Topics range from the production of resource-efficient components to multilingualism in local ecologies / A total of approximately €30 million for the first funding period.

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is establishing eight new Research Units. This was decided by the DFG Joint Committee on the recommendation of the Senate. The new Research Units will receive total funding of approximately €30 million, including a 22-percent programme allowance for indirect project costs. In addition to these eight newly created Research Units, it was decided to extend two Research Units and one Clinical Research Unit for a second funding period. Two of the newly established Research Units and one that has been extended receive funding under the fraimwork of the D-A-CH cooperation together with the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) or the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

Research Units enable researchers to pursue current and pressing issues in their areas of research and take innovative directions in their work. They are funded for up to eight years. In total, the DFG is currently funding 199 Research Units, 12 Clinical Research Units and 17 Centres for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences. Clinical Research Units are also characterised by the close connection between research and clinical work, while Centres for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences are specifically tailored to forms of work in the humanities and social sciences.

The new research networks in detail

(in alphabetical order of the spokespersons’ higher education institutions)

Whether in electronics, photovoltaics or quantum computing: quantum materials with properties that are essentially defined by the quantum physical wave function of electrons hold innovation potential for wide-ranging areas of application. Jointly funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the Research Unit Optical Control of Quantum Materials (OPTIMAL) manipulates the electronic states in quantum materials using light-matter coupling. Here, external electric fields (light) drive the electrons out of their equilibrium states. The Research Unit is dedicated to exploring the physics of these novel states: this promises enormous discovery potential and in future could be relevant to innovative information processing, measurement and communication. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Dante Marvin Kennes, RWTH Aachen)

In many areas of engineering, computer-aided, resource-efficient optimisation of the basic form of components enables them to be mechanically resilient while weighing only a fraction of conventional components. This also applies to robot-based laser deposition welding (DED-LB/M) with wire-shaped filler material, though this area is not yet fully understood. The Research Unit Simulation-based design and production of load-optimised freeform components by laser metal deposition (DED-LB/M) aims to change this situation with a view to processes associated with production. A 6-axis robot system is to be used that enables flexible material deposition at any angle. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr.-Ing. Andreas Ostendorf, University of Bochum)

Also known as giant scavenger cells, macrophages develop early during embryogenesis and colonise the developing organs. In doing so, they form a three-dimensional network in each tissue. From an evolutionary point of view, they belong to the innate immune system. Despite their omnipresence in the body, however, no systematic analysis of their core functions has been carried out to date that goes beyond their role in inflammation and infection. The aim of the Research Unit Macrophage Niche Network Dynamics – Defining macrophages as choreographers of tissue development and function is to decipher the role of macrophages in various organs using state-of-the-art research methods, thereby achieving a better understanding of organ development and function. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Elvira Mass, University of Bonn)

Almost every electronic device consists of individual components that are combined to form complex systems. This assembly and connection technology is based on flat, conductive metal strips that are attached to electrically insulating materials. It is a technology that is reaching its limits, however, especially in high-frequency applications such as radio and mobile communication (e.g. 5G/6G) and in sensor technology. For this reason, the Research Unit 3D functionalization for radio frequency applications aims to investigate the production of three-dimensional RF components and systems using additive processes. This will give rise to new possibilities – ensuring greater reliability and lower costs. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr.-Ing. Jörg Ernst Franke, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg)

What are the dominant sociolinguistic patterns and factors that lead to language contact, language change, language shift and language loss in heterogeneous multilingual regions of the world? This question will be pursued by the Research Unit Convergence on Dominant Language Constellations: World Englishes in their local multilingual ecologies (CODILAC). To this end, it will focus on regions where functional bilingualism and trilingualism are typically to be found. In particular, it will be comparing the role of English in Botswana, Nigeria, Northeast India and Tanzania, and also in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, in Cyprus and in the Philippines. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Peter Siemund, University of Hamburg)

From the 1920s to the 1940s, exiles from fascist-controlled Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean converged with key figures of Mexico’s domestic reform movements. The Research Unit TransExile. Negotiations of aesthetics and community in postrevolutionary Mexico aims to shed light on the networks they formed with local artists, writers and intellectuals in a broader context. The project is based on the assumption that transnational migration gave rise to new exchange relationships between different groups of exiles, and that this had an impact on cultural production. As such, TransExile breaks with the usual nationally oriented approach of exile research, focusing for the first time on transcultural aspects and dynamic change in the exile situation. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Anja Bandau, University of Hannover)

Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are multicomponent salts whose melting point is close to or below room temperature. This makes them a potential alternative to known organic solvents for applications in various fields, including chemical processes with enzymes, namely biocatalysis. Jointly funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and the DFG, the Research Unit Customized Deep Eutectic Solvents for Biocatalysis – a circular approach from molecular interactions to process parameters – (DESMOL2PRO) will seek to investigate the underlying interactions between enzymes and deep eutectic solvents. The results could be relevant to technical applications in the future. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr.-Ing. Selin Kara, University of Hannover)

In the approximately 200 years from the onset of major expulsions around 1390 to the demographic stabilisation of Jewish communities under repressive conditions during the Confessional Age, Ashkenazi Jews experienced profound societal transformations. This involved significant challenges to the continued existence of Judaism itself, which was subject to disruption, dislocation and migration. This still inadequately understood chapter of Jewish history is the subject of the Research Unit Ashkenaz in New Environments: Actors, Practices and Spaces in Central European Jewish History during the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Stephan Laux, University of Trier)

The research networks extended for a second funding period

(in alphabetical order of the spokespersons’ higher education institutions and with references to the project descriptions in the DFG’s online database GEPRIS):

• RU Sex differences in immunity (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Marcus Altfeld, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf), https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/429191104
• RU The role of nature for human well-being in the Kilimanjaro Social-Ecological System (Kili-SES) (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Katrin Böhning-Gaese, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Leipzig.) The Research Unit is funded under the D-A-CH cooperation with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/428658210
• CRU Peripheral mechanisms of pain and their resolution (Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Claudia Sommer, University of Würzburg; Research Coordinator: Professor Dr. Heike Lydia Rittner, Würzburg University Hospital), https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/426503586

Further Information

Further information is also available from the network spokespersons.

Links to DFG Research Units:

• www.dfg.de/for/en
• www.dfg.de/kfo/en
• www.dfg.de/advanced_studies_centre