Great Success: 11 University of Hamburg Projects Get State Research Funding

22 January 2025, by Newsroom editorial office

Photo: University of Hamburg / von Wieding

University of Hamburg Main Building

From smart cities and history teaching to AI-based infection and autoimmune research: 16 research projects from a wide range of disciplines were selected for the fourth round of state research funding. Eleven of them will be implemented at the University of Hamburg.

Since 2013, the state research funding program (LFF) supports Hamburg’s state universities and their cooperation partners with additional targeted research funding in addition to their basic funding. In the fourth state research funding round, 16 projects are to receive funding amounts of up to 1€ million (research alliances and research training groups), €300,000 (scientific and artistic research projects) or €23,000 international collaborations)— altogether €10.3 million for up to 3.5 years.

The University of Hamburg receives roughly €7.36 million from 2 of the funding lines.

Research alliances and research training groups:

• SeiSmart: Research on and with seismic networks in smart cities, Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences
• Pathogens in Autoimmunity (The role of pathogens in the development of autoimmune diseases) Faculty of Medicine
• Zeit—Zeitenwenden—Ewigkeit (Time—turning points—eternity): Crises and critique of symbolic orders, Faculty of Humanities
• Doing History—transmedia cultural history practices, Faculty of Humanities
• TransCAR: Transient CAR effector cells: Advances in production and efficient application, Faculty of Medicine
• BIKON—Formation, dynamics, and function of biomolecular condensates in the development and stress resistance of organisms, Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences
• Literacy and discrimination in times of rising right-wing populism, Faculty of Education
• Rapid Adaptive Change—Connecting biological collections and data science to understand evolution in a warmer world, Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences

International cooperation:

• Invisible women— New perspectives on women in the history of linguistics, Faculty of Humanities
• Building a research cooperation between the Institute for Jewish Philosophy and Religion at the University of Hamburg and the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Humanities
• Sex and gender differences in homeostasis and disease—from biological mechanisms to social and historical context, Faculty of Medicine

The Ministry of Science, Research, Equalities and Districts set up the state research funding to support pioneering research ideas. Its main aim is to strengthen strategic focus areas in Hamburg as a center of research. The call for proposals is open to all kinds of projects, as creative freedom is key to pioneering research ideas. The selection of the funded projects is based on a science-led review process, including written reviews from external experts for each of the applications.

The state research funding provides a foundation for future collaborative projects and was the successful starting point for 2 clusters of excellence in previous funding rounds. Four so-called Hamburg X projects are currently being funded as part of the state’s strategic research funding; two of these projects are once again applying for a cluster of excellence. The state research funding is thus a central component of the long-term academic policy in the metropolitan region.