War Order (1991-1995)

The far-reaching conflicts and tensions that erupted in the Yugoslav Wars proved to be fundamental challenges to the constitution of the post-Cold War order: nationality conflicts and “ethnic cleansing”, refugee movements and humanitarian emergencies, state collapse and military interventions. To explore the interplay between the Yugoslav Wars and the transformation of the international order, this project combines international history approaches with those of Southeastern European studies. Four subprojects focus on Southeastern, Central Eastern, and Western European actors and their attempts to reconfigure the post-Yugoslav space and the European political order.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung (IOS); Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Diplomatic Archives, France; Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic; Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, ÖAW; Leibniz-Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des östlichen Europa (GWZO); PRIF – Leibniz-Institut für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (HSFK); Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; Max Weber Stiftung; Sorbonne University, France; The Czech Academy of Sciences; University of Belgrade, Serbia; University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Universität Wien; University of Zagreb, Croatia

From waste to value - concepts for the depolymerization and upcycling of bio-based polymers

Polymers and Polymer-based products are part of virtually every aspect of everyday life. However, transformation to a more sustainable and green industrial production makes it necessary to reduce the use of fossil resources for polymer products. The use of bio-based polymers and their recycling are therefore becoming increasingly important. The project will develop methods for the chemical recycling of bio-based polymers; by doing so it will obtain monomers suitable for the generation of novel polymers. By comparing different technologies and methods the project will create a toolbox for chemical recycling which will help to selectively transform waste products to novel polymers.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Plasmaforschung und Technologie (INP); Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden (IPF); Universität Paderborn

Incubator for Collaborative and Transparent Economic Sciences - Lab²

A large number of studies in empirical economic research are not replicable which leads to a credibility problem, which the project addresses. It proposes to establish a centre for replication studies in behavioural economics and to link this centre closely with other behavioural economics laboratories. In addition to replication studies, through meta-scientific research the research process and the associated incentive systems will be studied there. If the problems described are successfully reduced, research can be made much more efficient. The project could also be the impetus for similar initiatives in other fields within and outside economics.

Institute: WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Cooperating partners: Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), Sweden; University of Oxford, England; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; Emlyon Business School, Lyon, France; Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW Berlin); GATE Laboratory, Lyon-Saint-Etienne, France; ZBW – Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft

Towards Efficient and Stable Semi-transparent pERovskite photovoltaics by plAsmonic Enhancement

Solar cells allow the generation of sustainable electricity and are a promising option for carbon neutral energy production. Semitransparent solar cells are of particular interest for building-integrated photovoltaics. Perovskite solar cells offer many advantages over the broadly used silicon solar cells, however more research is required to develop efficient and stable semitransparent devices. By joining the expertise of two Leibniz Institutes (IFW and IPF), the collaborative project aims to address this gap. By integrating plasmonic nanoparticles into semitransparent perovskite solar cells, the project will not only explore their efficacy in increasing device performance, but also use the nanoparticles as a diagnostic tool to monitor the degradation processes that occur within the cells. The project will therefore result in a new generation of semitransparent solar cells and take an important step towards their application in building-integrated photovoltaics.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW)

Cooperating partner: Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden (IPF)

High-growth Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Transformation of our Economy

Innovation by entrepreneurial firms is at the heart of productivity enhancing reallocation, and growing standards of living. These firms introduce new ideas, products, and services that displace those offered by less innovative ones. However, entrepreneurship and business dynamism are in decline in Germany with potentially broad implications for growth and well-being. The project team studies the conditions, determinants, and implications of innovative high-growth entrepreneurship in Germany. It brings together a leading group of national and international experts in a partnership between IWH and ZEW and develops a rich new data infrastructure to study high-growth entrepreneurship.

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH)

Cooperating partners: ZEW – Leibniz-Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung Mannheim; Universität Mannheim; University of Chicago, USA; Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB)

Linguistic Meaning and Bayesian Modelling

The project addresses the mathematical modelling of logical conclusions and inferences as an essential part of our use of language. Human communication processes cannot be modelled by pure logic alone; probability calculations and world knowledge have to be added. The integration of such probability calculations is currently being driven by Bayesian models that are combined with traditional logic. However, the use of Bayesian methods for modelling human communication in all its diversity and complexity poses difficult mathematical challenges to the field, which the project aims to address in a collaboration of linguistics, mathematics and computer science, thus advancing the field as a whole.

Institute: Leibniz-Centre General Linguistics (ZAS)

Cooperating partners: Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, Leibniz-Institut im Forschungsverbund Berlin (WIAS); Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen

Pollution in urban ponds, eco-evolutionary dynamics, and ecosystem resilience

Inner-city ponds provide essential functions for urban areas, but their stability is threatened by many stressors such as anthropogenic pollution. The project leaders aim to investigate whether pond ecosystems become more resilient through evolutionary or microbiome-mediated adaptation of water fleas (Daphnia) to urban pollution. To this end, 40 ponds in Berlin will be studied for their chemical, hydrological, limnological, and microbiological characteristics. Based on this, the project sets out to understand to what extent the adaptation of water fleas to urban stressors contributes to improving the quality of pond ecosystems and how improved pond management can be implemented. To address these questions, an interdisciplinary approach will be pursued, including water chemistry, microbiology, evolutionary biology, ecology, and spatial planning. In addition to fundamental questions, the researchers also seek to identify ways to protect urban ponds and enhance their ecosystem services.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB)

Cooperating partners: ARL – Akademie für Raumentwicklung in der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft; Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik und Bioökonomie (ATB); Leibniz-Institut für Zoo- und Wildtierforschung (IZW) im Forschungsverbund Berlin; University of Iowa, USA

High-resolution analysis of synergistic effects between membrane active peptides and classical antibiotics on bacterial membranes

With the aim of gaining new insights for the fight against antibiotic-resistant pathogens, the effect of membrane-active peptides is to be investigated in more detail. Structural changes in cell membranes can lead to resistance to membrane-active peptides, which points to a mechanism of these peptides that has hardly been investigated and is poorly understood.
The consortium plans to use membrane-active peptides in combination with classical antibiotics. To this end, an analytical platform is to be established that will enable research into the specific interactions between the peptides and bacterial membranes. Highly sensitive microscopic methods, electrophysiological and spectroscopic experiments and modeling will be used.
Deciphering these mechanisms could pave the way for novel antibiotic therapies.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT)

Cooperating partners: Forschungszentrum Borstel - Leibniz Lungenzentrum (FZB); Leibniz-Institut für Virologie (LIV); Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

How Does the Past Matter? The Russian War of Aggression Against Ukraine and the Cold War

With the help of an applied history approach, the project aims to address the question of the extent to which the lessons of the Cold War can help transform the current situation of confrontation between Russia and “the West” into a form of coexistence or cooperation. In an interdisciplinary cooperation of political science and contemporary history, the specific patterns of trust will be investigated in three thematic work packages. In doing so, false historical analogies will be deconstructed while structural patterns from the antagonistic phase of the Cold War era will be identified, which could make trust possible for the presumably longer period of antagonistic relations between "the West" and Russia.

Institute: PRIF - Peace Research Institute Frankfurt

Cooperating partner: Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ)

Mapping Frontier Molecular Orbitals in Ultrafast Charge Migration Dynamics

Chemical reactions involve formation or breaking of chemical bonds. Such processes happen on very short timescales, therefore time resolution is a limiting factor for observing the reactions in real time. This project aims to use x-Ray spectroscopy on ultrafast timescales to allow observations of molecular reaction dynamics with a resolution of femtoseconds (one quadrillionth of a second). To achieve this goal, an experimental setup is to be established, which will enable researchers to conduct such experiments in laboratories instead of large facilities, with unprecedented signal strengths and time resolution.

Institute: Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI)

Cooperating partners: Ottawa university (OU), USA; Stockholm University, Sweden

Documenting Russia's war against Ukraine: The challenges of living archives for historical knowledge production

The project addresses the question of how historiography and historical documentation should act with regard to new possibilities of digital recording of war events, especially against the background of the war in Ukraine. Wartime events are to be documented through the archiving of social media as well as other historical documents and cultural artefacts. Historians produce their own sources in the current war situation, which they subsequently analyse for their studies. This dual role forces in-depth reflections on ethical and methodological questions, digital data standards and epistemic aspects of digital source criticism. The proposed project aims to set accents and standards for this.

Institute: Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe - Institute of the Leibniz Association (HI)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz Institut für Europäische Geschichte (IEG); Hochschule Darmstadt, University of Applied Sciences (h_da); Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH); Philipps-Universität, Marburg; Center for Urban History of East Central Europe, L'viv, Ukraine; Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM), Virginia, USA; Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen

Chemogenetic dissection of primate brain circuits underlying adaptive cognition

To better understand the brain, it is important to know which of its networks support specific cognitive functions. The cooperative project investigates how a very heterogeneous brain area (pulvinar) is integrated into different (thalamo-cortical) brain networks. This integration supports cognitive functions that make it possible to react flexibly to environmental stimuli and to use sensory impressions for learning, remembering and decision-making. In this project, several areas of the brain in the pulvinar region of primates will be precisely inactivated in order to elucidate the cognitive function of these brain networks.

Institute: German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research (DPZ)

Cooperating partner: Leibniz-Institut für Neurobiologie (LIN)

Epigenetic control of thymic CD4+ T lymphocyte development in humans - paving the way for new iPSC-derived T cell therapies.

T lymphocytes are an essential cell type of the human immune system that can specifically fight pathogens and tumor cells. Therefore, there are promising approaches to use the so-called CD4+ T cells for specific cell therapies against chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases, infections or tumor diseases. The applicants want to gain a better understanding of the key mechanisms involved in the development of CD4+ T cells in humans to be able to reproduce these processes for efficient in vitro generation of T cells - ultimately for therapeutic use. Specifically, the application focuses on the characterization of epigenetic regulators required for efficient in vitro differentiation of CD4+ T lymphocytes from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). These regulatory mechanisms are determined by the three-dimensional structure of the genome (the epigenome) and can be specifically modified using state-of-the-art molecular methods (epigenetic editing). With this approach, cells of a specific cell type and with desired functions - e.g. for therapeutic use - can be produced.

Institute: German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin (DRFZ)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Alternsforschung - Fritz-Lipmann-Institut (FLI); Berlin Institute of Health @ Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (BIH)

Fungal RNA Transmission Impacting Human Epigenome Regulation

Antifungal-resistant and newly emerging pathogenic fungi pose a major threat to humanity. Humans and fungi both use so-called “long, non-coding ribonucleic acids (lncRNAs)” to control cellular activities. This cooperative project investigates if human fungal pathogens, like Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans, transfer lncRNAs to their human hosts to manipulate their gene expression. The goal is to understand whether such a mechanism is used to weaken host immunity during fungal infection. The elucidation of this form of molecular pathogenicity has the potential to reveal new treatment options for fungal infections.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans Knöll Institute (HKI)

Cooperating partner: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

MAchine learning for Test Automation and Design-Optimization of Rf power transistors

Information and communication technology is responsible for a significant portion of global energy consumption. Particularly the power amplifier of the transmitter consumes a lot of energy, therefore there is a high demand for more efficient and less energy-consuming transistor technologies there. The development of such technologies is, however, slow. To speed up the development, the collaborative project will use methods of machine learning to automatize and improve several optimization steps within the process. The project will therefore contribute to speed up the development and eventually the market release of more efficient communication technologies.

Institute: Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH)

Cooperating partner: Technische Universität Berlin

Crafting Entanglements: Afro-Asian Pasts of the Global Cold War

In the history of the Cold War, the global South often appears only as a theater of bloc politics between the East and West. Recent research has taken note of voices from Africa and Asia, yet little is known about their interconnections. To shed light on these, this project engages with students’ and women's networks, media entanglements enabled by radio stations and film festivals, and the divided city of Berlin as an arena of South-South interconnections. The focus will be on the entangled trajectories of Asian and African actors and how these were embedded in, but also, how they shaped the global Cold War. The aim is to contribute to a more inclusive historiography by relying on the framework of global-entangled histories.

Institute: Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Geisteswissenschaftliche Zentren Berlin (ZMO)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam (ZZF); Leibniz-Institut für Raumbezogene Sozialforschung (IRS)

Paleo-obstetric Understanding via Simulation and Heuristic Artificial Intelligence Tools

Human birth is risky, presenting hazards for both mother and child. This is due in part to the tight fit between the infant's head and the birth canal. The project will investigate the timing and evolutionary trajectory of this precarious birth process by investigating the size and shape of the hip bones, maternal metabolism, and bio-cultural factors (e.g., position of the mother’s body during labour). Through the application of machine learning methods, and via combining MRI scans, birth simulations and metabolic data derived from isotope-labeled water, the study plans to elucidate the complex origins of modern birth difficulty. Accordingly, the project offers the potential for novel evolutionary and clinical insights.

Institute: Senckenberg Society for Nature Research - Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research (SGN)

Cooperating partners: Universität Zürich; Universität Aix-Marseille; Duke University

Assisting the remote video learner with self-regulation support: A study on the responsible use of machine learning approaches in education

Online video learning is becoming increasingly important in educational contexts. However, remote video learning challenges not only students’ self-regulation, but also teachers‘ abilities to detect these self-regulation problems. The project addresses this problem at the interface of psychology, educational science, and computer science. To this end, potential problems of self-regulation will be automatically detected and measures to support them, for example by optimizing instructional videos, shall be developed. The focus of the project is on the use of instructional videos in the subject of mathematics with different age groups and levels of difficulty.

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM)

Cooperating partners: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; TIB – Leibniz-Informationszentrum Technik und Naturwissenschaften ; Leibniz-Institut für die Pädagogik der Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik an der Universität Kiel (IPN)

Stable isotope and AI supported model development for high frequency, cross scale water partitioning

Soil, plants and the atmosphere form a continuum for transport processes. Studies on water transport must therefore take all these elements into account. An important factor is also the temporal dimension - for example, when analysing water transport in the soil and water uptake by plants after a heavy rainfall. The question is highly relevant, especially in view of an increase in extreme weather events due to climate change. However, research to date does not adequately cover temporal dimensions of few hours. This is where the project comes in: a combination of isotope methods, machine learning and hydrological modelling is used to examine feedbacks between hydrological events and reactions of the components of the water balance across scales. This should improve the identification of scale-dependent drivers of the water balance and their hierarchical understanding and allow extrapolation to larger systems and their reaction prediction.

Institute: Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei (IGB); Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Uncovering the hidden biosynthetic potential of actinomycetes by SARP activation for drug discovery

Bacteria that develop resistance to today’s antibiotics are a major medical problem and although the need for new antimicrobial agents is high, their discovery and development is often difficult. The collaborative project at the interface of microbiology and biochemistry aims to discover and biochemically characterise new antibiotics. To this end, bacteria of the order Actinomycetales are to be studied. These bacteria produce antimicrobial agents themselves, the majority of antibiotics known today are produced by Actinomycetales. Their production is strongly regulated by the bacteria. By investigating these regulatory processes, the researchers hope to find unknown bioactive substances, which they then want to examine for their effect as potential new antibiotics.

Institute: Leibniz-Institute DSMZ – German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzenbiochemie (IPB); Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI); BASF SE

BIodiversity decline's Genomic FOOTprint

The threat status or decline of animal species is usually recorded by classical censory approaches, but whether this decline has an impact on the genetic diversity of the threatened population remains an open question. Genetic information, however, could help to make predictions about species that are (yet to become) endangered. The collaborative project BIGFOOT plans to make these predictions by sequencing the genomes of threatened animal species in Germany. By analysing a taxonomically broad range of taxa - vertebrates, molluscs and insects - it should not only be possible to better understand the genetic causes of population collapse, but also to extrapolate predictions about biodiversity from Germany to a global scale. The project thus promises new and important information for the conservation and rescue of biological diversity.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB)

Cooperating partners: Universität zu Köln; Max Planck Genomzentrum Köln; Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (SGN), Deutsches Entomologisches Institut (SDEI); Landesamt für Umweltschutz Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle; Bund für Umwelt- und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND e. V.), BUND Landesverband NRW; Michael-Otto-Institut im NABU – Forschungs- und Bildungszentrum für Feuchtgebiete und Vogelschutz; Nationalpark Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer; Estación Biológica de Doñana (Doñana Biological Station); Leibniz-Institut zur Analyse des Biodiversitätswandels (LIB)

Stranded assets, financial constraints, and the distributional impacts of climate policy

Political measures that aim to reduce the private transport sector’s greenhouse gas emissions may have different economic effects on individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds. These measures may, for example, reduce the value of emission-intensive used cars that are disproportionately owned by lower-income households. If climate protection measures pose a bigger burden on poorer households than on wealthier ones, this reduces their legitimacy and their acceptance. Quantifying these distributional effects helps to design distributional policies that better mitigate adverse effects for those affected and increase the social acceptance of the inevitable change.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE- Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe

Cooperating partners: Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) gGmbH

Imprinting of Adaptive Immunity by Cross-Reactivity

The microbiome - all microorganisms that live in a larger organism, for example humans - influences a large number of the physiological processes that take place in this larger organism. The collaborative project investigates whether and how the microbiome affects both how a protective immune response is triggered (using the example of a vaccination) and how it influences pathological reactions of our immune system (using the example of an autoimmune disease). The project promises insights into immune responses with potential applications in the therapeutic field, as well as possible fundamental explanations of how individual variations in immune responses can come about.

Institute: German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin (DRFZ)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP); Leibniz-Institut DSMZ – Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen

Adjustment and Radicalisation. Dynamics in Popular Culture(s) in Pre-War Eastern Europe

Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine raises the question of how this escalation can be explained. The project starts from the observation that phenomena of popular culture such as pop music and television shows indicated political radicalization at an early stage. Thus, the project takes a look at the developments of popular cultures in five Eastern/Central European countries to examine how populist and nationalist worldviews and resentments spread, enabling political radicalization processes not only in Russia. The analysis focuses on different genres of popular culture in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and Hungary from the 1980s until today. The dynamics of adaptation and protest as well as the instrumentalization of seemingly apolitical cultural products and practices - including those in the realm of counter-publics – by state and non-state actors will be analyzed.

Institute: Leibniz Centre for Literary and Cultural Research (ZfL)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des östlichen Europa (GWZO) e. V.; Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam (ZZF) e. V.; Universität Potsdam

The Senegal Migration Panel: Understanding Mobility in a Climate-Stressed Population

In an interdisciplinary team of economists, sociologist, and political scientist, the project plans to analyze the influence of climate change on attitudes towards migration and actual migration decisions using the example of Senegal. Via comprehensive surveys of individuals and households in 150 Senegalese villages, different factors influencing migration decisions will be analyzed: the relevance of extreme weather events, the role of local networks and their narratives about climate change, economic pressures as well as a change in the demand for skills by the labor market due to climate change.

Institute: RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research

Cooperating partners: Kiel Institut Für Weltwirtschaft (IfW Kiel); Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung (PIK) e. V.; Universität Potsdam; Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel; Université Gaston Berger, Saint-Louis, Senegal; University of Washington; California Institute of Technology; Columbia University, New York City, New York; Initiative Prospective Agricole et Rurale (IPAR), Ngor, Dakar

Digital Inequalities. Divides, Hierarchies, and Boundaries in Germany, 1970s to 1990s

The digitalization of society with its far-reaching social, political, economic and cultural consequences is often told as a story of emancipation. However, this process has also created new dividing lines and hierarchies, which reproduce or exacerbate social inequalities and power imbalances. The project aims to explore these dark sides of digitalization that have been little addressed up to now and to analyze how partially hidden biases of technological systems play out in working worlds, in gender relations, in the education system and in migration regimes. 

Institute: Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsmedien | Georg-Eckert-Institut (GEI); Hochschule des Bundes für öffentliche Verwaltung (HS Bund)

Excellence in Photonic Crystal Surface Emitting Lasers

Semiconductor lasers are used in many areas of our daily lives, for example in printers, for reading and writing CDs, but also in microscopes or in communication devices. One problem with common semiconductor lasers is that they are now reaching their technical limits. In particular, it would be desirable to combine the advantages of the most commonly used types of these lasers, namely the high power of edge-emitting lasers (EEL) with the narrow vertical beam of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL). This is exactly what the collaborative project is planning. The "photonic crystal surface emitting laser (PCSEL)" will take the technology beyond its current limitations; the PSCEL promises to deliver many kilowatts of optical power in one beam directly from a semiconductor device.

Institute: Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH)

Cooperating partners: Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik (WIAS); Center of Excellence (COE) for Photonic-Crystal Surface-Emitting Laser (PCSEL), Kyoto University, Japan

NewOrder - Understanding the erosion of the traditional knowledge order in scientific online discourse and its impact in times of crisis

The project examines the changing knowledge order of the digital society, in particular motivated through the increasingly controversial discourse about science in online news and social media. Especially in times of crisis, risks arise from over-simplification, generalization and instrumentalization of scientific knowledge. The experts from the fields of science communication, psychology and computer science analyze these phenomena with the help of big data and methods from the broader field of artificial intelligence.

Institute: GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences

Cooperating partners: Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf; Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM)

Landscape Criticality in the Anthropocene - Biodiversity, Renewables and Settlements

A key challenge in the transformation of society towards sustainability is land competition between human needs for settlements, energy and food while maintaining a functional biosphere. In the project, the permeability of built-up areas, in particular of wind and solar power plants, for wildlife is to be investigated. Data on the movement behavior of wildlife will be linked to the locations of energy plants and thus impermeability will be identified and ideas for increasing permeability will be developed. In a collaboration between spatial planning, physics and ecology, the project aims to contribute to identifying land use concepts that reconcile biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER)

Cooperating partners: Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung (PIK) e. V., Abteilung Klimaresilienz Arbeitsgruppe Urbane Transformationen; Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (SGN), Senckenberg Biodiversität und Klima Forschungszentrum, Arbeitsgruppe Bewegungsökologie und Biodiversitätsschutz (SBIK-F)

Advanced Biomass-Treatment for Value-Added- Refinement

Biological resources that can be used and reused sustainably have increasingly come into focus, especially in times of scarce raw materials and also with a view to climate change. The collaborative project, which brings together environmental science, physics and (bio)chemistry, plans to treat organic material from agriculture with a combination of physical plasma and ultrasound. This should allow the material to be broken down and fermented better, which in turn means improved fertiliser quality or a more efficient energy yield (for example in the production of biogas). The project can thus make a significant contribution to an improved circular bioeconomy.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik und Bioökonomie (ATB); Universität Rostock

Machine Learning for Simulation Intelligence in Composite Process Design

Fiber-reinforced polymers are composite materials made of fibers and a surrounding matrix. Due to their outstanding lightweight potential, they are applied in numerous areas of everyday life, from aerospace, automotive and construction to energy and medical technology. This wide range of applications seconds the importance of constantly improving the materials and the processes used to produce them. The project aims to achieve both by using machine learning methods in order to enable more efficient and accurate component or process simulations.

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Verbundwerkstoffe GmbH (IVW)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V. (IPF); Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, Leibniz-Institut im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (WIAS); Deutsche Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz GmbH; Fraunhofer-Institut für Techno- und Wirtschaftsmathematik

Amorphous silica in soils and plants Improves Drought stress tolerance of crops

Periods of extreme drought are increasingly becoming a threat to ecosystems and agriculture worldwide. It is possible to reduce drought stress in plants by supplementing fertilizers with amorphous silica. However, it is unclear how this silica reduces drought stress. The project will use a broad approach of field studies and laboratory-based experiments to study this question. Specialists from various fields – soil experts as well as plant physiology researchers – will join forces to find answers to the agriculturally as well as economically highly relevant question how plants resist drought.

Institute: Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)

Cooperating partners: Institute of Applied Plant Nutrition (IAPN), Göttingen; Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)

Raman-induced Attosecond Electronic Coherences

The understanding of dynamical processes in molecules relies on our ability to resolve the change of the electronic structure and the concomittant nuclear rearrangement with very high spatio-temporal resolution. Coherent electron dynamics in molecules occur on attosecond timescale (a billionth of a billionth of a second) and require very specific tools to be investigated experimentally. This project will develop and use novel laser-based technologies to trigger and observe in real-time ultrafast charge transfer processes in photoexcited molecules. These studies aim to provide new insights into the fundamental mechanisms underlying ultrafast chemical reactions.

Institute: Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI)

The 20th Century in Basic Concepts

The 20th century is a terrain still to be measured in terms of conceptual history. In a lexicon of the basic concepts of this century, the political-social and cultural semantics in Germany are to be analyzed by a cooperation of historically working scholars of the cultural, linguistic and social sciences. The project sees itself as an interdisciplinary research endeavor oriented towards the history of knowledge and social history, which is by no means intended to merely codify established knowledge, but rather to experimentally serve basic research in the humanities, cultural studies, social sciences and history. For the first time, digital methods are to be applied on a broad scale in conceptual history research.

Institute: Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung Berlin (ZfL)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam (ZZF) e.V.; Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache (IDS); Universität Hamburg

Abundance and Fate of Synthetic Materials in Atmospheric sub-10 µm Particles

Depositions of microplastics are a risk for ecosystems as well as our health. Many studies investigate the occurrence of microplastics in water. This project has the ambitious goal to analyze whether microplastics are also deposited in the atmosphere as aerosols and in what quantity this might be the case. Atmospheric microplastic particles might act as condensation cores which could influence atmospheric processes. Because this area is understudied, the researches will have to develop novel analysis methods. They will also identify the sources of atmospheric microplastic deposits and their results will contribute substantially to our understanding of the risks of microplastics in the atmosphere.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V. (IPF); Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung - UFZ; Technische Universität Berlin; Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg

Confronting Decline: Challenges of Deindustrialization in Western Societies since the 1970s

Deindustrialization, the massive decline of industrial production and thus of infrastructure and jobs in a region, is usually associated with loss and decline. The project will investigate which coping strategies actors have developed for dealing with the challenges of deindustrialization and how these strategies often gave rise to new, dynamic processes of transformation in the long term. The project will also scrutinize the interplay between local and global dynamics. To this aim, the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History cooperates with three other Leibniz institutes and several national and international experts.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History (Institut für Zeitgeschichte – IfZ)

Cooperating partners: Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung - Leibniz-Zentrum für Lebenslanges Lernen e.V. (DIE); Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung e.V. (DIW Berlin); Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde e.V. (IfL); University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History

Linking pathology and lifestyle to epigenetic determinants of biological vs. chronological stem cell aging

Ageing leaves traces in our DNA. These traces, co-called DNA methylations, can be read by researchers to accurately determine an organism’s age. However, the determination of an organism’s age alone is not a proof that methylation itself directly affects the process of ageing. This project aims to find exactly these causal connections between DNA methylation and ageing. The researchers will focus on hematopoietic stem cells, which give rise to immune cells. Immune cells are a particular example of cells that lose their functions in ageing organisms. Therefore, the project will contribute significantly to our understanding of ageing processes and to the development of therapeutic interventions.

Institute: Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI)

Cooperating partners: Deutsches Institut für Ernährungsforschung Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE); Universitätsmedizin Greifswald

Political polarization and individualized online information environments: A longitudinal tracking study

Discussions on "filter bubbles" and echo chambers have gained in importance with Web 2.0, characterized by individualized and user-generated content. A frequent assumption is that individual media use of a person is related to the formation of political opinion and attitudes and that the high-choice environment of news coverage increases political polarization in a society. Empirically, however, this link is insufficiently substantiated. In the long-term study with 1500 persons, web tracking analyses are used to investigate the information behavior of the subjects and the effects on political opinion formation are explored through surveys.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI)

Cooperating partners: GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften e.V.; Universität Bremen; Universität Konstanz

UV Lasers: From Modeling and Simulation to Technology

We see examples of optical technologies in many aspects of everyday life, including communication technology, medical diagnostics, or microscopy. Specifically, lasers emitting in the UV-C spectral range have a huge potential for novel applications in those fields. The existing UV-C laser systems are bulky, short lived and rely on time-consuming maintenance. However, robust and compacted-sized UV-C-emitting laser diodes as a disruptive technology would change paradigms in many areas of life sciences and medicine.

This project will use a combination of simulations and experimental approaches to identify problems of such UV-C laser diodes and advance their technological readiness for future applications.

Institute: Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics (WIAS)

Cooperating partners: Ferdinand-Braun-Institut gGmbH, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH); Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (IKZ); Technische Universität Berlin; Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

A translational non-human primate model for preclinical testing of gene therapy of OTOF-related deafness

Gene therapy summarizes processes where the delivery of nucleic acids into a diseased organism can correct or replace a malfunctioning gene and thereby cure diseases with a genetic cause. Gene therapy is precise and offers sustained rescue of cellular function. Such therapies therefore have enormous medical potential. This project will fundamentally contribute to the endeavour to cure hereditary deafness. The researchers will perform pre-clinical studies where they replace a mutated version of the gene Otoferlin (whose mutation is responsible for a prominent form of genetic deafness) with a functional copy in deaf non-human primates. By doing so they will restore hearing capacity of the animals and pave the way for gene therapy in deaf patients.

Institute: German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research (Deutsches Primatenzentrum GmbH, DPZ)

Cooperating partners: Max-Planck-Institut für Experimentelle Medizin; Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Universitätsmedizin Göttingen

(Si,Ge,Sn)O2-based ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors for power electronics

A major challenge for a sustainable society is to ensure an economical consumption of energy. Electrical energy is a major part of today’s energy consumption and its fraction will continue to grow with increasing electromobility and digitalization of societies worldwide. This project aims to investigate novel semiconductor materials and their applications in power electronics for the development of more efficient high voltage transformers. Such devices are ubiquitously used in the electrical grid as well as electro mobility. By increasing their efficiency this project might constitute a pathway to energy saving and thus provide a significant contribution to a sustainable digital society.

Institute: Paul-Drude-Institut (PDI) im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.

Cooperating partners: Ferdinand-Braun-Institut gGmbH, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH); Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (IKZ)

Unlocking Collection Treasures: Accessing Museum Samples for Long Read Sequencing and Genomic Analyses

DNA sequencing has become an indispensable tool for answering questions about the evolution of species as well as the changes occurring in single genes over long periods of time. Sequencing technology has made enormous progress within the last years, however access to samples remains a bottleneck, especially when the study subjects are endangered or already extinct species. Museum samples might provide a solution to this problem, but the variable conditions of such samples pose new challenges to research. This project aims to overcome these challenges. By an in-depth characterization and standardization of best practices and methods researchers will fundamentally contribute to making museum samples accessible for genetic analysis, which will allow to find answers to open questions in evolution biology.

Institute: Senckenberg Society for Nature Research – Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research (SGN)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Zoo- und Wildtierforschung (IZW) im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.; Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung (MfN); Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig - Leibniz-Institut für Biodiversität der Tiere (ZFMK); Max-Planck-Institut für molekulare Zellbiologie und Genetik, Dresden

Transnational Families, Farms and Firms: Migrant Entrepreneurs in Kosovo and Serbia from the 1960s to today

Serbia and Kosovo, like the entire former Yugoslavia, are consistently shaped by migration. The socio-economic effects of emigration and return are usually studied using quantitative methods and mainly in terms of their influence on the overall economic development of the sending states. This project will employ a qualitative-exploratory approach and a focus on entrepreneurial activities to explore how the economic strategies of migrants and their families in Serbia and Kosovo have changed since the 1970s and differ regionally as well as along different social milieus. This will allow for a more nuanced and comprehensive analysis of migrant activities and their connection with political interventions.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (Leibniz-Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung – IOS)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Agrarentwicklung in Transformations-ökonomien (IAMO); Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder); Institute of Economic Sciences Belgrade, Center for Economic History (CEI), Serbia; Riinvest College, Prishtine, Kosovo; Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Bonn und Eschborn; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, Budapest, Hungary

Memristive Materials by Design

We are encountering applications of artificial intelligence in more and more areas of everyday life. Requirements of such products for computer architecture are a challenge for developers and researchers: computers, for example for self-driving vehicles, should be efficient, compact in size and sustainable. This project combines classical materials science with the latest methods of data-based science and machine learning to develop tailored materials for these applications or to optimize existing materials. They will enable a revolutionary computer architecture that mimics the neural structure of the human brain, contributing to the sustainable application of novel technologies.

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (IKZ)

Cooperating partners: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck Gesellschaft

Learning Resilience: Supporting neuronal network state transitions to foster stress resilience

Resilience as the ability to prevail in the face of hardships and to adapt to change is a key factor determining the individual's welfare. The initial assumption of the project is that resilience is not a characteristic of specific individuals, but a general ability of brains to return from an unbalanced state to a balanced state. For this purpose, the brain's ability to learn is crucial. The collaboration will determine the influence of learning on resilient behavior by generating molecular, neurophysiological and behavioral data in combination with functional imaging of the brain in mice. These highly complex data sets will be analyzed by artificial intelligence methods and will form the basis for subsequent pharmacological interventions.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research (LIR) gGmbH

Cooperating partners: Universitätsmedizin der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz; Max-Planck-Institut für Hirnforschung, Frankfurt am Main; Leibniz-Institut für Neurobiologie (LIN); Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg; Universitätsklinikum Bonn

Ion Selectivity and Conduction Mechanism of Cation Channels Investigated by Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy

Ion channels are tiny tunnels within the cell wall of every cell and are one of the most important communication pathways in our cells. This makes them universally important and their far-reaching biological functions include passing on electrical signals to the brain and muscle contraction in the heart. Basic understanding of how these channels work and their control mechanisms is therefore especially significant for investigating diseases and developing new drugs. The team is focusing on researching the control mechanisms of ion channels using a combination of cutting-edge measuring techniques and computer-aided model calculations.

Institute: Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP)

Cooperating partners: Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie, Göttingen

Supporting Climate Protection - From Renewable Hydrogen and Aerobic CO2 to Methanol

Methanol, the simplest chemical alcohol, is one of the most important basic materials in the chemical industry. It also has the potential to take on a leading role as a fuel and energy feedstock, thereby advancing the energy transition worldwide. In this context, the research project addresses the development of a viable methanol production process that takes advantage of the capture and utilization of the climate-damaging greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) from the ambient air. The LIKAT research team is meeting this major challenge in catalysis research by using novel catalyst materials and non-conventional methods from plasma and photochemistry.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Catalysis e. V. at the University of Rostock (LIKAT)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Plasmaforschung und Technologie (INP); Leibniz-Institut für Werkstofforientierte Technologien (IWT); Hochschule Stralsund; APEX Energy Teterow GmbH

Light-driven molecular machines in active materials

Biological motion has been researched in increasing detail over time: from physiological motion studies to research into muscle building and biochemical signalling pathways in individual cells. Simulating systems like these that react to external stimuli first requires the development of novel biomechanics methods and synthetic subcellular machines that – like muscle fibres, for instance – react to impulses and switch between two states. The team is focusing on synthetic light-driven materials to answer numerous fundamental biological research questions from mechanoreception in biology to drug development.

Institute: INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials

Cooperating partners: DWI - Leibniz-Institut für Interaktive Materialien; University of Strasbourg

Defect-engineering in graphene via focused ion beam for tailored van der Waals epitaxy of h-BN

Electronic components and sensors have become an indispensable part of everyday life: mobile phones, televisions and cars all need precise, lightweight, stable and inexpensive electronics. Two-dimensional, ultra-thin (atomically thin) layers are essential for these applications and the controlled manufacture of them is indispensable for the functionality and progress of our digital world. This basic research project looks at a novel manufacturing method for atomically thin, defect-free layer systems using focused ion beams supported by computer-based predictions of their electronic properties, as well as first attempts to implement them in electronic components.

Institute: Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics (PDI)

Cooperating partners: Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik; Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf; Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

Beyond Species: Predicting biodiversity change by integrating genetic diversity into ecological niche models

Biodiversity loss as a result of climate change is one of the major challenges of our time. The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin is focusing on this issue in a research network involving German, Turkish, Israeli and Armenian researchers with wide-ranging expertise, from fundamental science to policy advice. The team is investigating the influence of climate change on genetic diversity among bat species in the Anatolian-Caucasus region. The combination of genome research and ecological niche modelling means novel findings are to be expected.

Institute: Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science (MfN)

Cooperating partners: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Universität Potsdam; Istanbul Technical University; Yerevan State University; Tel-Aviv University

Digitale Kartenwerkstatt Altes Reich: historische Räume neu modellieren und visualisieren

Maps depicting historic regions of the Holy Roman Empire are usually based on clearly defined borders and do not sufficiently address territorial interconnections and fragmentation. This collaborative project involving historical research, information science and geography therefore develops new concepts of data collection, data modelling and linked data to experimentally visualise fluid borders. Especially the investigation of the mobility of actors and objects opens up new perspectives on early modern territoriality. The interdisciplinary project makes processed data, sample visualisations, workflow documentation and tutorials accessible to researchers, memory institutions and the more general public.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of European History Mainz (IEG)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde (IfL); Leibniz-Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung (IOS); Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz; École des hautes études en sciences sociales

Predicting the future from signatures of the past: using living sediment archives and ancient DNA to understand responses of marine primary producers to environmental changes

Phytoplankton are microscopic photosynthetic algae responsible for half of the world’s atmospheric carbon fixation. They provide the base of aquatic food webs and biogeochemical cycles in the oceans. The project investigates how these primary producers are, and will be in the future, affected by Climate Change. An interdisciplinary network of scientists will reconstruct the history of Baltic Sea phytoplankton stored in sediment archives and use this information to project their future function. The central hypothesis of project is that phytoplankton communities are able to recover from biodiversity loss and restore their function following climate-related shifts in species composition.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (IOW)

Cooperating partners: Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (SGN); Universität Konstanz; Universität Hamburg; Lund University; University of Gothenburg; Michigan State University; Södertörn University; University of Helsinki; Helsinki Commission HELCOM

China in Africa: Exploring the Economic and Social Consequences

The project investigates the economic and social impacts of China’s many different activities in Africa in the areas of bilateral trade and investment relations, development aid and Chinese migrant workers. It combines statistical analyses of large volumes of data at the level of subnational regions and individual citizens with experimental and survey-based methods. On-site field studies are used to investigate how China’s engagement is perceived and appraised by African citizens. The resulting data will be publicly accessible. The idea is for the results to help European decision-makers adapt their policies to China’s increasing presence in Africa.

Institute: Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)

Cooperating partners: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen; University of Hong Kong; Addis Ababa University; University of Ghana; Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR); Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

Functional architecture of the nucleus of malaria parasites

With around 200 million cases each year, malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world. The symptoms, which include high, recurrent (remittent) fever, chills, gastrointestinal complaints and cramps, are caused by single-celled parasites that enter the human body through mosquito bites. The team wants to understand the structure of the parasite, in particular the architecture of the cell nucleus, the organism’s 'control room'. The findings from this research that will be gained from the study of living malaria parasites, is expected to significantly increase our understanding of this disease, with a view to future therapeutic approaches.

Institute: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)

Cooperating partners: Radboud University Nijmegen

Distributional effects of macroeconomic policies in Europe

Policy measures at EU level are intended to secure the stability of the European Economic and Monetary Union, among other things. This includes, for example, the establishment of the European Reconstruction Fund, which can be a first step towards a fiscal union in the eurozone. The project is investigating how this and other economic policy measures impact inequality between households. The results will lead to practical conclusions that can inform European policies, including in relation to the debate concerning how to deal with the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Institute: German Institute for Economic Research Berlin (DIW Berlin)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH); Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn; Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen

Learning Progression Analytics - Analyzing Learning for Individualized Competence development in mathematics and science Education

The Covid-19 pandemic has made online teaching necessary in many places. But irrespective of the pandemic, digital formats offer new possibilities for teaching and learning. The project will investigate how data produced through the use of digital tools in mathematics and science instruction can be used obtain information about individual students’ learning trajectories and its relevance for their competence development. Such information would allow for individualizing instruction and hence an optimised competence development. The project combines basic with applied research.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Kiel (IPN)

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM); DIPF | Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsforschung und Bildungsinformation; Ruhr-Universität Bochum; Carnegie Mellon University; University College London

A risk index for health effects of mineral dust and associated microbes

Mineral dust can cause or exacerbate respiratory illnesses such as asthma, rhinitis and pneumonia. The project will investigate adverse health aspects of mineral dust in combination with attached microbes. The aim is to go beyond risk assessments for respiratory illnesses based on mass concentrations of dust, and incorporate dust composition to develop a dust health risk index that can be updated regularly for at-risk patient groups. The project will combine atmospheric, clinical, epidemiological, toxicological and microbiological studies within measuring programmes and long-term studies.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS)

Cooperation partners: Leibniz-Institut DSMZ-Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH; IUF – Leibniz-Institut für umweltmedizinische Forschung gGmbH; Forschungszentrum Borstel - Leibniz Lungenzentrum; University of Cape Verde

Language and social action across Europe: Rules and norms in informal interaction

The project will analyse informal communication in five European languages in order to investigate how speakers formulate and enforce social rules and standards at the linguistic level. The Leibniz Institute for the German Language (IDS) is working in a very international team with partners in the USA, Finland, Switzerland and Poland. The interdisciplinary team includes experts in the fields of conversation analysis and interactional linguistics. The aim is to produce a publicly accessible corpus that will make an important contribution to open science.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for the German Language (IDS)

Cooperation partners: University of California; University of Helsinki; University of Basel; University of Bydgoszcz

The Short Life of Soviet Yiddish Literature

The project will examine modern Yiddish literature in the Soviet Union in the first half of the 20th century. The interdisciplinary investigation focuses on poets and prose writers who found themselves, personally and artistically, negotiating the tense relationship between tradition and modernism, Jewish identity and commitment to the creation of a ‘new’ Soviet man. Their lives and writings will be viewed in the context of experiences of Stalinism and the Holocaust. Questions of belonging, homogenisation, universalism and particularism promise new insights into the history of Eastern Europe and its Jewish peoples, but also findings of relevance to the present-day challenges of globalised diaspora and migration experience.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture – Simon Dubnow (DI)

Cooperation partners: Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung; Universität Regensburg; Leibniz-Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des östlichen Europa; Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache; European University at St. Petersburg

Contested Waterway. Governance and Ecology on the Lower Danube, 1800-2018

The project will focus on the impact of two centuries of human intervention in the Lower Danube area. It will analyse various aspects of the multi-layered, often contested histories of this region from 1800 to the present day under the influence of various empires, nation states, state socialism and the European Union. The aim is to make a contribution to various ongoing debates surrounding e.g. environmental degradation, Europeanisation and economic development. There will also be a practical impact, with the research results being shared with the local communities and government agencies.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS)

Cooperation partners: Leibniz-Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des östlichen Europa; Center for Advanced Study Sofia; New Europe College Bukarest; Central European History Budapest; Slovenian Academy of Sciences; Romanian Academy of Science

Design and Control of Patterned Large-Area Molecule-Surface Interfaces for Multiple-State Data Storage Technologies

The increasing digitalisation of all areas of everyday life requires ever greater data storage and information processing capacity. At the same time, there is a goal to increase energy efficiency and lower production costs. The project will research complex, nano-structured hybrid surfaces for future data storage and processing. Experimental studies on oxidation state-dependent structure, electronic structure and stability will be supported by quantum mechanics-based calculations, with the aim of developing molecule-based memristive-state nano-platforms.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM)

Cooperation partners: TU Dresden

Ex vivo expansion of functional human HSCs to improve therapies of age-associated diseases

A key step in the use of stem cell-based therapeutic methods is the culture and expansion of haematopoietic stem cells. The project will produce 3D biohybrid hydrogels that imitate the natural extracellular matrix to cultivate and expand stem cells. By pooling stem cell and hydrogel expertise, the project will conduct basic research that will have immediate impacts for clinical application, e.g. for the treatment of tumour patients.

Institute: Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI)

Cooperation partners: Universitätsklinikum Jena; Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung; Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum

Defective microtubuli in the pathogenesis of neurological phenotypes in patients with nucleotide excision repair (NER) syndromes

Cockayne syndrome B (CSB) is a hereditary disease characterised by premature aging. There is no effective treatment and most patients die during childhood. The project will investigate the hypothesis that the neurological symptoms of Cockayne syndrome B, which has traditionally been seen as a nucleotide excision repair (NER) syndrome, are caused by defects in the acetylation of microtubules and other proteins. Experiments will establish whether and how acetylation of these proteins is influenced, how these changes impact the development of neurological symptoms, and whether the symptoms can be improved using small molecules. Cell lines, neurospheres, brain organoids and animal models will be used to help answer these questions.

Institute: IUF – Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine

Cooperation partners: Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf

Perceptions of Inequalities and Justice in Europe

Wealth and income inequality have increased significantly in Europe over recent decades. The project will use current data from the European Social Survey to investigate relationships between perceptions and evaluations of social inequalities, notions of fair distribution of goods and charges, and political attitudes and actions in the population. Rather than focusing on individual resources and income distribution, the project looks at the perception of inequalities and whether they are seen as fair or unfair.

Institute: The Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

Cooperation partners: Helmut-Schmidt-Universität Hamburg; Universität Konstanz; Universität Wien; Radboud University; New York University; Max-Planck-Institut für Sozialrecht und Sozialpolitik; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Urban Authenticity: Creating, contesting, and visualizing the built heritage in European cities since the 1970s

The project will investigate how certain parts of the built heritage in European urban societies have been leveraged and labelled ‘authentic’ in public debate, media presentations and urban planning practices. It will make a contribution to the broad debate in the historical and cultural sciences that questions the increasing importance of authenticity as the apparently ‘true’ character of individuals, objects and practices, and looks into the mechanisms of the social construction and function of authenticity. The focus is on public debates and practices regarding construction policy, tourism and migration since the 1970s in cities in West and East Germany, Poland and France.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS)

Cooperation partners: Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam e.V.; Institut für Zeitgeschichte, München; Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung – Institut der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft; Brandenburgischer Museumsverband; Leibniz-Institut für Raumbezogene Sozialforschung

Regional Inequality in Germany: Assessment, Drivers and Consequences

The project investigates regional inequality within Germany. The aim is to describe the current extent of these inequalities and their evolution over time, to investigate the causal drivers of inequality and assess the political and social consequences of the documented trends. In terms of the political and social consequences, the focus will be on the relationship between actual and perceived deprivation and political radicalisation. The project combines the quantitative methods used in economics with the qualitative approaches used in geography.

Institute: ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Cooperation partners: Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung e.V.; Akademie für Raumforschung und Landesplanung; Universität Hamburg; Universität Bochum; University of Bristol

Identification and modulation of new immune targets in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis, a rheumatic disease in children, can disappear spontaneously in some cases, unlike rheumatoid arthritis, the most widespread inflammatory disease affecting the joints in adults. The reasons for this are unknown. The project will research which cells and genes are associated with remission of the inflammation using molecular biological analyses involving cutting-edge technology. As well as discovering how the chronic inflammation is resolved, the project aims to identify biomarkers to predict disease progression and develop intervention targets for treatment.

Institute: German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin (DRFZ)

Cooperation partners: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin; Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology

Neurophysiological mechanisms of primate interactions in dynamic sensorimotor settings

The project will investigate the neuronal basis of core cognitive functions such as attention, perception, decision-making and action planning in social contexts to improve understanding of how they function with regard to their evolutionary origins. It will test the hypothesis that processing of social and non-social information in primates relies on overlapping neural circuitry, not only at the level of brain regions and networks, but also at the scale of single neuron computations. The team will use an experimental platform that enables two agents (humans or macaques) to observe one another and interact.

Institute: German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research (DPZ)

Cooperation partners: European Neuroscience Institute; Universitätsmedizin Göttingen; Georg-August-Universität Göttingen; Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self Organization

On-chip Laser-written Photonic Circuits for Classical and Quantum Applications

The project contributes to current research into the second quantum revolution. It aims to develop novel controllable, reconfigurable photonic circuits for use in sensor systems and quantum computing. The focus is on the development of novel optical conductors and the use of electroactive polymers instead of the established thermal methods.

Institute: Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI)

Cooperation partners: Fraunhofer-Institut für Zuverlässigkeit und Mikrointegration; Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

The Historicity of Democracy in the Arab and Muslim Worlds

The Arab Spring brought democratic movements in Muslim nations into the global public eye. The project will investigate its historic roots. Using case studies from various periods, regions and contexts, the aim is to reconstruct traditions and concepts of democratic procedures in Muslim societies. The time period covered runs from the early modern practices of deliberation and collective decision-making in the Ottoman Empire to the recent revolution in Tunisia. The project aims to trace the historicity of democratic practices in the Middle East.

Institute: Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO)

Cooperation partners: Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam; Leibniz-Institut für Europäische Geschichte

Digital Approaches for the Synthesis of Poorly Accessible Biodiversity Information

The aim of the project is to improve the integration, accessibility and manageability of information relating to the biodiversity of bacteria. Existing information from numerous sources – including more than 150 scientific journals – will be collected and processed. An existing database will be used to combine the data in machine-readable form and offer innovative search options. In parallel, new bioinformatic tools will be developed for multidimensional analyses of the heterogeneous data. Ultimately, the aim is to enable predictions of bacterial properties.

Institute: Leibniz-Institute DSMZ–German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures

Cooperation partners: Leibniz-Informationszentrum Technik und Naturwissenschaften Universitätsbibliothek; ZB MED Informationszentrum Lebenswissenschaften

Understanding the “Anthropocene”: human alteration of ecosystems in our deep history

Debates about the role of humans in climate change generally focus on relatively recent developments. However, humans have been influencing nature and the environment for a long time. An interdisciplinary research team will investigate human influence on nature and landscape long before the Anthropocene Epoch. Using scientific, palaeontological and archaeological analyses of finds from a unique excavation area in Saxony-Anhalt, the project will investigate the temporal reach of anthropogenic changes to past ecosystems. The project will, for the first time, evaluate the human ecological footprint in a Palaeolithic context so that it can inform current debates.

Institute: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum - Leibniz Research Institute for Archaeology (RGZM)

Cooperation partners: Leiden University; Universität Mainz; Universität Potsdam; Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte

Calcium control of brain function: Role of the synaptic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and its association with other membranes

Core functions like learning and memory depend on communication between nerve cells in the brain. This communication takes place through chemical signalling at highly specialised cell contacts: the synapses. The role of various organelles in synapses for neurotransmission is not yet sufficiently understood. The project will investigate the importance of the endoplasmic reticulum and its functional interaction with other cell organelles for the release of calcium in synaptic neurotransmission. The topic is of importance both to basic science and clinical application.

Institute: Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP)

Cooperation partners: Leibniz-Institut für Neurobiologie; Universität Mainz

Digital Formative Assessment (DiFA) - Unfolding its full potential by combining psychometrics with learning analytics

The project deals with the evaluation and optimisation of learning processes. The aim is to develop digital methods that can capture characteristics of learners, their abilities and learning progress in a better, automated way. It will bring together two separate research traditions: theory-driven psychometric evaluation methods and data-driven learning analyses. The interdisciplinary collaboration between computer science, psychology and educational science will use the basic research to develop and implement an online course for teacher training.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi)

Cooperation partners: Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsverläufe e.V.; Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main

Climate Enhanced Tomato breeding Capturing Heat-resilience Using integrative Phenotyping

Tomato plants are very sensitive to heat stress but the molecular processes involved are poorly understood. The project will use simulation experiments to identify the genetic basis for stress reactions. It will also investigate genetic variations in terms of their role in heat stress tolerance. Molecular biological datasets will be evaluated using machine learning methods to identify genetic signatures that indicate resistance to heat stress. Ultimately, the aim is to increase the resistance of tomato plants to heat stress using genome editing techniques.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ)

Cooperation partners: Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung; Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzenbiochemie

Volatilome of a Cereal Crop-Microbiota System under Drought and Flooding

Climate change is leading to an increase in extreme weather events, which are endangering global food production. Abiotic stress factors like floods and droughts reduce yields and make crops more susceptible to pathogens and herbivores. Against this background, the project will investigate the functional relationships between plants and mycorrhizal fungi, in particular the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) they emit, which are important for communication between plants and for protection against herbivores. The project will investigate these relationships, using wheat as an experimental model, and will identify VOCs that promote beneficial biotic communities and, in turn, increase the fitness of the plant.

Institute: Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)

Cooperation partners: Leibniz-Institut für Gemüse- und Zierpflanzenbau; Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengentik und Kulturpflanzenforschung; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Leipzig; Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung

Drifting Apart: International Institutions in Crisis and the Management of Dissociation Processes

Events like Brexit and Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement have made the public aware of the possibility of international institutions fracturing, potentially with dramatic consequences. The Leibniz Research Association on Crises in a Globalised World has developed a collaborative project with four Leibniz institutes to analyse dissociation processes from a political science and contemporary history perspective. The project brings together peace researchers, historians and area studies specialists.

Institute: Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF/HSFK)

Cooperation partners: German Institute of Global and Area Studies; Institut für Zeitgeschichte; Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam

Integrative analysis of the influence of pesticides and land use on biodiversity in Germany

Not much research has been carried out into the dramatic loss of biodiversity, especially among insects, and into its causes and consequences. The project will test the hypothesis that the loss of biodiversity is largely a side effect of agricultural land use, especially the use of pesticides. The consequences of agricultural practices will be examined at various sites in eastern and western Germany for a large number of insect species. As well as looking at taxonomic units, the researchers will consider pesticide levels in soil, plants and insects, as well as plant associations and landscape structure.

Institute: Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig - Leibniz Institute for Animal Biodiversity (ZFMK)

Cooperation partners: Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Berlin; Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz; Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung; Universität Koblenz-Landau; Universität Bonn; Entomologischer Verein Krefeld; Landesamt für Umwelt Brandenburg

Chronic quiescence - maintenance of hematopoiesis and immunological memory in health and latent infection, and its disruption in chronic inflammation

Which cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic factors control the cell cycle and metabolic activity of haematopoietic cells and lymphocytes? The longevity, self-renewal and memory of the immune system are controlled via quiescence. The project focuses on this central but still poorly understood aspect of the immune system. It aims to decode the underlying molecular mechanisms for the first time. The expected findings will be significant not only for understanding the immune system, but also for fundamental aspects of cell biology, including regenerative processes, and may generate options for treating chronic illnesses like tuberculosis or rheumatism.

Institute: German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin (DRFZ)

Cooperation partners: University of Leeds; Max-Planck-Institut für Infektionsbiologie, Berlin; Forschungszentrum Borstel, Leibniz Lungenzentrum; Allgemeines Krankenhaus Wien; Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg; Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, Braunschweig

Improving School Admissions for Diversity and Better Learning Outcomes

The allocation of school places follows very different rules in different European countries. While some countries work with admissions criteria, others use mathematical algorithms that allocate thousands of places in seconds. But which social groups benefit from the different rules? Are there allocation systems that can be regarded as particularly fair and help reduce social segregation and improve learning success? These are the questions that the project seeks to answer. It is expected to make an effective contribution to resolving problems associated with the allocation of school places within the EU.

Institute: ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Cooperation partners: Deutsche Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung; Freie Universität Berlin; Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Technische Universität Berlin; DIPF – Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsforschung und Bildungsinformation; Universität Wuppertal; Paris School of Economics; London School of Economics; New York University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Hungarian Education Authority, Budapest; Deutscher Städtetag, Köln; Landesjugendamt, Stuttgart

Novel metastable thin film materials through potential energy dissipation during subplantation of multiply charged ions

The microstructure and properties of films are determined by the film material, the conditions of the substrate surface and the deposition process parameters. The project will explore theoretically and experimentally an alternative approach for the growth of novel metastable materials. The new materials include certain nitrides and oxides that will have properties that are of great interest for numerous electronic and optical applications, but also for micromachines.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM)

Cooperation partner: Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen

Names change, places too. The Challenge of Developing Geodata-based Gazetteer Research Technologies and Methods

The project will create a web application that provides access to multiple analogue and digital gazetteers of place names for the whole of eastern Central Europe to allow a comparison of their contents and the generation of metadata. There is a high demand for this data in various disciplines such as history, geography, archaeology and climate change research. The project also aims to develop methods to ensure that the geographic and statistical information can be made available for research on a sustainable basis. This is an important step towards further advancing the spatial turn in the digital age.

Institute: Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe - Institute of the Leibniz Association (HI)

Cooperation partners: Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen; digiCULT-Verbund; Verein für Computergenealogie, Das Geschichtliche Orts-Verzeichnis; Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Berlin; Eötvös-Universität, Budapest; Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien; Canterbury Christ Church University; Maria Curie-Skłodowska University Lublin; Geonames/Deutschland; Universität Gießen; Lithuanian Institute of History, Vilnius; Universität Leipzig; Deutsche Nationalbibliothek; Charles University Prague; Polish Academy of Science, Warszawa; Leibniz-Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung; Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde; Université Laval, Québec; Universität Gießen

Optical Control of Nanoscale Spin Textures

The project addresses how magnetism can be controlled at lengths of less than 10-7 m and time scales of less than 10-10 s. It will explore the possibilities of ultrafast optical switches for magnetisation, while also investigating novel topological magnetic structures. Researchers with complementary expertise in the experimental and theoretical sides of magnetisation dynamics will be brought together for the project.

Institute: Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI)

Cooperation partners: Max-Planck-Institut für Intelligente Systeme;Forschungszentrum Jülich

Post-translational modifications of the synaptic scaffold controlling age-induced memory impairment

The ability to form new memories declines with age. Since aging processes are particularly associated with changes in the post-translational modification of synaptic proteins, this could be a key to understanding the phenomenon. For this reason, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Analytical Sciences (ISAS), Freie Universität Berlin and the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology in Magdeburg will investigate the molecular mechanisms of this process in order, ultimately, to open up new possibilities for therapeutic interventions.

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Analytische Wissenschaften - ISAS - e.V.

Cooperation partners: Freie Universität Berlin, Leibniz-Institut für Neurobiologie in Magdeburg

Controlling and Switching of Function of Peptide and Protein based BioSurfaces: From Fundamentals to Applications

Biosurfaces are synthetic surfaces that are surface-modified with surface-linked biomolecules and they are designed to have a specific function or application. They are important in areas such as molecular sensing, bioanalytics, separation science, and biotechnology. In the present application an excellent team of interdisciplinary researchers aim at exploring the opportunities of the concept ’controlling and switching of function of peptide and protein based biosurfaces’, i.e., covalently bound peptides/peptide aggregates and proteins at or near the hybrid material surface in order to change function or to unravel and shed light into hidden mechanisms of novel functions, and to develop these concepts towards applications. Since there are numerous 'man made' systems with dedicated or discovered functions possible, we focus here on two main representative systems, i.e., modified surfaces, in which supramolecular fibrillar peptide aggregates or a protein covalently bound or linked with molecular linkers to metal or inorganic surfaces, whose function can be switched or controlled by a non-thermal stimulus (e.g., light, charge, fields) in order to change or restore function or to unravel mechanistic details of its molecular function. The systems under investigation are i) a charge/current switchable enzyme near an electrode surface without the need for co-factors, and ii) functional peptide aggregates covalently linked to surfaces in interaction with viruses and membranes. In the project experimental as well as theory groups closely collaborate on the same supramolecular systems. Within the current proposal novel approaches of surface modifications, biosurface synthesis, biophysical probes, molecular dynamics theory, as well as non-thermal concepts of controlling and switching of functions of peptide and protein based hybrid biosurfaces will be explored - with the ultimate goal to transfer the fundamental insights into new applications, e.g., in biotechnology.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM)

Cooperation partners: University Leipzig; University Göttingen; Max Planck Institute for biophysical Chemistry Göttingen; Ulm University Medical Center

Kritischer Katalog der Luther-Bildnisse (1519-1530)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Germanisches Nationalmuseum (GNM)

Cooperation partners: Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Period: 1. June 2018 - 30. September 2021

Terahertz Detection of Atoms in Plasma Processes

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics (PDI)

Cooperation partner: INP

Period: 1. June 2018 - 31. December 2021

Climate Change Impacts on Migration and Urbanization

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

Cooperation partners: WZB; Institut für Landes- und Stadtentwicklungsforschung (ILS); City University of New York

Period: 1. March 2018 - 31. August 2021

Search as Learning - Investigating, Enhancing and Predicting Learning during Web Search

Final report (PDF)

Institute: German National Library of Science and Technology ‒ Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology (TIB)

Cooperation partners: L3S Research Center; IWM

Period: 1. Mai 2018 - 31. October 2021

Epigenetic regulation of ImmuneAging: Heterochromatic DNA methylation as a regulator of T cell senescence

Final report (PDF)

Institute: German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin (DRFZ)

Cooperation partners: FLI; FMP; IZW; Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin; Saarland University

Period: 1. January 2018 - 30. June 2022

Segregation and Regional Mobility

Final report (PDF)

Institute: RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research

Cooperation partners: Universität Düsseldorf; University Pompeu Fabra Barcelona; Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Nürnberg

Period: 1. April 2019 - 30. September 2022

Taxation in the Era of Digital Transformation

Final report (PDF)

Institute: ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Cooperation partners: Universität Mannheim; Universität Bochum; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Max-Planck-Institut für Innovation und Wettbewerb; Georgia Institute of Technology; OECD; PwC Deutschland

Period: 1. June 2018 - 30. November 2022

Structures of Viral Proteins Essential for Replication and Transcription

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)

Cooperation partners: HPI; Outstation of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)

Period: 1. June 2018 - 31. July 2022

Barium stannate based heterostructures for electronic applications

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ)

Cooperation partners: PDI; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Technische Universität Berlin

Period: 1. April 2018 - 31. March 2022

Resilience Factors in a diachronic and intercultural perspective

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum - Leibniz Research Institute for Archaeology (RGZM)

Cooperation partners: Universitätsmedizin Mainz; Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz; Goethe Universität Frankfurt/Main; Technische Universität Darmstadt; Römisch-Germanische Kommission des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts

Period: 1. June 2018 - 30. November 2022

Connectivity and synchronisation of lake ecosystems in space and time

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei (IGB)

Cooperation partners: ZALF; IOW; FU Berlin; TU München; Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam (GFZ); Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt (DLR); Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht (HZG)

Period: 1 May 2018 - 31 October 2022

Using “signatures of selection” to decipher key mechanisms regulating fe/male fertility

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Nutztierbiologie (FBN)

Cooperation partners: IZW; Bundeshybridzuchtprogramm GmbH; Geolifes; Institut für Fortpflanzung landwirtschaftlicher Nutztiere; Universität Kiel

Period: 1 May 2018 - 30 April 2023

Powering endurance: Fuel selection in migratory bats

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Zoo- und Wildtierforschung (IZW) im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.

Cooperation partners: Technische Universität München; Helmholtz Zentrum München

Period: 1 June 2019 - 28 February 2023

Efficiency and Equity in Education: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from School Reforms across German States

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung gGmbH (WZB)

Cooperation partners: ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Northwestern University, Evanston; University of Bologna; University of Wisconsin-Madison; University of Heidelberg; Stanford University; Hebrew University of Jerusalem; University of Warwick; University of Oslo; London School of Economics; University of Chicago; Aarhus University; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; University Erlangen-Nuremberg; Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen; Jyväskylä University; University of California Los Angeles; University of Konstanz; DIPF - Educational Research and Educational Information, Frankfurt

Period: 1 May 2019 - 31 October 2022

Market Design by Public Authorities            

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB)

Cooperation partners: ZEW; DIW; Universität Lausanne; University of Texas; University of Tsukuba; Robert Bosch GmbH; TWS Partners AG; Carnegie Mellon University; University of California; ifo-Institut

Period: 1 June 2018 - 31 May 2023

Epigenetic stability and plasticity of social environmental effects

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Zoo- und Wildtierforschung (IZW)

Cooperation partners: Weizmann Institute of Sciences; University of Potsdam; McGill University

Period: 1 January 2018 - 31 December 2022

Legacies of Communism? Post-Communist Europe from Stagnation to Reform, between Autocracy and Revolution

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam e.V. (ZZF)

Cooperation partners: University of Bristol, Großbritannien; Leibniz-Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung, Regensburg; National University ""Kyiv-Mohyla Academy""; Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung, Berlin; Zentrum für Osteuropa- und internationale Studien, Berlin; European University Institute, Florenz; Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder); University of Florida; Centre Marc Bloch, Berlin; University of Exeter; Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung; The University of Dublin; Tallinn University; The Center for Urban History of East Central Europe, Lviv; University of Warsaw; Ilia State University, Tbilisi

Period: 1 April 2019 - 31 March 2023

Competencies of school teachers and adult educators in teaching German as a second language in linguistically diverse classrooms

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung - Leibniz-Zentrum für Lebenslanges Lernen e.V. (DIE)

Cooperation partners: Universität zu Köln; Deutsches Institut für Internationale Pädagogische Forschung; Leibniz-Institut für die Pädagogik der Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik; Universität Bonn; Universität Tübingen; Universität Zürich

Period: 1 April 2019 - 30 September 2022

High-definition crystalline Silicon-Germanium structures for Quantum circuits

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ) im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.

Cooperation partners: Leibniz-Institut für innovative Mikroelektronik, Frankfurt (Oder); Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen

Period: 1 June 2019 - 30 November 2022

Development of a predictive solid state tool for improved pharmaceuticals safety

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Katalyse e.V. (LIKAT Rostock)

Cooperation partners: Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen; Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg

Period: 1 January 2019 - 30 June 2022

Four dimensional Research applying Modelling and Observations for the Sea and Atmosphere

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Atmosphärenphysik e.V. an der Universität Rostock

Cooperation partners: Leibniz-Institut für Ostseeforschung Warnemünde; Tromsoe University; Stockholm University; Utah State University Logan; Colorado Research Association, Boulder; Global Atmospheric Technologies and Science, Boulder

Period: 1. June 2020 - 31. May 2023

Multiscale Modeling and Engineering Simulation of Next Generation Multifunctional Microstructures for Handling Applications

Final report (PDF)

Institute: INM - Leibniz-Institut für Neue Materialien gGmbH

Cooperation partners: University of California Santa Barbara and Leibniz Chair at INM; Universität des Saarlandes; Harvard University; ESPCI Paris; Cambridge University

Period: 1. February 2020 - 30. June 2023

An open cloud platform for first principles electronic structure calculations powered by FPLO

Density functional theory (DFT) is used to describe quantum mechanical interactions of many particles. Materials can be treated quantum mechanically as well, therefore DFT can be used to model and design novel functional materials. There is a clear demand for DFT software packages, but currently available packages are difficult to use and require complicated local infrastructure and installation. This is where this transfer project starts: the already existing DFT package FPLO will be made available to users worldwide as a cloud-based solution, which will make it much easier and more inclusive to use.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW)

PROMPT 1.0 - A mobile intervention that improves children's self-regulated learning skills

The project deals with self-regulated learning (SRL), that is, skills and strategies with which learners control and influence their own learning processes. This core competence for adapting to a rapidly changing environment and technological advancements is also increasingly expected of pupils. The goal of the project is therefore to develop and evaluate a mobile intervention that supports 10 to 12-year-old children in the development and application of skills for independent learning and time management in a long-term and individualised way.

Institute: DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education

Adaptive Laser Additive Manufacturing of Novel Steels for Customized Tooling and Bearing Applications

Metallic components can be produced by additive manufacturing processes such as the widely used "Laser Powder Bed Fusion" (LPBF). In this process, the layer-by-layer application of a powder, local melting by a laser and subsequent solidification of the material enables the toolless manufacturing of near-net-shape components. The transfer project plans to develop forming tools and rolling bearings by LPBF from novel high-carbon steel powders, which is supported by various industrial partners. This new approach would make it possible to realize geometrically complex components with integrated functionality and to largely do without extensive forming processes that are practically unfeasible for some materials.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW)

GreenProtect - a Sustainable Release System to Produce More Healthy Food with Less Pesticide

In order to be able to feed the world's population in the future, crop yields must be significantly increased in the coming decades. To sustainably preserve livelihoods and produce healthy food, the use of fungicides and herbicides must be significantly reduced as well. This requires new approaches that allow active substances to be specifically attached to plant surfaces and to adjust their release according to application demands. This is where the transfer project comes in, by bringing together fundamental findings from materials science, chemistry and biotechnology: thereby biodegradable containers, so-called microgels, which are decorated with adhesion binding peptides and can universally be loaded with active ingredients such as fertilisers or pesticides, enable a rainfasten binding and targeted application to desired plant organs. In this way, the absolute consumption of active ingredients and the required application cycles can significantly be reduced. Complete biodegradability is also ensured so that no microplastic is released into the environment. After the scientific concepts have been secured, a technology transfer up to commercial implementation is to take place.

Institute: DWI – Leibniz-Institut für Interaktive Materialien

Cooperating partners: Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzenbiochemie (IPB)

Communication toolbox for engaging and aiding women in pension planning

In Germany, women currently obtain 40 percent less pension income than men. In collaboration with media companies, corporate partners and financial institutions, the project aims to create a communication toolbox that will inform women on the state of their retirement income and incentivise them to boost their pension planning activities. Academic insights on financial literacy and investment biases of women, especially with regard to pension decisions, shall be used to create the toolbox. In addition, a retirement planning app will be used in the field studies. The toolbox and app will be used to suggest a range of strategies that women can pursue to close the high income gap in retirement.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE- Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe

Cooperating partners: ZEW – Leibniz-Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung; Universität Mannheim

Leibniz-Operations of the Incubator for Antibacterial Therapies in Europe (INCATE) - A Transnational Initiative to Promote Innovation and Ecosystems in the Fight against Antimicrobial Resistance

Resistant bacterial pathogens pose a major threat to health systems worldwide. In order to fight infectious diseases effectively also in future, there is an urgent need for new active substances and concepts. However, their development is a challenge; only few substances actually make it to market. As a transnational incubator for antimicrobial therapies, the transfer project plans to support researchers on their way to develop novel assets and eventually build spin-offs. The project is intended to make a significant contribution to closing the gap between the identification of new potential therapeutics and their clinical use.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans Knöll Institute (HKI)

Cooperating partners: Universität Basel; Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF)

(Leibniz-)Platform for Advancing and Supporting Visitor Research in Museums

Surveys of museum visitors are necessary so that museums can assess which population groups use their offerings in which way and how attractive and effective their exhibitions and other activities are. In collaboration with the eight Leibniz Research Museums a digital platform for planning, conducting and evaluating visitor research is developed. It is planned as an overarching infrastructure that also enables cross-museum comparisons.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Kiel (IPN)

Cooperating partners: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum – Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Archäologie (RGZM); Deutsches Museum (DM); Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum – Leibniz-Forschungsmuseum für Georessourcen (DBM); Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum – Leibniz-Institut für Maritime Geschichte (DSM); Germanisches Nationalmuseum – Leibniz-Forschungsmuseum für Kulturgeschichte (GNM); Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung (MfN); Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (SGN); Leibniz-Institut zur Analyse des Biodiversitätswandels (LIB); Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung – Leibniz-Zentrum für Lebenslanges Lernen (DIE); Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM); Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsverläufe (LIfBi); Technische Universität München; KulMon - KulturMonitoring zur Besucher*innenforschung; The Collaboration for Ongoing Visitor Experience Studies (COVES); Institut für Museumsforschung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (IfM); DASA – Arbeitswelt Ausstellung

Novel ultrafast and versatile two photon excitation microscope for imaging of BSL3 pathogens

Multiphoton microscopy led to a breakthrough in imaging of living organisms by providing enhanced penetration depth into tissue and high three-dimensional resolution. Multiphoton microscopes allow for example the investigation of infection processes in living organisms in real time, which is extremely useful for biomedical research. Currently available multiphoton microscopes require time-consuming maintenance, which makes their operation in laboratories of higher biosafety levels difficult. This transfer project will develop an ultrafast two photon excitation microscope that is optimized for biosafety level 3 (BSL3) labs. This will advance studies of highly infectious pathogens and therefore lead to important new discoveries and potential treatment options.

Institute: Heinrich-Pette-Institut – Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology (HPI)

Cooperating partners: Universität zu Lübeck; Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin (BNITM); Leibniz-Institut für Naturstoff-Forschung und Infektionsbiologie e.V. - Hans-Knöll-Institut (HKI); Medizinisches Laserzentrum Lübeck GmbH

Transfer for Transformation - Knowledge Exchange with Global Reach

Among the harsh lessons of the pandemic, a powerful one is on the importance of effective knowledge transfer. How governments make use of scientific findings, and whether electorates accept policy measures, depends on the exchange between scholars, policy-makers, media, and the public. The German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA)/ Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien seeks to get to the heart of this process. Besides innovating in the practice of knowledge transfer through its target-group-integration and novel access strategies (including translation and visualization), the project also contributes to scholarship on this subject. The T4T application lab will enable the GIGA to categorize and analyze why, and under what conditions, some forms of transfer are more impactful than others.

Institute: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) / Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

Cooperating partners: Auswärtiges Amt

Transfer of Urban Sustainability Transition Knowledge: Towards Climate-Neutral Cities 2030 - The City of Görlitz as a Pilot

In 2020, the city of Görlitz decided to achieve climate neutrality by 2030. The implementation of this goal requires fundamental, interrelated transformations in many different policy domains and sectors of society. The transdisciplinary project aims at co-producing visions, pathways and innovation-oriented experiments for this transformation-oriented change together with stakeholders from the public sector, businesses, civil society and science. The results shall be transferable to other cities.

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IÖR)

Cooperating partners: Stadt Görlitz; Stadtwerke Görlitz AG; Görlitz für Familie e.V.; Second Attempt e.V.

Inclusion of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in School

In German schools both knowledge of and resources for supporting children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are low compared to anglophone countries. To contribute to solving this problem, the project will develop three components for long-term use: A learning platform for teachers, a (self-)assessment tool that taps teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and motivation regarding teaching students with ASD and a smartphone app for identifying individual barriers to learning. The project team is collaborating with a network and schools with ASD expertise to be relevant for and close to school practice.

Institute: DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education

Multiphasic hydrogels for high throughput human in vitro tissue and disease models

Toxicological studies or drug development require adequate methodologies for testing compounds systematically for their toxicity or efficacy. This is a challenge for research: the infrastructure has to be cost efficient, allow a high troughput and still deliver medically meaningful conclusions. This transfer project aims to find solutions to these challenges. The project aims to create 3D tissue models by automated high throughput processes; these models will be useful for toxicological and pharmacological studies. The project therefore contributes to the reduction of animal testing and will provide highly valuable technology to use for various applications in the biomedical sector.

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V. (IPF)

Cooperating partners: DWI - Leibniz-Institut für Interaktive Materialien e.V.; INM - Leibniz-Institut für Neue Materialien gGmbH

Economic Insights: Transfer and Capacity Building (BSE Insights)

There is a major deficit in Germany in the communication of cutting-edge research findings to policymakers and the general public. Using innovative formats, such as involving policymakers in joint research projects and offering them fellowships, the project aims to help ensure that research results from the field of economics inform political decision-making processes and are made available to the general public. Among other things, the team is developing training sessions for communicating complex subjects in a transparent and effective manner. All the major economic research institutions in Berlin are involved in the project.

Institute: WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Cooperating partners: DIW Berlin – Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung; European School of Management and Technology (ESMT), Berlin; Freie Universität Berlin; Hertie School, Berlin; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Technische Universität Berlin; Universität Potsdam; University College London

Digital Materialities. Virtual and analogue forms of exhibiting museum artefacts

Virtual and digital possibilities are playing an increasingly important role for museums. This project focuses on the 2D and 3D digitisation of maritime exhibits. It investigates which aspects of an object can be experienced and analysed only with the help of digitisation. It also researches the role of museum exhibitions in the epistemological process that takes place between observer, object and the object’s ‘digital twin’. The findings from this project can be applied to similar interdisciplinary projects and to experimental applications in everyday exhibition practice.

Institute: German Maritime Museum – Leibniz Institute for Maritime History (DSM)

Cooperating partners: Universität Bremen; Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM)

Selective depletion of plasma cells secreting pathogenic autoantibodies in chronic autoimmune diseases - a potentially curative therapeutic approach

Using B-cell-depleting antibodies has led to promising results in the past in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. However, a drawback of these therapies is the depletion of plasma cells that secrete autoantigen-specific antibodies. The leader of the transfer project will continue to work on an affinity matrix he developed that can isolate antigen-specific plasma cells and deplete them. If this method, thought by experts to be almost impossible, succeeds, it would represent a key breakthrough in the treatment of B-cell-mediated autoimmune disease.

Institute: German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin (DRFZ)

Cooperating partners: Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin; Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP)

Micro-scale resonators for nuclear and electron spin resonance spectroscopies

Portable non-invasive analytical systems are extremely valuable when it comes to product quality assurance and medical diagnostics. This project will develop a highly innovative, portable device for non-invasive nuclear and electron spin resonance spectroscopy to analyse various samples. Potential fields of application include science, industry and medicine. In detail, the project aims to develop cylindrical micro-coils as resonators for lab-on-chip NMR and ESR sensors. It combines expertise in integrated nanotechnology and solid-state research.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW)

Heritage Conservation Center Ruhr - Transferring knowledge about historic material’s complexity for a sustainable future

The project will develop a modular communications and networking toolset for the preservation of industrial heritage objects. Internet-based knowledge transfer will be used alongside analogue formats like conferences, workshops and a citizens advice bureau. The idea is to bring together specialists, provide facts, identify unresolved conservation issues relating to technology and ethics, and enable interaction between different expert communities and relevant institutions. There is a deliberate focus on developing an exchange of ideas with the general public.

Institute: Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum – Leibniz Research Museum for Geo-resources (DBM)

Transfer of evidence-based and co-produced knowledge for human-wolf coexistence

Wolves were once extinct in Germany but have shown a remarkable recovery since the 1990s. Populations are currently established in seven federal states, and numbers are predicted to rise to hundreds of wolf packs in Germany in just a few years. This raises questions in society about the conditions for coexistence, and the issue has led to major debates. However, evidence-based information is often either absent or inadequately applied. The aim of the project is therefore to ensure the population has robust knowledge about wolves. A digital transfer tool will be developed to enable a two-way exchange between scientists and society.

Institute: Senckenberg Society for Nature Research - Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research (SGN)

Enhancing the Visibility within the Research Region: Leibniz-GWZO in Prague

Imparting research results relating to Eastern and Central Europe is a core concern of the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) at Leipzig University. It not only conducts research about the region, but also works with and in the region – through numerous collaborative partnerships and networks. In order to strengthen networking in one of the target countries (the Czech Republic) and, in turn, across the entire region, and to continue to promote the dissemination of scientific knowledge, the GWZO plans to establish a branch office in Prague. The aim is knowledge transfer, in close collaboration with the National Gallery in Prague, involving large-scale international exhibitions, public talks, workshops, publications and social media activities.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO)

All projects funded in the Leibniz Competition 2018 have been finished.

The project funded in the Leibniz-Competition 2017 is already finished.

All projects funded in the Leibniz Competition 2016 have been finished.

Laser based multi component trace gas sensor. A new device class for research and industry (LMS)

The goal of the project is the economic exploitation of existing knowledge in the INP Greifswald in terms of quantum cascade laser mid-infrared cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy (QCL-MIR-CEAS). It is a method of trace gas detection, which uses modern infrared laser light sources and optical resonators to increase sensitivity. The proposed development of the prototype of a compact, portable, ultra-sensitive multi-component trace gas sensor based on the QCL-MIR CEAS technology creates a new class of devices for research and industry. The system will be used in different application scenarios of the molecular high sensitive detection of trace gases that require detection limits in the ppt range. These include the monitoring of technological processes, monitoring of emissions, the breath gas analysis and detection of hazardous substances.

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), Greifswald

Transfer and Promotion of Research-based STEM Education: Communities of Practice for the Adaptation and Implementation of Science and Maths Open Educational Resources

Final Report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Kiel (IPN)

Period: 1. May 2018 - 31. January 2022

IMAGINARY - Research-based Knowledge Transfer in Mathematics and related Fields

Final Report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach (MFO)

Period: 1. January 2017 - 31. December 2018

A Metagenomics Software Platform for Clinical Infectious Disease Diagnostics

Institute: Heinrich-Pette-Institute – Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology (HPI), Hamburg

Period: 1. July 2016 - 31. May 2020

Transfer of Gecomer® Technology to industrial applications

Final report (PDF)

Institute: INM – Leibniz-Institute for New Materials, Saarbrücken

Period: 1. February 2016 – 31. January 2019

Evaluation of the minimum wage legislation in Germany (EVAMIN)

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)

Period: 1. January 2015 – 31. December 2018

A blended learning approach to foster information literacy using literature databases of the Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID), Trier

Period: 1. April 2012 – 30. June 2015

Using interactive displays for intuitive and personalized visitor information in museums: contextualization – multimedia – collaboration (EyeVisit)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM), Tübingen

Period: 1. May 2011 – 30. September 2014

Help from science to improve the numerical analysis of population movement & urban development with existing statistical data for sustainable urban growth

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography (IfL)

Period: 16. May 2018 – 15. May 2022

Cystein-selective bioconjugation for next generation antibody drug conjugates

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP)

Period: 1. March 2018 – 31. December 2022

ParasiteWeb: A web-based platform for training and quality management of microscopic parasite diagnostics

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin (BNITM)

Period: 1. April 2019 – 31. December 2022

Electricity Network Analysis

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung (PIK) e.V.

Period: 1. May 2019 – 31. August 2022

Transferring the Nuremberg topographical and temporal model into the public

Final report (PDF)

Institute: FIZ Karlsruhe - Leibniz-Institut für Informationsinfrastruktur GmbH

Period: 1. March 2020 – 30. April 2023

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Development of novices’ professional knowledge networks within the contexts of classroom teaching and information searches on the internet

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID), Trier

Period: 1. April 2013 - 31. May 2016

Complementation patterns of verbs in spoken German

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for the German Language (IDS), Mannheim

Period: 1. April 2012 – 31. March 2016     

Interplay of environmentally induced aging processes with the innate immune system

Final report (PDF)

Institute: IUF – Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Düsseldorf

Period: 1. April 2012 – 31. March 2015      

Phase transition and hysteresis in the context of storage problems

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics (WIAS), Berlin

Period: 1. July 2012 – 30. June 2015 

Gluten-Away-peptidase-preparations for the detoxification of Coeliac-disease-provoking foods

Final report (PDF)

Institute:  German Research Centre for Food Chemistry (DFA)

Period: 1. January 2011 – 31. December 2013    

Long-term Changes in the Mesosphere (LOCHMES)

Final REport (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Rostock University (IAP)

Period: 1. July 2011 – 30. June 2015

Mentoring of Refugees (MORE): an intervention study on integrating refugees through a civil society mentoring program

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: German Institute for Economic Research Berlin (DIW)

Period: 1. January 2017 - 31. May 2020

AlN electronics for a new generation of high-power devices (AlPower)

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH), Berlin

Period: 1. January 2017 - 31. December 2019

System level analysis of inositol messengers in nutrient signaling

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Berlin

Period: 1. February 2017 - 31. January 2021

A Molecular Targeting Approach to Combat Human Pathogenic Fungi

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans Knöll Institute (HKI), Jena

Period: 1. April 2017 - 30. September 2021

Physics and control of defects in oxide films for adaptive electronics

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ), Berlin

Period: 1. January 2017 - 31. December 2019

New Carbon-Metal Oxide Nanohybrids for Efficient Energy Storage and Water Desalination (CarMON)

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), Greifswald

Period: 1. January 2017 - 31. December 2020

Modelling and developing the plasma-based synthesis of novel multi-component glasses for optical high performance fibers (PlasFaser)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT), Jena

Period: 1. April 2017 - 31. December 2020

Iron-based catalysts for sustainable valorisation of CO2, CH4 and N2

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Catalysis e.V. at the University of Rostock (LIKAT)

Period: 1. April 2017 - 30. September 2020

DiSeMiNation - Digging into Sediments and Microbes for Nature conservation: Identifying the drivers of ecosystem processes for spatial conservation planning

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen

Period: 1. April 2017 - 30. September 2021

Abitur examination practices and essays, 1882 to 1972

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Frankfurt am Main

Period: 1. July 2016 - 30. June 2020

Electronic high performance components for applications between 500 and 1000 GHz

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH), Berlin

Period: 1. January 2016 – 31. December 2019

Political economy of agricultural policies in federal systems

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Halle an der Saale

Period: 1. April 2016 – 31. March 2019

The lexicon of spoken German

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for the German Language (IDS), Mannheim

Period: 1. July 2016 – 31. August 2019

Silicon granulate self-crucible process

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ), Berlin

Period: 1. July 2016 – 30. June 2019

Effects of science competitions for students: Two sides of a coin? The WinnerS project

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Kiel (IPN)

Period: 1. January 2016 – 31. December 2018

Agro and Paper Industry Waste to Bulk Chemicals. Levulinic Acid and Furfural as Platform Chemicals

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Catalysis e. V. at the University of Rostock (LIKAT)

Period: 1. March 2016 – 31. August 2019

Electron dynamics and charge correlations studied by ultrafast soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI), Berlin

Period: 1. February 2016 - 31. January 2020

Economic Growth Impacts of Climate Change (ENGAGE)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

Period: 1. March 2016 - 31. August 2020

Polissya as an interventional landscape: Space, Power, Technology and Ecology on the European Periphery 1915-2015 (POLIN)

Final Report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe – Institute of the Leibniz Association (HI), Marburg

Period: 1. July 2015 – 30. June 2019

Geographies of Dissociation: The Social Construction of Value from a Spatial Perspective

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS), Erkner

Period: 1. July 2015 – 30. June 2019

Biodiversity informatics to bridge the gap from genome information to educated utilisation of genetic diversity hosted in Genebanks (BRIDGE)

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben

Period: 1. May 2015 – 31. December 2018

Water as an aquatic viral vector for emerging infectious diseases (AQUAVIR)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Berlin

Period: 1. Juni 2015 - 30. November 2018

Digital Power Amplifiers for the Future Wireless Infrastructure

Institute: Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH), Berlin

Period: 1. February 2015 – 31. October 2018

Topography in Space and Time

Institute: FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure

Period: 1. Mai 2015 – 31. August 2018

Interactions of Waves and Tides at Mid and High Latitudes in the Ignorosphere (WaTiLa)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Rostock University (IAP)

Period: 1. June 2015 – 31. May 2019

Sensoring with single atoms

Final Report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM), Leipzig

Period: 1. March 2015 – 28. February 2018

Epitaxial phase change superlattices designed for the investigation of non-thermal switching

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics (PDI), Berlin

Period: 1. July 2015 – 30. June 2019

Illuminating lake ecosystems (ILES)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin

Period: 1. July 2015 – 30. June 2019

Development of professional competence in science and mathematics preservice teachers (KeiLa)

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Kiel (IPN)

Period: 1. January 2014 - 31. December 2017

The rise of the digital society. Computerisation in the Federal Republic and the GDR

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF)

Period: 1. May 2014 - 30. April 2018

Management practices, organisational behaviour and firm performance in Germany

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)

Period: 1. January 2014 - 31. July 2017

Neuro-optogenetics

Final report (PDF)

Institute: German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research (DPZ) Goettingen

Period: 1. July 2014 - 30. June 2018

TSPIG THz Sensors with Plasmonic Integrated GaN Components

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH), Berlin

Period: 1. January 2014 – 30. April 2017

MaTMeLT: Mixing and Transport in the Mesosphere/Lower Thermosphere

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Rostock University (IAP), Kühlungsborn

Period: 1. July 2014 - 30. June 2018

Tailored manipulation of fluids in functionalised highly integrated micro- and nanoscale fluidic systems

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW)

Period: 1. April 2014 - 31. March 2017

Electron microscopy of labeled protein complex subunits in whole cells in aqueous environment

Final report (PDF)

Institute: INM – Leibniz-Institute for New Materials (INM), Saarbrücken

Period: 1. March 2014 - 28. February 2017

Mapping non-equilibrium electron density distributions in space and time by femtosecond x-ray diffraction

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI), Berlin

Period: 1. January 2014 - 31. December 2016

Probabilistic methods for communication networks with mobile relays

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics (WIAS), Berlin

Period: 1. July 2014 - 30. June 2018

Linking aquatic mycodiversity to ecosystem function (MycoLink)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin

Period: 1. June 2014 - 28. February 2018

Greenland glacial system and future sea-level rise

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

Period: 1. January 2014 - 31. December 2017

Contributing to coral commons (Triple C)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen

Period: 1. May 2014 - 30. April 2018

Knowledge of the world – heritage of mankind: the history of UNESCO world cultural and natural heritage

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG), Mainz

Period: 1. July 2013 - 30. September 2016

Neurobiological foundations of economic decision making under uncertainty and excessive risk taking

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)

Period: 1. June 2013 - 31. May 2017

SOEP Record Linkage: longitudinal survey of migrants from the social insurance statistics (SOEP-REC-LINK) – sampling of administrative data and Llnkage with survey data on migration

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: German Institute for Economic Research Berlin (DIW)

Period: 1. June 2013 - 28. February 2017

Defining natural killer cell reactivity by quantitative analysis of activating and inhibitory receptor signal integration

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Research Center for Working Enviroment and Human Factors (IfADo), Dortmund

Period: 1. July 2013 – 31. December 2016

Gradual environmental change versus single catastrophe - Identifying drivers of mammalian evolution

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Berlin

Period: 1. April 2013 – 31. December 2016

Trend Mining for Science

Final report (PDF)

Institute: FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure (FIZ KA)

Period: 1. July 2013 – 30. June 2016

Growth of high perfection bulk SrTiO3 single crystals

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ), Berlin

Period: 1. March 2013 - 29. February 2016

Sustainable utilization of resources – Developing of catalytically efficient pathways for the chemical conversion of methane

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Catalysis at the University of Rostock (LIKAT)

Period: 1. April 2013 - 30. September 2016

Direct growth of single-crystalline semiconductors on poly-crystalline metallic films and foils

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics (PDI), Berlin

Period: 1. May 2013 - 30. April 2017

Leipzig Aerosol Cloud Turbulence Tunnel (LACTT)

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig

Period: 1. June 2013 - 31. May 2017

Ecological consequences of fish behavioural types

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin

Period: 1. July 2013 - 30. June 2017

MathSearch - Analyse und Suche in mathematischen Formeln

Abschließender Sachbericht (PDF)

Institut: FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz-Institut für Informationsinfrastruktur (FIZ KA)

Laufzeit: 1. März 2012 – 30. November 2015

Mathematical-scientific competencies in initial vocational training (ManKobE)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Kiel (IPN)

Period: 1. January 2012 – 30. June 2015     

Linked employer-employee datasets

Final report (PDF)

Institute: German Institute for Economic Research Berlin (DIW)

Period: 1. January 2012 – 31. December 2013

Exploring natural ways to exceptional long healthspan – The naked mole-rat case

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena

Period: 1. January 2012 – 30. June 2015

New ways of studying glutamate receptors

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Berlin

Period: 1. January 2012 – 31. December 2015

Innovative cryogenic diode laser bars optimized for emerging ultra-high power laser applications

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH), Berlin

Period: 1. January 2012 – 30. April 2015

MathSearch – analysis and retrieval in mathematical formulas

Final report (PDF)

Institute: FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure (FIZ KA)

Period: 1. March 2012 – 30. November 2015

Homo- and Heteroepitaxy of transparent semiconducting oxide layers of the Ga2O3 - In2O3 - Al2O3 ternary system on beta-Ga2O3 and In2O3 substrates

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ), Berlin

Period: 1. March 2012 – 28. February 2015

High average power ultrashort laser pulses in the near and mid-infrared by chirped optical parametric amplification

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI), Berlin

Period: 1. June 2012 – 31. May 2016

Next generation corpus analysis platform KorAP

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for the German Language (IDS), Mannheim

Period: 1. July 2011 – 30. June 2015

Measuring professional competencies of pre-service teachers in the domains of science and mathematics (KiL)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Kiel (IPN)

Period: 1. January 2011 - 30. June 2014

Network effects and systemic risk in the banking sector

Final report (PDF)

Institut: Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)

Period: 1. May 2011 – 30. June 2014

Devolopment of novel NMR probes: improving cell profiling for early diagnosis

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Berlin

Period: 1. January 2011 – 30. June 2014

Paternal epigenetic effects

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Berlin

Period: 1. May 2011 – 30. April 2014

Integration of sub-mm-wave III-V components into a silicon BiCMOS process

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH), Berlin

Period: 1. January 2011 – 31. December 2012

Nano-structured electrochemical energy storage for autonomous microsystems

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW)

Period: 1. January 2011 – 31. December 2013

Efficient GaAs growth process using a heater magnet module

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ), Berlin

Period: 1. May 2011 – 30. April 2014

Elastic properties of (nano‑)structured and freestanding thin films

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM), Leipzig

Period: 1. May 2011 – 30. November 2014

Multifunctional polymer matrices to direct virus-free cell reprogramming

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (IPF)

Period: 1. May 2011 – 30. April 2014

Innovative homogeneously and heterogeneously catalyzed reactions for the chemical conversion of CO2

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Catalysis e. V. at the University of Rostock (LIKAT)

Period: 1. April 2011 – 30. September 2014

Custom-made nanoscale battery materials: experimental and theoretical study of elementary processes

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics (PDI), Berlin

Period: 1. April 2011 – 31. March 2015

Climate driven changes of microbiota biodiversity – TemBi

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin

Period: 1. July 2011 – 30. June 2014

Leibniz-Videostudie zum Mathematikunterricht und Aufbau eines Netzwerks für Unterrichtsforschung

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Frankfurt am Main

Period: 1. April 2017 - 31. December 2020

Spread of antibiotic resistance in an agrarian landscape (SOARiAL)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Braunschweig

Period: 1. February 2017 - 31. May 2021

International Competence Center on Large Scale Agriculture (LaScalA)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Halle

Period: 1. June 2017 - 30. November 2021

History of Sustainabilities. Discourses and Practices since the 1970s

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Institute for Contemporary History Munich – Berlin (IfZ)

Period: 1. April 2017 - 31. December 2021

“BaltRap“.The Baltic Sea and its southern Lowlands: proxy – environment interactions in times of rapid change

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (IOW), Warnemünde

Period: 1. February 2017 - 30. November 2021

A Synaptoneurolipidomics View on Neuronal Plasticity in Insulin Resistance and Alzheimer's disease

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Analytische Wissenschaften - ISAS - e.V., Dortmund und Berlin

Period: 1. January 2017 - 30. June 2021

Neurotranslation: An international networking initiative to target Shank-mediated neuropsychiatric disorders (Shankopathies)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Magdeburg

Period: 1. January 2017 - 31. December 2021

Berlin Economics Research Associates (BERA)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: German Institute for Economic Research Berlin (DIW)

Period: 1. April 2016 - 31. March 2021

The lung microbiota at the interface between airway epithelium and environment

Institute: Research Center Borstel - Leibniz Lung Center (FZB)

Period: 1. June 2016 - 31. May 2020

WHEATSCAN – Unraveling the causes for wheat sensitivities

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (LSB), Freising

Period: 1. April 2016 – 30. September 2019

“HYPERAM” – Leibniz research network for fast wide-field hyperspectral Raman imaging for in vivo diagnostics and intra-operative tumour resection margin analysis

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT), Jena

Period: 1. June 2016 – 31. May 2019

Relationship lenders and unorthodox monetary policy: Investment, employment, and resource reallocation effects

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Halle Institute for Economic Research – Member of the Leibniz Association (IWH)

Period: 1. July 2016 - 30. June 2020

Worker flows, match quality and productivity – Evidence from European micro data

Final report (PDF)

Institute: RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, Essen

Period: 1. January 2016 – 30. September 2019

Identifying the genomic loci underlying mammalian phenotypic variability using Forward Genomics with Semantic Phenotypes

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (SGN), Frankfurt am Main

Period: 1. July 2016 - 30. June 2020

Marine biological production, organic aerosol particles and marine clouds: a Process Chain (MarParCloud)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig

Period: 1. May 2016 – 31. October 2019

Overcoming language barriers - Cross-lingual search of bibliographic metadata

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID), Trier

Period: 1. July 2016 – 30. June 2019

“Righteousness and peace kiss each other” – Representations of Peace in Early Modern Europe

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG), Mainz

Period: 1. July 2015 – 31. December 2018

Acquisition and Utilisation of Adult Skills – A Network for Analysing, Developing and Disseminating PIAAC

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences (GESIS), Mannheim

Period: 1. February 2015 – 31. December 2018

German Research Network: External Democracy Promotion (EDP)

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), Frankfurt am Main

Period: 1. May 2015 – 30. April 2019

Single-Family-Homes under pressure?

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER), Dresden

Period: 1. January 2015 – 31. December 2017

St. John´s wort against Alzheimer´s Disease – Meeting of a social challenge by new methods for identification, production and application of natural products

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB), Halle

Period: 1. May 2015 – 30. April 2019

The infancy of normal galaxies revealed with MUSE

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP)

Period: 1. July 2015 – 30. June 2019

Ex vivo cultivation of bipolar epitheli-al/endothelial cell layers as a first step towards an organ like alveolar barrier

Final report (PDF)

Institute: DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, Aachen

Period: 1. March 2015 – 28. February  2018

Scalable Author Disambiguation for Bibliographic Databases

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz Center for Informatics (LZI)

Period: 1. July 2015 – 31. December 2018

Children and their world: knowledge and interpretations of the world in textbooks and children’s books between 1850 and 1918

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research (GEI), Braunschweig

Period: 1. May 2014 - 31. January 2018

Scientific infrastructure for art-historical monuments in East Central Europe

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe - Institute of the Leibniz Association (HI), Marburg

Period: 1. July 2014 - 31. March 2018

An imperial town in a time of transition – Life, environment and decline of early byzantine Caričin Grad

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum - Leibniz Research Institute for Archaeology (RGZM), Mainz

Period: 1. January 2014 - 31. December 2017

SowiDataNet - Research data network for social and economic sciences: Infrastructure for the self-archiving and distribution of quantitative research data of the social and economic sciences

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences (GESIS), Mannheim

Period: 1. April 2014 - 31. December 2017

IDCAR - International Diffusion and Cooperation of Authoritarian Regimes

Final report (PDF)

Institute: GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies / Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien, Hamburg

Period: 1. July 2014 - 30. June 2019

The political economy of education policy: Insights from a public opinion survey

Final report (PDF)

Institute: ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich

Period: 1. January 2014 - 31. December 2017

Effectiveness of youth employment programmes

Final Report (PDF)

Institute: RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, Essen

Period: 1. July 2014 - 30. June 2018

Ubiquitous working: Challenges and opportunities for the networked world

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim

Period: 1. April 2014 - 31. October 2017

DNA damage responses in aging

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena

Period: 1. March 2014 - 28. February 2018

Role of proteostasis in cellular aging

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Berlin

Period: 1. June 2014 - 31. May 2017

The decline of cognitive function in normal aging

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Magdeburg

Period: 1. January 2014 - 31. December 2017

(Reverse) Proteomics as novel tool for biodiversity research

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Analytische Wissenschaften – ISAS – e.V., Dortmund und Berlin

Period: 1. July 2014 - 31. December 2017

The role of microplastic as vector of microbial assemblages in the ecosystem of the Baltic Sea (MikrOMIK)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (IOW), Warnemünde

Period: 1. April 2014 - 31. December 2017

Adipokines and myokines - Common language of muscle and fat? Establishing a methodical platform for muscle research in humans, animal models and farm animals

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Dummerstorf

Period: 1. March 2013 - 30. September 2016

In search of the engram: The integration of synaptic signals in the epigenome of neurons

Final report (PDF)

Insitute: Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Magdeburg

Period: 1. January 2013 - 31. December 2016

Cryostress - mechanisms of cellular adaptation to extremely low temperatures

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institute DSMZ–German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Braunschweig

Period: 15. May 2013 - 31. July 2017

Science Fab for hetero-integrated InP / BiCMOS high-frequency systems

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Innovations for High Performance Microelectronics (IHP), Frankfurt (Oder)

Period: 1. January 2013 - 31. December 2015

Timing the future: micro-integrated lasers for next generation portable optical atomic clocks

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH), Berlin

Period: 1. April 2013 - 31. December 2017

Virtual reconstructions in transnational research environments – the web portal “Palaces and Parks in former East Prussia”

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe - Institute of the Leibniz Association (HI)

Period: 1. July - 30. June 2017

Networking for the practice turn in textbook research: comparative classroom studies in history education

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research (GEI), Braunschweig

Period: 1. July 2013 - 30. June 2017

The private sphere during National Socialism

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Institute for Contemporary History Munich – Berlin (IfZ)

Period: 1. July 2013 - 30. June 2017

Urban reconfigurations in post-Soviet space

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography (IfL), Leipzig

Period: 1. April 2013 - 31. March 2017

Digitalization and recording of the portrait collections at the archives of the Leibniz-Gemeinschaft ("DigiPortA")

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Deutsches Museum (DM), Munich

Period: 1. May 2012 – 31. March 2016

Visual History. Institutions and Media of Visual Memory

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF)

Period: 1. April 2012 – 31. March 2016

Institutions for sustainable peace - Comparing institutional configurations for divided societies

Final report (PDF)

Institute: GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies / Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien, Hamburg

Period: 1. May 2012 – 30. April 2016

Optimal immigration policies in Europe: from conflicting interests to mutual gains

Final report (PDF)

Institute: ifo Institute - Leibiniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich

Period: 1. January 2012 – 31. December 2015

Contested world orders

Final report (PDF)

Institute: WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Period: 1. April 2012 – 31. March 2016

Tax Policy in the EU in an Environment of new Fiscal Institutions and Coordination Procedures

Final report (PDF)

Institute: ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim

Period: 1. May 2012 – 30. April 2016

International Leibniz Research Cluster (ILRC) “ImmunoMemory”

Final report (PDF)

Institute: German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin (DRFZ)

Period: 1. April 2012 – 31. December 2015

GENART: Funktional Genomics of Speciation

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science (MfN), Berlin

Period: 1. July 2012 – 30. June 2016

Biochar in agriculture - perspectives for Germany and Malaysia

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Potsdam-Bornim

Period: 1. February 2012 – 31. December 2015

LandScales – Connecting processes and structures driving the landscape carbon dynamics over scales

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg

Period: 1. July 2012 – 30. June 2016

Research and editorial project “World War II – everyday life under German occupation”

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe - Institute of the Leibniz Association (HI), Marburg

Period: 1. May 2012 – 30. April 2015

Economic and natural potentials of agricultural production and carbon trade-offs in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Russia (EPIKUR)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Halle

Period: 1. May 2012 – 30. April 2016

Development and dynamics of change of a heterogenic social-scientific field using the example of educational research

Final report (PDF)

Institute: DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Frankfurt am Main

Period: 1. May 2011 – 31. July 2014

Digital atlas of geopolitical imaginaries of East Central Europe in the 20th century

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe - Institute of the Leibniz Association (HI), Marburg

Period: 1. May 2011 – 31. December 2015

Neighborhood effects on individual behavior

Final report (PDF)

Institut: RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, Essen

Period: 1. March 2011 – 30. June 2014

Distribution and vector-competence of mosquitoes for the transmission of arboviruses in Germany

Institute: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), Hamburg

Period: 1. July 2011 – 30. June 2015

Chemical communication in the rhizosphere

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB), Halle

Period: 1. April 2011 – 28. February 2015

Inferring genetic patterns of ongoing recolonization of Central Europe by elusive, large carnivores using novel SNP marker systems for noninvasive samples

Institute: Senckenberg Society for Nature Research - Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research (SGN), Frankfurt am Main

Period: 1. June 2011 – 31. May 2014

Freshwater Diversity Identification for Europe (FREDIE)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig - Leibniz Institute for Animal Biodiversity (ZFMK)

Period: 1. April 2011 – 31. March 2014

Consolidation of the data coverage of dblp and LZI

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz Center for Informatics (LZI)

Laufzeit: 1. June 2011 – 31. October 2013

SMATH - Mathematical Software for Science and Applications

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach (MFO)

Period: 1. January 2011 – 31. December 2013

Biodegradability of arctic, terrestrial organic carbon in marine systems (ATKIM)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (IOW)

Period: 1. March 2011 – 28. February 2014

Physical violence and state legitimacy in late socialism

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF), Potsdam

Period: 1. April 2011 – 31. March 2015

International cooperation for innovations in sensitive polarimetry

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Solar Physics (KIS), Freiburg

Period: 1. January 2011 – 31. December 2013

Resources in Societies (ReSoc)

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum - Leibniz-Forschungsmuseum für Georessourcen (DBM)

Period: 1. June 2017 - 30. November 2021

Mediatisation processes in urban planning and changes in the public sphere. Perspectives of social sciences, historical urban studies and planning sciences

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS), Erkner

Period: 1. April 2017 - 30. June 2020

Postdoc Network: Cognitive Conflicts During Media Use

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM), Tübingen

Period: 1. July 2016 - 30. June 2021

Postdoc-Network on aging induced impairments in regeneration and stem cell functionality – RegenerAging

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena

Period: 1. April 2015 – 31. March  2019

Monoaminergic impact on neural circuits - a Leibniz Postdoctoral Network

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Magdeburg

Period: 1. January 2015 – 31. December 2018

Providing for life after death and the demonstration of social standing. Interdisciplinary study of Late Medieval memorial shields in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Germanisches Nationalmuseum (GNM), Nuremberg

Period: 1. June 2014 - 30. November 2017

International Multidisciplinary Parasitology and Vector Biology (IMPact-Vector) - Graduate School

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (SGN), Frankfurt am Main

Period: 1. June 2014 - 31. December 2017

Leibniz Graduate School for Rheumatology

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin (DRFZ)

Period: 1. June 2013 – 31. May 2018

Leibniz Graduate School for Quantitative Spectroscopy in Astrophysics

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP)

Period: 1. April 2013 – 30. September 2018

Leibniz Graduate School: Agricultural techniques: potentials and costs of greenhouse gas mitigation (LandPaKT)

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Potsdam

Period: 1. May 2013 - 30. April 2017

Leibniz Graduate School on Genomic Biodiversity Research (GBR)

Final Report (PDF)

Institute: Research Museum Alexander Koenig - Leibniz Institute for Animal Biodiversity (ZFMK), Bonn

Period: 1. January 2013 - 31. March 2017

Sustainable Use of Tropical Aquatic Systems (SUTAS)

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen

Period: 1. January 2013 - 31. May 2017

Disappointment during the 20th century. Loss of utopia, denial, renegotiation.

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Institute for Contemporary History Munich – Berlin (IfZ)

Period: 1. April 2012 – 31. March 2016

Leibniz Graduate School "Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDIS)"

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research (DPZ), Göttingen

Period: 1. January 2012 – 30. April 2017

Leibniz Graduate School: Yield Formation in cereals – overcoming yield-limiting factors

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben

Period: 1. February 2012 – 30. June 2016

Leibniz Graduate School: Gravity Waves and Turbulence in the Atmosphere and Ocean (ILWAO): Phase 2

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Rostock University (IAP), Kühlungsborn

Period: 1. July 2012 – 30. June 2016

Leibniz Graduate School: Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation: Mineral Dust

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig

Period: 1. June 2012 – 30. November 2016

Leibniz Graduate School: Aquatic boundaries and linkages in a changing environment (AQUALINK)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin

Period: 1. July 2012 – 30. June 2017

Leibniz Graduate School: Raw Materials, Innovation and Technology of ancient Cultures (RITaK)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum – Leibniz Research Museum for Geo-resources (DBM)

Period: 1. January 2011 – 31. December 2014

Leibniz Graduate School "Foundations of primate social behaviour"

Final report (PDF)

Institute: German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research (DPZ), Göttingen

Period: 1. January 2011 – 31. December 2014

Leibniz Graduate School "Genetics of synaptic functions and dysfunctions"

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Magdeburg

Period: 1. April 2011 – 31. December 2015

Leibniz Graduate School "Dynamics in new Light (DinL)"

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI), Berlin

Period: 1. June 2011 – 31. May 2015

European capital markets and macroeconomic stability: The role of equity and debt

Final report (PDF)

Period: 15. June 2017 - 31. May 2022

Institute: German Institute for Economic Research Berlin (DIW)

Every Immigrant Is an Emigrant: How Migration Policies Shape the Paths to Integration

Final report (PDF)

Institute: GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies / Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien, Hamburg

Period: 1. May 2017 - 31. August 2021

Collaborative Biases

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM), Tübingen

Period: 1. April 2017 - 30. September 2021

Attosecond coherent diffractive imaging of collective electron motion in isolated gas-phase nanoparticles

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI), Berlin

Period: 13. June 2017 - 12. June 2021

Domino effects in the Earth system: Can Antarctica tip climate policy? (DominoES)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

Period: 1. April 2017 - 30. September 2021

Adaptive Genomics of Sulawesi ricefishes

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Research Museum Alexander Koenig - Leibniz Institute for Animal Biodiversity (ZFMK), Bonn

Period: 15. June 2017 - 14. June 2022

Materiality of Musical Instruments: New Approaches to a Cultural History of Organology

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Deutsches Museum (DM), München

Period: 1. May 2016 - 31. October 2020

Regulation of vesicular ion homeostasis by endosomal Na+/H+ exchangers

Institute: Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Berlin

Period: 1. July 2016 – 30. June 2019

Quantitative Tools for the Analysis of Global Governance Issues (QUANTAGG)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich

Period: 1. January 2016 – 31. December 2020

The Longue Durée of 1989/90. Regime Change and Everyday Life in Eastern Germany

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF)

Period: 1. April 2016 – 31. March 2020

Between the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. Interdisciplinary studies of the Hanseatic League

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: German Maritime Museum – Leibniz Institute for Maritime History (DSM), Bremerhaven

Period: 1. February 2015 – 31. December 2018

Migration and Education in Germany since 1945

Final Report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research (GEI), Braunschweig

Period: 1. July 2015 – 30. June 2019

Global food security: challenge for production and consumption

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)

Period: 1. Juli 2015 – 31. October 2019

Economic Uncertainty and the Family (EcUFam)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: ifo Institute – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich

Period: 1. July 2015 - 30. June 2020

Dust at the interface - modelling and remote sensing

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS)

Period: 1. March 2015 – 28 February 2019

Aquaculture practice in tropical coastal ecosystems - Understanding ecological and socio-economic consequences (ACUTE)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen

Period: 1. July 2015 - 30. June 2020

Neurocognitive foundations and processing pathways of arithmetic learning and their plasticity in adults as well as in typically and atypically developing children

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM), Tübingen

Period: 1. January 2014 - 31. December 2017

Democratisation of expert knowledge: map production and map use in new media landscapes

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography (IfL), Leipzig

Period: 1. May 2014 - 30. April 2018

Advanced mass spectrometric tools to elucidate structures involved in viral infection

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Heinrich-Pette-Institute – Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology (HPI), Hamburg

Period: 1. April 2014 - 30. June 2017

German panel painting of the late Middle Ages. Art historical and technical investigation of the paintings in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Germanisches Nationalmuseum (GNM), Nuremberg

Period: 1. April 2013 – 31. March 2017

Theoretical and empirical foundation of the Knowledge and Information Awareness-approach as well as its expansion to further cognitive contents

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM), Tübingen

Period: 1. January 2013 - 31. December 2016

For salvation and fortune

Final report (German only) (PDF)

Institute: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum - Leibniz Research Institute for Archaeology (RGZM), Mainz

Period 1. January 2013 - 31. December 2016

Municipal infrastructure companies against the background of energy policy and demographic change (KOMIED) – Empirical analyses using micro level data of the energy, water and waste sector

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: German Institute for Economic Research Berlin (DIW)

Period: 1. July 2013 – 31. December 2016

Computer-Assisted Measurement and Coding of Educational Qualifications in Surveys (CAMCES)

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences (GESIS), Mannheim

Period: 1. June 2013 - 31. May 2017

Regulation of cell motility by membrane-associated endosomal adaptors

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Berlin

Period: 1. January 2013 - 31. December 2017

Where to stop? - Efficient projections of correlated impacts at different levels of global warming

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

Period: 1. July 2013 - 30. June 2017

Memory practices: enacting and contesting the curriculum in contemporary classrooms

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research (GEI), Braunschweig

Period: 1. July 2012 – 30. June 2017

Ethnological research group "The cultural dynamics of political globalisation" with a starting project on “Cultural effects of global norm transmission for Security Sector Reform (SSR)“

Final report (in German only) (PDF)

Institute: Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), Frankfurt am Main

Period: 1. July 2012 – 31. December 2016

The origin of stellar components in galaxies

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP)

Period: 1. July 2012 – 31. December 2016

Centre for advanced solar spectropolarimetric data analysis

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz-Institut für Sonnenphysik (KIS), Freiburg

Period: 1. July 2012 – 30. June 2017

Judicial (in)dependence in new democracies. Courts, presidents and legislatures in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa

Final report (PDF)

Institute: GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies / Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien, Hamburg

Period: 1. June 2011 – 31. August 2015

Water resources: a synergy of the hydrological and agronomical approaches

Final report (PDF)

Institute: Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Potsdam

Period: 1. April 2011 – 31. March 2014

A Metagenomics Software Platform for Clinical Infectious Disease Diagnostics

Abschließender Sachbericht (PDF)

Institute: Heinrich-Pette-Institute – Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology (HPI)

Period: 1. January 2016 – 31. December 2018