News & Updates | March 2025

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Dear HEiKA friends,

Three months of the new year have already passed - time flies! With our first newsletter for 2025, you will once again receive selected information and news about HEiKA and its partner institutions.
Enjoy reading!

>> OPEN CALL

Poster FWLFALLING WALLS LAB BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG 

| July 18 | Konstanz

APPLY here BY APRIL 26, 2025

and compete for a spot at the global Falling Walls Lab Final in Berlin!

 

>> more information on the event: https://www.uni-konstanz.de/universitaet/transfer/aktuelles/detailseite/falling-walls-lab-baden-wuerttemberg-2025/

>> HEiKA FUNDING

HEiKA - STAR (STrategic Areas of Research) 2025 - 2026

The newly established HEiKA-STAR funding programme aims to strengthen sustainable research cooperation between KIT and HD University. The programme focuses on the funding of new joint research fields that will connect the two partner universities in the long term.

The following three HEiKA STARs have been financed since January 2025:

superfluid helium-4
Enns

DELight

Cosmological and astrophysical observations provide clear evidence for the existence of a new type of matter, “dark matter” (DM), whose nature is still unknown.
The primary goal is to realize a simplified, small-scale detector, using a superfluid 4He target instrumented with a novel MMC-based calorimeter to demonstrate the readiness of such a detector for the new direct dark matter search experiment DELight.
Skizze
Greb

DEUsAroMet

DEUsAroMet is an interdisciplinary project to provide experimental evidence and a theoretical framework for all-metal aromaticity for breakthroughs in nano-electronics and future technologies. It will line up internationally leading chemists with theoreticians and spectroscopists to consolidate a ground for long-term research initiatives.
Person with ear
KIT, TECO

PACO

The benefits of physical activity for cognitive and physical health across the adult lifespan and in old age are undisputed. Still, urgent questions regarding the daily neurological and behavioral processes, most suitable intervention designs, and the role of sample diversity and middle adulthood are largely open. The PACO project focuses on integrating expertise of Heidelberg University and KIT to conduct pilot projects using national cohort data sets as well as mobile and video-based sensing approaches.

>> NEWS

Festakt 200 Jahr KIT
Markus Breig, KIT

200 YEARS OF KIT - CONGRATULATIONS!

With an inspiring ceremony, KIT President Professor Jan S. Hesthaven opened the 200th anniversary celebrations on February 20, 2025 with the words:
“The future lies in partnerships, not competition. The goal of our research is to benefit society, and that means we also need to learn new ways of thinking.”

We gladly agree with this!
Let's come together - KIT invites everyone to numerous events in the anniversary year 2025!
Hector Prize Dehnen
Marco Schilling

Hector Science Prize 2024 for Stefanie Dehnen

We congratulate Prof. Dr. Stefanie Dehnen, Director of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Institute of Nanotechnology, on being awarded the prestigious Hector Science Prize! She receives the award for her pioneering contributions to inorganic molecular chemistry, in particular for her research on cluster compounds and their potential applications in materials science.

With her innovative work, Stefanie Dehnen is not only doing pioneering work in basic chemical research, but is also helping to develop sustainable materials for the future. As one of the leading scientists in her field, she inspires with her research and her commitment to promoting young talent.

Stefanie Dehnen is among the speakers of the HEiKA-STAR consortium "DEUsAroMet - All-Metal Aromaticity: Definition, Evidence, Use"
Leibniz Preis Pernice
DFG / David Ausserhofer

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2025 for Wolfram Pernice

We congratulate Prof. Dr. Wolfram Pernice from Heidelberg University on being awarded the prestigious Leibniz Prize 2024! His groundbreaking research in the field of neuromorphic photonic computing opens up new possibilities for energy-efficient and high-performance computing systems.

With the development of innovative optical chips that mimic the principle of the human brain, he is doing pioneering work at the interface of physics, materials science and artificial intelligence. His research paves the way for new technologies in information processing and demonstrates the enormous potential of photonic systems for the future of AI.

Professor at the Kirchhoff Institute for Physics at Heidelberg University since 2021, Wolfram Pernice also made a stopover at KIT in 2011 as head of an Emmy Noether junior research group and obtained HEiKA project funding in 2012 (together with Ilka Bischoffs from Heidelberg Bioquant).

>> EVENTS

SIMPLAIX Workshop 2024
SIMPLAIX

MAY 07: SIMPLAIX WORKSHOP

The 3rd SIMPLAIX Workshop on “Machine Learning for Multiscale Molecular Modeling” will take place on 7 - 9 May 2025 (Venue: Studio Villa Bosch Heidelberg, Schloss-Wolfsbrunnenweg 33, 69118 Heidelberg)

REGISTRATION IS OPEN UNTIL MARCH 31

For more information and registration
Glühbirne
hei_Innovation

MAY 14: IMPACT DAY 2025

TRANSFORMING IDEAS INTO IMPACT
What to Expect (Venue: New University, Heidelberg):

🎤 Inspiring Talks & Future Insights – Gain insights into future technologies, their impact on research and industry, and a visionary outlook on Heidelberg 2036. Plus, celebrate the winners of this year’s Ideas Competition!
🚀 Start-Up & Research Showcases – Explore the latest innovations emerging from Heidelberg University.
🤝 Networking & Collaboration – Connect with industry leaders, investors, and top researchers to spark new opportunities.

Further information and registration
Life Science Tech Day at InnovationLab Heidelberg
InnovationLab

APRIL 29: LIFE SCIENCE TECH DAY

The LIFE SCIENCE TECH DAY will be hosted by InnovationLab GmbH on April 29, 2025 as a full-day event to appeal to a broad audience of universities, research institutions, companies and start-ups. The LIFE SCIENCE TECH DAY will take place at InnovationLab's "iL.Connect.Space" premises at Speyerer Straße 4 in Heidelberg.
The aim of the event is to network partners who share an interest in who share an interest in innovation and the industrialization of life sciences. The LIFE SCIENCE TECH DAY will be held in English.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN UNTIL APRIL 10!

>> OPPORTUNITIES

CZS Wildcard: Programme to encourage unconventional ideas

The funding enables interdisciplinary research groups of at least three scientists to pursue with radically new, unusual, and therefore particularly bold ideas.

The application must describe a research project in natural sciences, life sciences and/or engineering sciences (STEM fields) at the interface of two or more disciplines. At least three scientists from two STEM disciplines must apply together for funding together. The persuasiveness of the idea and the team will matter, not prior works or the reputation of the researchers. 

Deadline: May 5, 2025

Funding up to 750.000 EUR

Further information

BMBF and DST: Indo-German Research Collaboration on New Substances and Materials

The funding initiative 'New Materials and Substances as Part of the Indo-German Science and Technology Centre (IGSTC)', by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF - Federal Ministry for Education and Research) and the Ministry of Science and Technology in India (DST) aims to bring together researchers from Germany and India to implement collaborative research projects.

Funding is provided for Indo-German R&D projects which address areas of new materials for renewable energies and new materials for sensors. Likewise supported are projects addressing new materials for sustainable and resilient buildings as well as new materials for alternative energy storage systems.

Deadline for outline proposals: May 20, 2025

>> learn more

Methods in Artificial Intelligence: DFG Launches Special Call for Emmy Noether Junior Research Groups

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG - German Research Foundation) has announced a new call under its Emmy Noether Programme, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) method development. The initiative aims to support early career researchers in establishing junior research groups at German institutions.

Deadline for draft proposals: June 11, 2025.

>> learn more

STEP USA University Program

The STEP USA University Program is a three-day initiative designed specifically for German university start-ups and spin-offs looking to scale their business in the United States, where they will gain hands-on knowledge and experience through a series of customized workshops and networking events. 

The program is taking place between November 10-12, 2025 in New York and this year, applications from startups in the health and life sciences are particularly encouraged. 

Deadline: August 1, 2025 

or until all eight spots are filled.

>> learn more

CZS Science Communication

For all scientists who already receive funding from the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung:

The foundation offers its funding partners additional resources for this purpose as part of the module 'CZS Science Communication'.

These funds can be used in particular for personnel with expertise in the field of communication that matches the planned measures.

The funding period for the additional funds requested for science communication is a minimum of one year and a maximum of six years, depending on the duration of the main project. Funds of up to €40,000 can be requested for each year of the communication measure (maximum of €240,000 for six years).

Deadline: December 31, 2025

>> learn more

 

Is there any news from your institute in connection with the cooperation between KIT and Uni HD that we should include in our newsletter in the future?

If so, please contact us at info@heika-research.de and let us know.