Progress Report 2018
Content
4
Summary by Executive Board
14 17 18 20 22 23 24 25 26
Academic Affairs Tricky tasks Run on biomedical engineering degree course Demanding from the very start Comprehensive protection Settling in quickly Generous opening hours Courses offered by TU Darmstadt Facts and figures
30 33 34 35 36 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 46
Research Top positions in German Research Foundation ranking Major projects with a promising future Machine learning for agriculture From human to artificial intelligence Recipe against the power of quantum computers Pros and cons from noise Health data under lock and key Faster DNA synthesis The insect perfume trick Innovations for waterways and buildings Overcoming subject boundaries Top-Level Research
50
Why I study here
60 63 64 65 66 68 69 70 71 72 73
Cooperation and transfer 50 years of partnership with Lyon Energy-efficient ETA factory Side by side with SMEs From the laboratory into practice Ground mission in the lecture hall Clean water The mobility of the future 3D scanner for insects New tools Awakening inquiring minds with Merck
74 77 78 80 81 82 83 84
Life on campus Thousands were wide awake Urban quality Climate-friendly energy centre Vespa swirl 90 years university swimming pool New cultural business with tradition Facts and figures
86 89 90 92 94 95 96 97 98 99 100
Awards Double peak power Postdocs with Athene Take-off in research Search for matter 2.0 Not always platinum Instructive Outstanding Proximity to the Nobel Prize Concentrated inspirations Facts and figures
102 Campus impressions / Imprint
2
18
Academic Affairs The new biomedical engineering degree course is very popular. TU Darmstadt has attracted Goethe University Frankfurt as a partner.
43
Research Environmental engineers design special lifts to make waterways passable for fish throughout.
77
Life on campus Open laboratories and exciting research were to be discovered at the “hellwach!” (“wide awake!”) science day of TU Darmstadt.
64 Cooperation and transfer The ETA factory on campus proves it: Industrial production enterprises save up to 40 percent of energy if they cleverly network their plants and industrial buildings.
89
Awards Highest-endowed international research award in Germany: The first Alexander von Humboldt professorship at TU Darmstadt is held by the physicist Alexandre Obertelli. 3
4
TU Darmstadt Progress Report 2018
Summary by Executive Board
Summary by Executive Board
Federal Chancellor as guest
Summary by Executive Board
“A jewel in the crown of artificial intelligence” – this is how German Chancellor Angela Merkel described TU Darmstadt when she visited the university in October 2018 with Hesse’s Prime Minister Volker Bouffier and found out more about robotics and artificial intelligence as well as the opportunities that digitisation offers society. The Simulation, System Optimisation and Robotics Group in the Department of Computer Science presented its autonomous reconnaissance robot for search and rescue missions in the event of catastrophes or accidents. According to current rankings, computer science at TU Darmstadt occupies a leading position in Europe. It is the highest-performing in a nationwide comparison of universities and shapes the university: Two of the six profile areas – Internet and Digitisation as well as Cybersecurity (CYSEC) – are researching the technological foundations necessary for digitisation. A key to the success of computer science at the TU are its excellent connections with application disciplines in engineering and the humanities. It also provides important impetus for the new fields of cognitive science and digital humanities.
“In intense international competition, TU Darmstadt proves that Germany can be top of the league”. Chancellor Angela Merkel
“This is where scientific developments take place that are of the utmost importance to the future”. Prime Minister of Hesse Volker Bouffier
6
Guiding hand: Chancellor Angela Merkel visited TU Darmstadt to learn
Pillar of the National Research Centre The Cyber Security Centre, which opened in Darmstadt in 2015, will receive long-term funding from 2019 as the new Center for Research in Security and Privacy (CRISP). Along with the Fraunhofer Institutes for Secure Information Technology and for Computer Graphics and the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, TU Darmstadt is a major partner in this project. The research centre of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is to be the largest in this field in Germany. Darmstadt is also Europe’s most important hub for IT security research. More than 450 scientists conduct research on current topics of cyber security in society, business and administration. CRISP bundles these activities.
Success in the Tenure Track Programme TU Darmstadt was successful with its concept in the first round of the federal and state programme for the promotion of young scientists (Tenure Track Programme). It successfully applied for funding for twelve professorships, quickly advertised the positions and completed several appointment procedures. In December 2018, Assistant Professor Vera Krewald began her research and teaching in the Department of Chemistry as the first scientist of TU Darmstadt to be funded by the programme. The university wants to establish assistant professorships as an alternative career path to professorships. In 2030, it will recruit about half of its professors through assistant professorships with tenure track.
more about robotics and artificial intelligence.
“TU Darmstadt gives its researchers the opportunity to work on questions with a long-term relevance, without any guarantees of short-term success”. Vera Krewald, Assistant Professor for Theoretical Chemistry
7
Summary by Executive Board
Open for dialogue: Prime Minister Volker Bouffier was interested in technology scenarios in working environments.
Excellence strategy
Close exchange with politicians
In the “Excellence Strategy of the Federal Government and the States”competition, TU Darmstadt was the most successful university in Hesse in the preselection and was asked to submit two of its draft proposals as full proposals. Unfortunately, TU Darmstadt was not successful in the final selection. The projects “Centre for Predictive Thermofluids – Accelerating the Energy Revolution” and “Data Analysis for the Humanities” which had been nominated as Clusters of Excellence were not included in the list of funded projects. Nevertheless, the university will continue on its path of promoting innovation on the basis of strong interdisciplinarity. Both projects fit into the research profile of TU Darmstadt and can strengthen the profile areas “Thermo-Fluids and Interfaces” and “Energy Systems of the Future” as well as “Internet and Digitisation”.
In 2018, the University continued to publicly represent its positions on current challenges in science and higher education policy. It invited leading politicians from the parliamentary groups represented in the state parliament to a panel discussion with the title “(Neu)gierig auf morgen? Wie Digitalisierung Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft verändert”(“Curious about tomorrow? How digitisation is changing science and industry”).
The Executive Board of TU Darmstadt submitted concrete proposals to the Hesse state government to supplement the LOEWE research funding programme of the state of Hesse financially and programmatically in order to prepare Hesse’s universities specifically for the next Excellence Strategy round in 2026.
“The current technological transformation is historically unique in its speed and is driven by the digitisation of science, society and industry. The central topics of the future of particular importance for Hesse include robotics, smart cities, digital medicine, space technologies, Industry 4.0 and FinTech. TU Darmstadt is an essential actor with an internationally high reputation here, especially also with regard to the decisive key technologies of artificial intelligence and IT security”. Professor Hans Jürgen Prömel, President of TU Darmstadt
8
Once again, the university presented its activities at a parliamentary evening in the Hesse state parliament, this time with a focus on spin-offs and innovations. With their business ideas and previous market successes, the two TU start-ups Alcan Systems GmbH and IT-Seal GmbH were met with great interest. IT-Seal specialises in combating cybercrime and phishing attacks and uses simulated e-mail attacks to train security awareness in everyday working life. Alcan Systems is advancing the development of a fully electric, intelligent antenna technology based on a liquid crystal design for satellite and mobile communications. The Hesse state government met for a cabinet meeting in the “Leap in time Lab”, a spin-off of TU Darmstadt, and found out more about concrete technology scenarios of future working environments. In the Science Committee of the Hesse state parliament, TU President Professor Hans Jürgen Prömel and the chairwoman of the University Council, Professor Heidi Wunderli-Allenspach, summed up the progress made by the university with a focus on the internationalisation strategy.
European network TU Darmstadt chairs the CLUSTER network of leading European technical universities (Consortium Linking Universities of Science and Technology for Education and Research). TU President Hans Jürgen Prömel assumed the office of chairman for two years. CLUSTER aims at excellent teaching and promotes joint double degree programmes, structured student exchanges, new ways to doctorates and the integration of research and entrepreneurship into teaching.
The University in the heart of the science city Darmstadt.
intensified in order to facilitate more research stays for doctoral students of TU Darmstadt.
Responsibility in the science city The “Science City Round Table”, established on the initiative of the President of TU Darmstadt, the Schader Foundation and the Lord Mayor of Darmstadt, regularly brings together top executives from universities, politics, industry, cultural institutions and research institutes to discuss the potential of the science city. In 2018, the heads of 37 institutions signed a joint memorandum. As part of this cooperation, which is unique in Germany, work is being done to publicly highlight the assets of Darmstadt as a science city. The network with a scientific focus covers all stages of value creation, from basic research to technologically sophisticated production.
Partners in Canada and the USA The international cooperation between researchers and students at TU Darmstadt and partner universities overseas was further expanded: For instance, the university management visited the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and its renowned College of Engineering, as well as the University of Toronto, one of Canada’s strongest research universities. Contacts with the University of Princeton were also
“The Memorandum is a strong sign of networking, trust and joint responsibility in the science city of Darmstadt”. TU President Professor Hans Jürgen Prömel
9
Summary by Executive Board 10
President
Vice President
Vice President
Prof. Dr. Hans Jürgen Prömel
Dr. Manfred Efinger
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralph Bruder
Vice President
Vice President
Vice President
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Mira Mezini
Prof. Dr. Andrea Rapp
Prof. Dr. Matthias Rehahn
Organisation
Executive Board University leadership team
Members President Prof. Dr. Hans Jürgen Prömel University strategy and structure, appointment of new professors, quality management and international relations, external representation Vice President Dr. Manfred Efinger Administration and financial affairs Vice President Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralph Bruder Academic affairs Vice President Prof. Dr.-Ing. Mira Mezini Research and innovation Vice President Prof. Dr. Andrea Rapp Scientific infrastructure Vice President Prof. Dr. Matthias Rehahn Knowledge and technology transfer, alumni activities, fundraising
University Council
University Assembly
Senate
Initiatives on fundamental issues, esp. university development, involvement in management of resources and appointment of new professors, proposal of presidential candidates
Statements on fundamental questions of university development, teaching, studies and early career researchers, election and dismissal of the Executive Board
Provision of advice on matters of structure, development planning and construction planning, budget, research, teaching and studies, approval of university regulations, professorial appointments, honours
Members Members Dr. Horst J. Kayser Chief Strategy Officer/Head of Corporate Development Siemens Prof. Katharina Kohse-Höinghaus University of Bielefeld, Department of Chemistry/Physical Chemistry
31 15 10 5
professors students research associates administrative/technical staff
Members President 10 professors 4 students 3 research associates 3 administrative/technical staff
Manfred Krupp Director of Hessischer Rundfunk Prof. Bernd Reckmann Member of the Executive Board, Merck (until 2016) Prof. Ernst Schmachtenberg until 2018 Rector of RWTH Aachen University Prof. Ferdi Schüth Director at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, since 2014 Vice President of the Max-Planck-Society Prof. Wolfgang Wahlster Saarland University, Department of Computer Science, Director and CEO of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DKFI) Prof. Margret Wintermantel President of the German Academic Exchange Service, Professor of Psychology Dr. Marie-Luise Wolff Chief Executive Officer ENTEGA AG Darmstadt Dr. Holger Zinke Deputy Chairman, Supervisory Board, Brain AG
December 2018
11
12
Summary by Executive Board Facts and figures
People
Research profile
25,889 students (of which 7,972 female)
6 Profile Areas: Cybersecurity
4,947 first-semester undergraduate students
Internet and Digitisation
2,688 first-semester Master’s students
From Material to Product Innovation
253 male professors (of which 13 assistant professors)
Thermo-Fluids & Interfaces
55 female professors (of which 5 assistant professors)
Future Energy Systems
2,593 academic employees (of which 661 female)
Matter and Radiation Science
1,909 non-academic employees (of which 1,154 female)
2 Excellence Graduate Schools:
164 trainees (of which 54 female)
Computational Engineering
119 graduate assistants (of which 46 female)
Energy Science and Engineering
2,885 student assistants (of which 894 female) 1 Participation in Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders”
Campus 5 locations: City Centre, Lichtwiese, Botanical Gardens, University
6 LOEWE Clusters of Excellence
Stadium, August-Euler Airfield (with wind tunnel)
11 DFG Collaborative Research Centres/
250 hectares of property
Transfer Units
164 buildings (incl. 14 rented) 309,291 square metres of usable space (incl. 17,414 rented)
Budget EUR 249.9 million basic funds from the State of Hesse (excl. LOEWE) EUR 26.5 million from Bund-Länder-Hochschulpakt (Phase II) EUR 8.8 million other funds EUR 169.1 million third-party funds (incl. LOEWE) Upgrowth of third-party funds
Sources of third-party funds
(in mio EUR)
(in %)
160.3
139.1
150.8
144.8
164.7 156.9
169.1
163.5 154.4
119.0
Figures rounded
13
14
TU Darmstadt Progress Report 2018
Academic Affairs
Highlights 2018 1,155
Top 100: In the engineering
places to work and relax have
sciences as a whole and
been created since 2011 by
in mechanical engineering
the university in new student
and physics in particular,
learning centres.
TU Darmstadt is one of the most renowned universities worldwide according to the QS subject ranking.
Rank 78 worldwide: The QS Graduate Employability Ranking ranks TU Darmstadt among the best universities. Its graduates are valued by employers internationally as
2 million euros: The Federal Ministry of Education and Research honours the university’s concept for teacher training in
Mathematics, Information technology, Natural sciences and Technology.
Academic Affairs
particularly qualified.
500 scholarship holders of the German Academic Exchange Service from 82 countries debated the digital change at TU Darmstadt.
16
Tricky tasks
Team Hector is world champion The Hector Rescue Robot Team of the Computer Science Department won first place in the Plant Disaster Prevention Challenge at the World Robot Summit. The international competition is organised by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Japanese New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization to promote technological developments in robotics. In the preliminary round, the robots had to measure gas concentrations, operate valves, inspect an industrial plant visually, thermally and acoustically, and initiate emergency response measures. The team from the Simulation, System Optimisation and Robotics Group, which used two flight robots and one ground robot, went to the finals as a favourite. There, the robot had to dodge debris and track down accident victims, and succeeded in solving the tasks with flying colours. On the subject of winning: The team with its extensive expertise in intelligent (semi-)autonomous robot systems has become accustomed to victories: In the RoboCup Rescue Robot League, the “Best in Class Autonomy Award” was won four years in a row and in 2014 the entire competition was won for the first time ever with an autonomous robot. In 2017, the TU won the ARGOS Challenge.
Celebrating success: TU team with rescue robot Hector.
Electromechanical boule players During the winter semester, student teams at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology developed prototypes that position a miniature boule ball as precisely as possible. The robots competed against each other in a tournament under the eyes of a jury of experts. The specifications were strict: For example, the devices could not weigh more than 2.5 kilograms and the ball had to be ejected fully automatically after a single adjustment. The budget was limited to 75 euros. The seminar “Practical Development Methodology” trains participants in independently solving technical tasks in preparation for their future professional life.
17
Run on biomedical engineering degree course
The new Bachelor’s course in biomedical engineering jointly established by TU Darmstadt and Goethe University Frankfurt is very popular: Around 280 first-semester students, roughly 40 percent of whom are women, were the very first to enrol. Thanks to this cooperation, which is unique in Hesse, students benefit equally from the competences of the Goethe University’s Faculty of Medicine and TU Darmstadt’s Department of Electrical Engineering. About eighty percent of the courses impart engineering knowledge from mathematics, physics and electrical engineering; about twenty percent are based on scientific-medical principles. The focus is on a close relationship between biomedical engineering and clinical issues. Internships and tutorials complement the theory. In order to get to know both specialist cultures and make them tangible, teaching takes place at both locations: four days a week in Darmstadt, one day a week at the Faculty of Medicine in Frankfurt.
Academic Affairs
The TU considers the fact that about two fifths of the first semester students in the new course are female to be an enormous success, because women are still in the minority in MINT subjects nationwide. A Master’s programme in biomedical engineering is to be introduced in the winter semester 2021/2022, in time for the first Bachelor’s graduates.
18
The TU and Goethe University developed the joint study programme over a period of one and a half years. The interdisciplinary, inter-university cooperation is intended to help meet future challenges. Demand for telemedicine, biotechnologies and intelligent biomedical engineering solutions is increasing as a result of demographic change, higher life expectancy and age-related diseases. The two universities want to address the growing significance of these topics with the new programme. Since 2015, TU Darmstadt, the Goethe University Frankfurt and the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz form the strategic alliance “Rhine-Main-Universities”.
“The profiles of TU Darmstadt and the Goethe University complement each other perfectly in the new biomedical engineering degree course. Furthermore, we are currently expanding our biomedical engineering research activities, including with the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Four new professorships are being created for this purpose at TU Darmstadt alone”. Professor Hans Jürgen Prömel, President of TU Darmstadt
“The cooperation between TU Darmstadt and Goethe University Frankfurt also opens up a whole new dimension for Hesse as a business location, not only in teaching”. Professor Robert Sader, Dean of Studies Faculty of Medicine Goethe University
“Studies show that more women are interested in engineering if it is interdisciplinary and involves socio-political issues”. Professor Andy Schürr, Dean of Student Affairs, Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
“Health is a huge topic and one of the most central scientific challenges in the world”. Professor Jutta Hanson, Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
Attractive range of courses: Linking engineering sciences and medicine.
19
Demanding from the very start
Keeping pace with energy How can the human body become a charging station for the smartphone? More than 300 students of mechanical engineering and sports science devoted themselves to this question during the KI²VA week “Introduction to mechanical engineering”. In the “Move & Use” project, 36 interdisciplinary and international teams searched for ways to convert mechanical energy generated by everyday movement into electricity and store it in order to charge a mobile device. The system should be able to be attached to the body without interfering with movement and be able to react to disruptions. The students also had to create a business model. A jury of experts evaluated the degree of innovation. The teams were accompanied by scientists from the department and by project tutors. A good solution was offered by the “Power2go” team, which combined a knee orthosis with an efficient mechanism for using excess energy. The solution “Hike up your phone” can be retrofitted to a hiking backpack. A rope system converts the excess energy when lowering the leg, and a magnetic mechanism provides additional safety. “WonderSchuh” uses the rolling process and the forward motion of the foot when walking to accelerate a permanent magnet that induces a current in a coil.
Academic Affairs
Business games for local transport
20
During their interdisciplinary KI²VA project week, 190 students of politics and industrial engineering took on the role of a consulting company. The aim was to develop a coherent and sustainable transport concept for local public transport. In 16 groups, the students designed a business model including a financial plan. They had to deal with existing structures in the city of Darmstadt and examine the interests of stakeholders and their forms of organisation. The teams were supported by technical and team tutors as well as internal and external experts.
Starting studies with energy and fun: Project “Move and Use”.
Professor Andreas Pfnür (Institute of Real Estate Management) and Professor Markus Lederer (Institute of Political Science) praised the “innovative mobility concepts” of their students.
This is KIVA KIVA stands for competence development through interdisciplinary networking from the very start. With interdisciplinary and technical projects in the starting phase of university studies, the TU has set standards nationwide to improve study conditions and teaching quality.
First place went to the team “Darmstadts Multimodale Zukunft”. Second and third place were secured by students with ideas for “sky capsules” and a suspension railway. 21
Comprehensive protection
Academic Affairs
Good ideas for effective rescue operations.
22
Humanitarian mission
Better harvest
130 students from business administration/ industrial engineering and sociology degree courses have developed concepts for humanitarian missions in an interdisciplinary project in the introductory phase of their studies. In small groups, the participants designed technical aids, instructions for do-it-yourself products and app developments.
Harvest yields are threatened worldwide by pests and pathogens. Previous defence strategies aimed at creating resistant strains and chemical or biological control. A new approach could be genome editing using the “gene scissorsâ€? CRISPR/Cas. This is a topic that 120 students from the Department of Biology and the Institute for Sociology dealt with during the KI²VA project week. They presented their solutions to a jury that also included economic experts.
The students were supported by the aid organisation Cadus, which organises humanitarian aid missions in Iraq and Syria and specialises in the development of open source projects for self-help. Special incentive and motivation of the project work: The best ideas of the TU groups were able to be put into practice. The award-winning concepts included a tripod with pulley mechanism that could be used to lift debris, and an innovative tent concept that could be set up quickly as a mobile operating theatre in crisis regions.
The winner was a group that wanted to introduce a virus antibody into the manioc genome to protect the manioc from the Cassava mosaic virus in Ghana. Second place went to a concept for improved maize cultivation in Ethiopia. Here, CRISPR/Cas should remove the immunity of the pest larvae of Spodoptera frugiperda against a maize toxin. Third place went to students who wanted to use the natural resistance of Bolivian potatoes to potato blight. It is hoped that the use of CRISPR/Cas increases the yield.
Settling in quickly
Every winter semester, around 250 international students begin their Bachelor studies at the TU. The free preliminary course “PreCIS”, which is tailored to their needs and lasts several weeks, helps them to prepare for German university life as well as the new culture and language. The programme, which was launched as a pilot project, was developed in 2017 by TU Darmstadt as part of the KI²VA project to improve quality in teaching. With growing success: In the winter semester 2018/19, the course was already attended by 26 first-semester Bachelor students. They had been selected from around one hundred applicants according to fixed quotas from departments such as Computer Science, Business Administration/Industrial Engineering or Electrical Engineering and Information Technology with the new biomedical engineering degree course. One of the special features of “PreCIS” is the language course – the training concentrates on German as a scientific language and the specialist terminology of mathematics. Additionally, there is vocabulary from the “university realm” and studyrelevant key competence training. Another plus are the Buddies: For the whole of the first semester, specialist assistants support the newcomers in matters about life inside and outside the university.
Good marks in the ranking
Benefits from intensive support: Mohammad Amin Ali.
The TU’s Bachelor students assess their degree programmes predominantly positively. The subjects biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics and computer science as well as political science and geosciences are consistently ranked in the top and middle group in the CHE University Ranking 2018. One of the biggest strengths is the support for new students.
“I have already set up a WhatsApp group with my Buddy Alex, who is a 3rd semester computer science student. I can turn to him when I get stuck. That’s really a big help”. Mohammad Amin Ali, student of computer science from Syria
23
Generous opening hours
Academic Affairs
Learning centre in the old main building.
24
Opened in early 2018, the learning centre in the first basement floor of the old main building is entirely to the students’ taste. At the central location on the city centre campus they can find around 135 learning workstations on 420 square metres. Several group work rooms make it possible to work with particular concentration. The centre is open daily from 8 am to 10 pm. The space had become vacant after the relocation of various operational workshops to the ErnstNeufert-Halle. Construction workers gutted the rooms and renovated them from the ground up. In addition to the learning centre on the basement level, modern seminar rooms as well as office and laboratory space were created.
New learning centres have been established at a total of 16 locations on the campus in recent years. Another centre is already on the official opening list: When the Department of History and Social Sciences moves back into the city palace, it will be able to provide 200 learning workstations there.
Courses offered by TU Darmstadt
113
degree programmes
13
departments
5
fields of study
Bachelor
Master
Applied Geosciences Applied Mechanics Architecture Building Technology Biology Biomedical Engineering Biomolecular Engineering Business Administration/Industrial Engineering • specialising in Civil Engineering • specialising in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology • specialising in Mechanical Engineering Business Information Systems Chemistry Civil Engineering and Geodesy Computational Engineering Computer Science Digital Philology Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Environmental Engineering History with a Focus on Modern History Information Systems Technology Materials Science Mathematics Mechanical and Process Engineering Mechatronics Pedagogy Physics Political Science Psychology Psychology in IT Sociology Sports Science and Computer Science
Applied Geosciences Architecture Autonomous Systems Biomolecular Engineering Business Administration/Industrial Engineering • specialising in Civil Engineering • specialising in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology • specialising in Mechanical Engineering Business Information Systems Chemistry Civil Engineering Computational Engineering Computer Science Distributed Software Systems Educational Sciences – Education in Processes of Global Technologicalisation Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Energy Science and Engineering Environmental Engineering German Linguistics Geodesy and Geoinformation Governance and Public Policy History Information and Communication Engineering Information Systems Technology International Cooperation in Urban Development International Studies/Peace and Conflict Research Internet and Web-based Systems IT Security Linguistic and Literary Computing Materials Science Mathematics Mechanical and Process Engineering Mechanics Mechatronics Paper Science and Technology – Paper Technology and Biobased Fiber Materials Philosophy Physics Political Theory Psychology Psychology in IT Sociology Sports Management Sports Science and Computer Science Technology and Philosophy Technical Biology Traffic and Transport Tropical Hydrogeology and Environmental Engineering (TropHEE) Visual Computing
Bachelor of Education (Teaching’s degree) Building Technology Body Care Chemical Engineering Computer Science Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Metal Engineering Joint Bachelor of Arts Business Administration and Economics Computer Science Digital Philology German Studies History Musical Culture Philosophy Political Science Sociology Sports Science
Lehramt an Gymnasien (Teaching’s degree) Biology Chemistry Computer Science German History Mathematics Philosophy/Ethics Physics Sports
Master of Education (Teaching’s degree) Catholic Religion Computer Science Ethics German History Mathematics Physics Politics and Economics Protestant Religion Sports Science winter semester 2018/19
25
25,889
7,635
8,614
Students
Students in first subject-related semester in 2018
Master’s students
Students Departments
Total
Women in %
Foreigners * in %
of which Master’s **
of which Master’s in %
Law and Economics
3,612
22 %
14 %
930
26 %
History and Social Sciences
2,949
53 %
9%
950
32 %
Human Sciences
1,355
62 %
9%
453
33 %
Mathematics
793
34 %
9%
242
31 %
Physics
1,119
24 %
8%
208
19 %
Chemistry
1,017
39 %
8%
267
26 %
Biology
831
64 %
8%
182
22 %
Materials and Earth Sciences
1,142
31 %
31 %
466
41 %
Civil and Environmental Engineering
2,167
38 %
18 %
746
34 %
Architecture
1,347
57 %
27 %
625
46 %
Mechanical Engineering
2,801
12 %
21 %
1,131
40 %
Electrical Engineering and Inf. Technology
2,087
18 %
39 %
655
31 %
Computer Science
3,681
14 %
22 %
1,241
34 %
Mechanics
188
15%
22 %
79
42 %
Computational Engineering
282
18 %
17 %
96
34 %
Information Systems Engineering
246
14 %
16 %
71
29 %
Mechatronics
154
6%
27 %
154
100 %
Energy Science and Engineering
118
23 %
28 %
118
100 %
Total
25,889
31 %
18 %
8,614
33 %
Fields of Study
Source: Data Warehouse / Excludes individuals with leave of absence, includes doctoral students, excludes those on second degree courses. Assignment based on first subject, winter semester 2018/19. / * Foreigners refer here to all individuals with foreign citizenship, even if they obtained their university entrance qualifications in Germany./ ** Master’s = all except Master of Education, preparation for Master’s included
Academic Affairs Facts and figures
Students in first subject-related semester
26
Undergraduate degree courses*
Master’s degree courses **
Departments
Total
Women in %
Foreigners *** in %
Total
Women in %
Foreigners. *** in %
Law and Economics
935
23 %
15 %
305
25 %
15 %
History and Social Sciences
510
56 %
6%
301
59 %
11 %
Human Sciences
197
70 %
12 %
160
58 %
4%
Mathematics
140
39 %
6%
79
41 %
9%
Physics
376
40 %
17 %
66
23 %
5%
Chemistry
173
41 %
7%
86
44 %
6%
Biology
175
72 %
10 %
49
59 %
4%
Materials and Earth Sciences
163
37 %
7%
154
25 %
55 %
Civil and Environmental Engineering
343
40 %
15 %
231
42 %
22 %
Architecture
150
62 %
11 %
181
61 %
29 %
Mechanical Engineering
306
12 %
19 %
369
12 %
29 %
Electrical Engineering and Inf. Technology
626
26 %
32 %
204
19 %
65 %
Computer Science
705
19 %
17 %
339
13 %
15 %
Mechanics
37
22 %
8%
17
12 %
59 %
Computational Engineering
61
16 %
8%
29
21 %
45 %
Information Systems Engineering
50
28 %
22 %
19
5%
11 %
Mechatronics
64
6%
16 %
Energy Science and Engineering Total
35
17 %
29 %
2,688
32 %
23 %
Fields of Study
4,947
34 %
15 %
Source: Data Warehouse / Excludes individuals with leave of absence, doctoral students, and those on second degree courses. Assignment based on first subject. Summer semester 2018 + winter semester 2018/19. / * Bachelor’s at university, Bachelor of Education, Joint Bachelor, Lehramt an Gymnasiensupplementary teacher’s training **Master’s at university, Master of Education, preparation for Master’s ***Foreigners refer here to all individuals with foreign citizenship, even if they obtained their university entrance qualifications in Germany
University and State Library 2018
1.37 million visitors 616,000 users of the reading room
532,031 items borrowed 26,609 requests for information Around 5.05 million: the number of individual pages of the digital collection accessed Around 1 million: the number of times the library's publication service (TUprints) was accessed
Collection: 4.6 million printed works, of which 2.3 million are books and journals
510,822 electronic media (excluding magazines)
28,257 continuously published journals, of which 25,759 are electronic
13,695 manuscripts 3.47 million Euro of expenditure on acquisitions, of which almost 2.4 million Euro on electronic media
223 books and 427 graphics restored 27
International students* at TU Darmstadt Total of 3,568 from 116 countries in winter semester 2018/19, including ... China India Pakistan Iran Syria Turkey Tunesia Vietnam Egypt Bulgaria Cameroon Russian Fed. Spain Indonesia Brazil
932 270 164 144 138 134 126
2.126
82 76 70 70 67 64 61 58
780
Europe Asia
266
392
America
Africa
Australia
3
* Foreign students who obtained their university entrance qualifications outside of Germany.
Degree courses in highest demand Top 5 Bachelor’s degree courses for international students*
Top 5 Bachelor’s degree courses
Subject
Computer Science
Number of students 2,218
Computer Science
Number of students 183
Mechanical and Process Engineering
1,427
Mechanical and Process Engineering
175
Business Administration/Industrial Engineering – specialising in Mechanical Engineering
1,255
Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
138
Civil Engineering and Geodesy
880
78
Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
Business Administration/Industrial Engineering – specialising in Mechanical Engineering
659
Mechatronics
61
Academic Affairs Facts and figures
Subject
28
Top 5 Master’s degree courses for international students*
Top 5 Master’s degree courses Subject
Number of students
Subject
Number of students
Mechanical and Process Engineering
1,117
Distributed Software Systems
296
Architecture
586
Mechanical and Process Engineering
234
Computer Science
554
206
Business Administration/Industrial Engineering – specialising in Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
498
Information and Communication Engineering
144
Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
444
Materials Science
130
Source: Data Warehouse; excludes individuals with leave of absence and those on second degree courses, winter semester 2018/19.
Doctorates
4,257
total: 447 / Women: 26 % / Foreigners:* 19 %
graduates in 2017
Departments Law and Economics total: 23 / Women: 26 % / Foreigners: 4 % History and Social Sciences total: 19 / Women: 42 % / Foreigners: 0 %
14%
of students studying for Bachelor degrees are foreign nationals.
Human Sciences total: 10 / Women: 60 % / Foreigners: 10 % Mathematics total: 13 / Women: 15 % / Foreigners: 0 % Physics total: 41 / Women: 22 % / Foreigners: 20 %
3,681
Chemistry total: 41 / Women: 24 % / Foreigners: 17 %
With students, Computer Science is the most popular department at TU Darmstadt.
Biology total: 32 / Women: 72 % / Foreigners: 9 % Materials and Earth Sciences total: 33 / Women: 33 % / Foreigners: 42 % Civil and Environmental Engineering total: 35 / Women: 26 % / Foreigners: 23 %
39%
Architecture total: 9 / Women: 56 % / Foreigners: 67 %
of students in the department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology are foreign nationals.
Mechanical Engineering total: 100 / Women: 11 % / Foreigners: 10 % Electrical Engineering and Inf. Technology total: 53 / Women: 19 % / Foreigners: 36 % Computer Science total: 38 / Women: 11 % / Foreigners: 18 %
25%
of students studying for Master's degrees are foreign nationals.
Source: Data Warehouse /data: graduation in 2017 calendar year; “heads�, i.e. first subject only (individuals assigned to departments and fields of study based on first subject). * Foreigners refer here to all individuals with foreign citizenship, even if they obtained their university entrance qualifications in Germany. **Excluding PhD graduates. The diagram still contains Diploma and Magister qualifications so that the number may be larger than the sum of the Bachelor, Masters and teaching qualifications *** includes Joint Bachelor, except Bachelor of Education **** except Master of Education ***** Lehramt an Gymnasien, Bachelor of Education, Master of Education
Graduations Graduates (total)**
Graduates (Bachelor)***
Graduates (Master)****
Graduates (teaching degrees)*****
Departments
total
Women Foreigners* in % in %
total
Women Foreigners* in % in %
total
Women Foreigners* in % in %
total
Women Foreign.* in % in %
Law and Economics
542
20 %
7%
276
23 %
7%
265
16 %
6%
History and Social Sciences
424
55 %
7%
135
47 %
9%
169
60 %
6%
74
57 %
1%
Human Sciences
206
70 %
8%
95
77 %
9%
82
68 %
7%
26
54 %
0%
Mathematics
181
39 %
6%
83
31 %
5%
83
42 %
7%
15
60 %
0%
Physics
160
14 %
3%
91
13 %
2%
65
14 %
3%
4
25 %
0%
Chemistry
162
38 %
3%
85
34 %
2%
67
37 %
1%
9
67 %
22 %
Biology
149
68 %
5%
80
69 %
5%
45
64 %
2%
22
77 %
14 %
Materials and Earth Sciences
184
32 %
27 %
50
34 %
0%
134
31 %
37 %
Civil and Environmental Engineering
449
38 %
12 %
191
43 %
4%
241
34 %
18 %
Architecture
287
53 %
24 %
158
55 %
13 %
125
53 %
38 %
4
0%
0%
Mechanical Engineering
613
10 %
14 %
267
12 %
9%
343
8%
17 %
1
0%
0%
Electrical Engineering and Inf. Technology 321
12 %
37 %
140
9%
16 %
171
14 %
57 %
Computer Science
429
10 %
31 %
167
7%
7%
261
12 %
46 %
Mechanics
34
24 %
12 %
9
22%
0%
24
25 %
17 %
Computational Engineering
22
9%
5%
3
0%
0%
19
11 %
5%
Information Systems Engineering
4% 13 %
19 %
30
0%
23 %
17
12 %
12 %
Mechatronics
47 30
33 %
30
13 %
33 %
Energy Science and Engineering
17
41 %
12 %
17
41 %
12 %
Total
4,257
30 %
15 %
2,158
27 %
22 %
155
57 %
4%
Fields of Study
1,860
30 %
8%
29
30
TU Darmstadt Progress Report 2018
Research
Highlights 2018 Installation of
The first
update 12.1.
DFG collaborative
was urgently required: The Secure
all three Rhine-Main
Mobile Networking Labs Research
Universities (TU Darm-
Team at TU Darmstadt laid bare
research centre in which
stadt, Goethe University Frankfurt and Johannes
a security vulnerability in the
Gutenberg University
iPhone operating system iOS, which
Mainz) are significantly
affected more than half a billion
involved was approved
Apple devices. Attackers were able
in 2018: The title is
to trigger system crashes using
“Regulation of DNA Repair and Genome Stability”.
commercially available hardware and without physical access.
2,500 students from a vocational school in Baden-Württemberg benefit from TU Darmstadt: Technology education experts develop teaching concepts for digitised working environments in the Industry 4.0 age.
6
years of successful research in the DFG Priority Programme “Fuels Produced Regeneratively Through Light-Driven Water Splitting”: Teams from TU Darmstadt are working on technological foundations for the energy revolution.
Over 1,500 materials scientists from all
Research
over Europe came together at the Materials Science and Engineering Congress (MSE) at TU Darmstadt. Many TU researchers participated in the 50 symposia, 150 sessions and numerous plenary lectures.
32
Top positions in German Research Foundation ranking
The engineering sciences at TU Darmstadt are outstanding. This is underlined by the Funding Atlas 2018 of the German Research Foundation: When it comes to attracting German Research Foundation funding in the engineering sciences, TU Darmstadt ranks fourth in a nationwide comparison. In computer science it even moved from seventh to first place. This leap is closely linked to the performance of the two profile areas cyber-security and internet and digitisation. The top ten places of German Research Foundation awards by subject also include other disciplines of TU Darmstadt: Heating technology ranks second, mechanical engineering and production technology fourth. TU Darmstadt also ranks among the top ten in electrical engineering, materials engineering, materials science, systems engineering and mathematics. Together with the Goethe University Frankfurt and the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, TU Darmstadt is one of the strongest scientific regions in Germany. The three universities joined forces to form the Rhine-Main Universities alliance and have raised a total of 457 million euros from the German Research Foundation in the funding period 2014 to 2016. This is more than 6 percent of German Research Foundation funding, which went to a total of 216 universities. Compared to the period 2011 to 2013, the Rhine-Main Universities increased their German Research Foundation funding by almost ten percent.
Strong funding: Profile area Thermo-Fluids & Interfaces.
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Major projects with a promising future
Research
The state research programme LOEWE enhances the profile of TU Darmstadt.
34
Two new LOEWE research clusters
Ten million euros for CROSSING
In June 2018, scientists at TU Darmstadt were again awarded funds from the State Offensive for the Development of Scientific and Economic Excellence (LOEWE). Starting in 2019, the State of Hesse supports two new LOEWE research clusters with 4.65 million euros each over a period of four years: The International Centre for Nuclear Photonics, coordinated by the physics professors Markus Roth and Joachim Enders, uses the laser technology to develop new radiation sources that are suitable to investigate the composition of matter as well as for many technical applications. In the second LOEWE research clusters, the project FLAME, twelve TU research groups from the fields of materials science and geosciences, chemistry as well as electrical engineering and information technology are working on functional materials for energy storage under the leadership of Professor Andreas Klein.
Since 2014, the collaborative research centre CROSSING at TU Darmstadt has been focusing on cryptography-based security solutions. The German Research Foundation has extended its funding and is supporting CROSSING from 2018 to 2022 with a further ten million euros. The SFB/Transregio projects on soft matter and on gas networks, in which TU Darmstadt is involved, are also continuing.
Simulation in the centre Computational engineering combines engineering, mathematics and computer science with computer simulations. Since May 2018, the Centre for Computational Engineering, which is integrated into the TU structure as a cross-sectional area orthogonally to the departments, has been bundling all activities of the young discipline.
Machine learning for agriculture
Professor Kristian Kersting.
In 2018, the number of people suffering from malnutrition rose to 821 million – one in nine people is affected. At the same time, demand for food is rising and climate change is leaving more and more soil infertile. Kristian Kersting, professor of machine learning, and his team see an opportunity to improve nutritional conditions with artificial intelligence (AI). “First of all we want to understand what physiological processes in plants look like when they suffer stress”, says Kersting. “Stress occurs when they do not absorb enough water or are infected with pathogens”. The researchers teach a software to recognise stress patterns by means of a mechanical learning process. As the AI can consider more data than a human, it may discover stress indicators unknown to researchers.
This knowledge would make it possible to grow more resistant plants and combat diseases more efficiently – the basis for precision farming, which would enable higher yields to be achieved on existing farmland. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Partners are the University of Bonn and the Aachen-based company Lemnatec.
35
From human to artificial intelligence
Three questions for ... Professors Constantin Rothkopf and Frank Jäkel, Centre for Cognitive Science. How does cognitive science differ from the emerging field of artificial intelligence? Cognitive science investigates perception, thinking and action and understands these processes as information processing. Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, develops intelligent computer programs. Although cognitive science is concerned with similar methods, it wants to understand natural intelligence in the first place. What role does this understanding play for future technologies? A classic example are human “mistakes”: Are we simply dealing with “errors” here or rather with the effects of human information processing? The answer has fundamental consequences for the development of technical systems. For instance, if we understand human abilities more precisely, we can transfer them better to intelligent systems and also improve the interaction between man and machine. Professors’ dialogue: Frank Jäkel (left), Constantin Rothkopf.
Research
How does the profile of cognitive science at TU Darmstadt differ from that of other research institutions? The Centre for Cognitive Science brings together experts whose research focuses on computer modelling of adaptive behaviour in both technical systems and humans. This simultaneous focus on models of human and artificial intelligence is a specific strength.
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A robot learns to help In the KoBo34 project, researchers from the fields of intelligent autonomous systems (Department of Computer Science) and psychology of information processing (Department of Human Sciences) teach a humanoid, two-armed robot how to intuitively interact with a human being. The robot should learn to help older people in their everyday lives so they can maintain their independence for as long as possible. For the harmonious interaction of man and machine, it is crucial that both the actions of the robot and those of the human are predictable for the respective partner. The machine should recognise human intentions through movement patterns, viewing directions, gestures or verbal expressions. For humans, on the other hand, the machine acts predictably when it executes familiar, seemingly natural movement patterns and provides clues to its intentions and also if there are uncertainties, such as with regard to the action desired by humans. Building on basic skills, a technical layperson, for example a geriatric nurse, teaches the robot new skills through imitation learning.
Cooperative assistance: Robotics in the domestic environment.
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Recipe against the power of quantum computers
In the quantum cryptography lab in the Physics Department.
Research
Due to rapid progress in the development of superfast quantum computers, common encryption and digital signatures could become insecure within just a few years. Researchers are therefore developing new methods that are supposed to be immune to an attack by a quantum computer, so-called postquantum cryptography.
38
A method for securing digital signatures, developed at TU Darmstadt, is now ready for online use. The international body IETF, which develops standards for data traffic in the network, has officially recognised the XMSS (eXtended Merkle Signature Scheme) procedure. “Without secure digital signatures, the internet would have to be switched off”, says Professor Johannes Buchmann, head of the developers,
stressing the importance of these proofs of authorship. XMSS is safe and sustainable, says Buchmann. This is because it does not use complex mathematical problems as security hurdles, which are only ever assumed to be uncrackable. XMSS relies solely on hash functions, which are digital fingerprints of files that use current cryptographic methods as a second hurdle in addition to the mathematical problems. However, that is not a weakness: “We were able to mathematically prove that our method is safe as long as it is the hash function”, Buchmann emphasizes. The method guarantees that no two files have the same fingerprint. If the function used is cracked by hackers, which does happen, it can be quickly replaced. XMSS is thus part of the armour against the quantum computer.
Pros and cons from noise
The project “ArgumenText” at the Ubiquitous Knowledge Processing Lab of the Department of Computer Science develops methods for the automatic recognition of arguments in large heterogeneous text sources. This allows the pros and cons of any topic to be filtered from the noise of the internet. A demonstrator of the bilingual search system is publicly accessible at www. argumentsearch.com. If you enter the keyword nuclear energy, for example, you will receive almost one hundred arguments for and against nuclear power from a wide variety of websites after just a few seconds. The respective sources are linked. Using neural networks, the system first examines which online texts are relevant for the respective topic and then scans them for arguments. In order to decide whether a statement is an argument at all and whether it is on the pro or contra side, the search engine considers not only individual words, but also grammatical structures, contexts and semantics. The algorithms required for this are developed by the team of the lab. “The challenge was to make a system trained for one type of text transferable to any text form”, says Dr. Christian Stab, who manages the project together with Dr. Johannes Daxenberger. Scientific texts, for example, raise arguments completely differently from social media. Argument Mining, the recognition of linguistic arguments by means of computer science, is becoming increasingly important in the digital humanities.
Experts in Argument Mining: Johannes Daxenberger, Christian Stab and Tristan Miller (from left to right).
39
Health data under lock and key
Research
Security ensured for decades is indispensable for the storage of health data.
40
The electronic patient file has been discussed for a long time. But what about the long-term security of the data? Since the computing capacities of attackers are becoming ever greater and their attacks better, it can be assumed that all previously encrypted data will be exposed in 20 years at the latest. Together with Japanese and Canadian partners, the employees of the collaborative research centre CROSSING at TU Darmstadt have developed a prototype that securely stores sensitive health data for the long term. The encryption is based on a division of the original data set to different servers, so that individual parts do not make sense on their own. The division is renewed regularly. The integrity of the data is secured through signatures that even future quantum computers cannot crack. In addition, the Canadian industrial partner, ISARA, protects the data sent
back and forth between clinics and server operators with quantum computer-resistant encryption. In the future, the researchers want to add another level of security: quantum key exchange. The scientists involved in CROSSING are working on this in their own quantum laboratory at TU Darmstadt.
“All encryption methods used today will become insecure in the coming years and decades�. Professor Johannes Buchmann, Spokesperson of the collaborative research centre CROSSING
Faster DNA synthesis
Together with researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, TU Darmstadt biology students Sebastian Barthel and Sebastian Palluk have developed an enzymatic process for the rapid synthesis of DNA sequences. They published their method in June 2018 in the journal “Nature Biotechnology”. The enzymatic process is intended to replace the chemical method for DNA synthesis in the long term. The established technique works well for short DNA strands of up to 150 building blocks, but errors multiply as the length increases. The new DNA synthesis is based on an enzyme from our immune system that sequences DNA building blocks extremely quickly and without a template. Because of this ability, the enzyme has been discussed for decades in connection with DNA synthesis. However, in order to generate defined sequences, it had to be coaxed to add only one DNA building block per reaction. The German-American team succeeded. The simplified DNA synthesis could facilitate the biotechnological production of numerous products, from food to fuel, and drive pharmaceutical research.
Sebastian Palluk (left) and Sebastian Barthel in the laboratory.
“The ability to artificially produce DNA has remained almost static over the past decade. This promising first demonstration of an enzymatic process for DNA synthesis finally brings movement into this field”. Professor Beatrix Süß, Synthetic Genetic Circuits Research Group at the Department of Biology
41
The insect perfume trick
Agriculture needs more environmentally friendly solutions for crop protection. Pesticides are not a good choice because they also harm beneficial insects, reduce biodiversity and pollute soils and groundwater. Our planet is already suffering as a result of these pollutants. The European SUSPHIRE project, in which the three TU Darmstadt professors Heribert Warzecha, Professor of Botany, Andreas Jürgens, Professor of Chemical Ecology and Alfred Nordmann, Professor of Philosophy, are involved, pursues a completely different concept: Plant protection through confusion. The pests are to be irritated by the unorthodox use of sex pheromones to such an extent that they miss the tight time window for mating and no longer produce offspring. Female insects normally use sex pheromones to invite males to mate.
Research
Andreas Jürgens, Janine Gondolf, Heribert Warzecha (from left).
“Because each insect species synthesizes its own perfume to prepare for mating, pheromones can be used very specifically to create confusion and to lure away individual species, and thus for plant protection”. Professor Heribert Warzecha, Department of Biology
42
Warzecha and his colleagues will use gene transfer to modify plants in such a way that they will also produce pheromones. They want to use the plants as bio-factories for the production of pheromones for sprays or traps. However, the long-term goal of the consortium is to bring the pheromone-producing plants into the field together with the crop plants. The sexual attractants would then no longer have to be isolated, but could be released directly into the environment by the plants. However, such applications with genetically modified plants are currently subject to strict regulation.
Innovations for waterways and buildings
“When the elevator goes into operation, thousands of fish can be transported daily to the upper reaches of the Ruhr during spawning season”. Professor Boris Lehmann, Institute for Hydraulic and Water Resources Experiment in the university’s hydraulic engineering laboratory.
An elevator for fish
Bricks and façades from the 3D printer
An EU Directive specifies that rivers must be passable for fish from the estuary to the source from 2027 onwards. Professor Boris Lehmann from the Institute for Hydraulic and Water Resources wants to control the Ruhr barrage of Lake Baldeney with an elevator that is to be installed in a disused pumping station. The difference in height between the upper and lower water is almost nine metres, and at the same time there is no space for a conventional fish ladder by the riverbank. But do fish find their way into the elevator? The researchers led by Lehmann, who initially still worked at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, simulated the flow conditions and estimated the migration corridors of the fish. The investigations resulted in an elevator model with two adjacent elevators. While one is in operation, the fish gather in the other. Laboratory tests with fish showed that the system works well.
TU Darmstadt is the first German university to investigate the entire range of applications of 3D printing in the construction industry. Professor Jörg Lange, head of the Institute for Steel Construction and Mechanics of Materials, sees applications particularly in façade and connecting elements. For instance, two steel girders are currently connected by welding on steel brackets; in future, these could be printed directly onto the girders. Another opportunity lies in the freedom of form. This makes it easy to print curved or delicately shaped bricks. Initial tests with glass were also successful. In order to establish 3D printing in the construction industry, TU researchers are also investigating whether printed components are just as durable and resilient as conventional ones.
43
Overcoming subject boundaries
Three questions for ... Professor Josef Wiemeyer, Director of the Forum for Interdisciplinary Research (FiF). Why is interdisciplinarity so important in research? Many questions are inherently interdisciplinary. Think of human-technology interaction – engineering, humanities and social science issues are involved here. Interdisciplinarity stands for research that avoids disciplinary blinkers by already implementing the intertwining of the participating disciplines in the research question. How has the FiF changed the role of interdisciplinarity at TU Darmstadt in the past decade? Interdisciplinarity has become even more important. Looking at successful research activities at TU Darmstadt, interdisciplinary alliances are at the forefront. The FiF has, for example, conducted workshops in which all researchers working on a particular question have been invited to exchange ideas. In the case of the Serious Games, this resulted in various interdisciplinary projects and a research training group was applied for.
Research
Which topics is the FiF particularly interested in? There are ongoing topics that the FiF pursues in the long term, such as digitisation, creativity, questions of responsibility and security. However, the FiF is open to new interdisciplinary questions beyond these topics. We are keen to achieve a balance between concluding, following up and taking up new topics.
44
Professor Josef Wiemeyer.
Ten years of FiF The Forum for Interdisciplinary Research (FiF) celebrated its tenth anniversary with a ceremony in November 2018. A number of notable events took place on the occasion of the anniversary, including on robotics, law and ethics as well as on the digital city of Darmstadt. The FiF was founded in 2008 as a platform for the promotion of interdisciplinary cooperation at TU Darmstadt. The scientific impulses of the FiF Fellows form the backbone of its work. The FiF supports smaller interdisciplinary research proposals with project funding and thus also offers start-up financing for larger projects.
Advancing ideas, setting impulses – Discussion in the Forum for Interdisciplinary Research.
Interdisciplinary peace research Since January 2018, the Interdisciplinary Research Group on Science, Technology and Security (IANUS) has been attached to the FiF. IANUS stands for peace research through science and engineering in exchange with the social sciences and humanities. The new task consists mainly of promoting TU research projects, for example on dual use and sustainable security research. The professorship “Science and Technology for Peace and Security”, initiated in the IANUS environment and held by Professor Christian Reuter in the Department of Computer Science, began its work in 2017. Reuter cooperates closely with the TU Department of History and Social Sciences.
“Interdisciplinarity requires an open space with a gravitational pull – as provided by the FiF”. FiF-Fellow Professor Hermann Winner, Institute of Automotive Engineering
“The FIF sets impulses and creates stimulating spaces in which the academic exchange across subject boundaries flourishes”. FiF-Fellow Professor Petra Grell, General pedagogy with a focus on media pedagogy
45
Top-Level Research
Federal Government
Excellence Initiative
BMBF-Programme for Collaborative Research
Cluster of Excellence The Formation of Normative Orders Coordinator: Goethe University Frankfurt Participation of the Institute of Political Science and Economy of TU Darmstadt
FAIR-NuStar 3
Graduate Schools Computational Engineering Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Michael Schäfer
ENSURE – New Power Grid Structures
Darmstadt Graduate School of Energy Science and Engineering Coordinators: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Johannes Janicka, Prof. Dr. Wolfram Jaegermann
LOEWE LOEWE Research Focuses Uniformized Structures in Arithmetic and Geometry Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Jan-Hendrik Bruinier Software-Factory 4.0 Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Heiko Mantel
ENAvi– Energy Transition Navigation System
BMWI-Funding The Mittelstand 4.0 – Kompetenzzentrum Darmstadt PHI-Factory – Flexible electrical factory network management for cross-system increase of energy efficiency under the requirements of future distribution networks with renewable energy generation HIGHEST – Home of Innovation, GrowtH, EntrepreneurShip and Technology Management
The Academies’ Programme Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz: The Digital Dictionary of Surnames in Germany Ancient Egyptian Cursive Scripts
Ion conducting Nanopores Coordinators: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Ensinger, Prof. Dr. Bodo Laube
Interconnection with Non-University Research
Networked Infrastructureless Cooperation of Emergency Response Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Matthias Hollick Infrastructure – Design – Society Local Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Annette Rudolph-Cleff ALLEGRO – High-performance components made of aluminium alloys through resource-optimized process technologies Local Coordinator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Groche
Research Facts and figures
SynErgie– Manufacturing Engineering
Building with paper Coordinator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Samuel Schabel
Computer-assisted design methods for complex Genetic circuits Coordinators: Prof. Dr. Beatrix Süß, Prof. Dr. Heinz Koeppl
46
Kopernikus-Projects for the Energy Transition
Emmy Noether Early Career Research Groups Topochemical fluorination in the context of fluoride ion batteries, tailored properties and for the modification of thin films Head: Prof. Dr. Oliver Clemens, Department of Materials and Earth Sciences ConcSys: Reliable and Efficient Complex, Concurrent Software Systems Head: Prof. Dr. Michael Pradel Department of Computer Science Cryptography beyond the Black Box Model Head: Prof. Dr. Sebastian Faust
Helmholtz-Alliance Extreme Matter Institute (EMMI) Helmholtz-Graduate School for Hadron and Ion Research (HGS HIRE)
Federal Government / Hessian State CRISP – Center of Research in Security and Privacy
European Union (EU)
European Research Council (ERC) ERC Starting Grant EUROPIUM – The origin of heavy elements: a nuclear physics and astrophysics challenge Prof. Dr. Almudena Arcones Research Group Theoretical Astrophysics, Department of Physics
ERC Advanced Grant GLOBAL-HOT – A Global History of Technology 1850-2000 Prof. Dr. Mikael Hård Institute of History, Department of History and Social Sciences
ERC Starting Grant SKILLS4ROBOTS – Policy Learning of Motor Skills for Humanoid Robots Prof. Dr. Jan Peters Autonomous Systems Labs, Department of Computer Science
ERC Advanced Grant cool innov – Turning the concept of magnetocaloric cooling on its head Prof. Dr. Oliver Gutfleisch Institute of Functional Materials, Department of Materials and Earth Sciences
ERC Starting Grant VISLIM – Visual Learning and Inference in Joint Scene Models Prof. Stefan Roth, Ph.D. Research Group Interactive Graphics Systems, Department of Computer Science
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks
ERC Starting Grant Pho-T-Lyze – Photonic Terahertz Signal Analyzers Prof. Dr. Sascha Preu Terahertz System Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
HICONO – High Intensity Coherent Nonlinear Optics Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Thomas Halfmann Research Group Nonlinear/Quantum Optics, Department of Physics
ERC Starting Grant FOXON – Functionality of Oxide based devices under Electric-field: Towards Atomic-resolution Operando Nanoscopy Dr. Leopoldo Molina-Luna Advanced Electron Microscopy, Department of Materials and Earth Sciences
Joint Research Projects
ERC Consolidator Grant IL-E-CAT – Enhancing electrocatalysis in low temperature fuel cells by ionic liquid modification Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bastian Etzold Department of Chemistry
CLARA – Chemical Looping gAsification foR sustainAble production of biofuels Coordinator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernd Epple Institute for Energy Systems and Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering
ERC Consolidator Grant LIVESOFT – Lightweight Verification of Software Prof. Dr.-Ing. Patrick T. Eugster Research Group Distributed Systems Programming, Department of Computer Science
LIG2LIQ – Cost Effective Conversion of Lignite and Waste to Liquid Fuels Coordinator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernd Epple Institute for Energy Systems and Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering
ERC Consolidator Grant PUMA – antiProton Unstable Matter Annihilation Prof. Dr. Alexandre Obertelli Exotic, Strange and Anti- matter, Department of Physics
ENTER (COST Action) – EU Foreign Policy Facing new Realities: Perceptions, Contestation, Communication and Relations Koordinatorin: Prof. Dr. Michèle Knodt Institute of Political Science, Department of History and Social Sciences
ERC Consolidator Grant CONSYN – Contextualizing biomolecular circuit models for synthetic biology Prof. Dr. techn. Heinz Koeppl Bioinspired Communication Systems, Department of Electrical Enineering and Information Technology
CarbaZymes – Sustainable Industrial Processes based on a C-C bond-forming Enzyme Platform Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Wolf-Dieter Fessner Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry
ERC Advanced Grant PACE – Programming Abstractions for Applications in Cloud Environments Prof. Dr.-Ing. Mira Mezini Research Group Software Technology, Department of Computer Science
47
German Research Foundation
Collaborative Research Centres 805 Control of Uncertainty in Load-Carrying Structures in Mechanical Engineering Spokesperson: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Pelz Institute for Fluid Systems, Department of Mechanical Engineering 1053 MAKI – Multi-Mechanisms Adaptation for the Future Internet Spokesperson: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf Steinmetz Multimedia Communications Lab, Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology 1119 CROSSING – Cryptography-Based Security Solutions: Enabling Trust in New and Next Generation Computing Environments Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Johannes Buchmann Research Group Theoretical Computer Science, Department of Computer Science 1194 Interaction between Transport and Wetting Processes Spokesperson: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Stephan Institute for Technical Thermodynamics Department of Mechanical Engineering 1245 Nuclei: From fundamental Interactions to Structures and Stars Spokesperson: Prof. Achim Schwenk, Ph.D. Theory Centre, Department of Physics
Research Facts and figures
TRR 75 Droplet Dynamics Under Extreme Ambient Conditions Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weigand University of Stuttgart, Institute of Aerospace Thermodynamics Deputy Spokesperson: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Cameron Tropea TU Darmstadt, Institute for Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics, Department of Mechanical Engineering
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TRR 129 Oxyflame – Development of Methods and Models to Describe Solid Fuel Reactions Within an Oxy-Fuel Atmosphere Spokesperson: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Reinhold Kneer RWTH Aachen, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Deputy Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Andreas Dreizler Research Group Reactive Flows and Diagnostics, Department of Mechanical Engineering TRR 146 Multiscale Simulation Methods for Soft Matter Systems Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Friederike Schmid University Mainz, Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science Deputy Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Nico van der Vegt TU Darmstadt, Research Group Computational Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry TRR 150 Near-Wall Turbulent Chemically Reacting Multiphase Flows Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Andreas Dreizler Research Group Reactive Flows and Diagnostics, Department of Mechanical Engineering Deputy Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Olaf Deutschmann Institute for Chemical Technology and Polymer Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology TRR 154 Mathematical Modelling, Simulation and Optimization Using the Example of Gas Networks Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Alexander Martin University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Mathematical Economics Deputy Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Stefan Ulbrich Institute of Optimization, Department of Mathematics TRR 211 Strong Interaction Matter under Extreme Conditions Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Dirk Rischke Goethe University Frankfurt, Institute for Theoretical Physics Deputy Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Jochen Wambach, TU Darmstadt, Institute for Nuclear Physics Deputy Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Frithjof Karsch, Bielefeld University, Faculty of Physics
Research Training Groups
Priority Programmes
1529 Mathematical Fluid Dynamics – International Research Training Group Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Matthias Hieber Working Group Analysis, Department of Mathematics
1613 Fuels Produced Regeneratively Through Light-Driven Water Splitting: Clarification of the Elemental Processes Involved and Prospects for Implementation in Technological Concepts Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Wolfram Jaegermann Research Group Surface Science, Department of Materials and Earth Sciences
1657 Molecular and Cellular Responses to Ionizing Radiation Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Markus Löbrich Institute of Zoology, Department of Biology Deputy Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Gerhard Thiel Institute of Botany, Department of Biology 1994 Adaptive Preparation of Information from Heterogeneous Sources Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Iryna Gurevych Ubiquitous Knowledge Processing Lab, Department of Computer Science 2050 Privacy and Trust for Mobile Users Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Max Mühlhäuser Research Group Telecooperation, Department of Computer Science
1640 Joining by Plastic Deformation Coordinator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Ing. Peter Groche Institute for Production Engineering and Forming Machines, Department of Mechanical Engineering 1857 ESSENCE – Electromagnetic Sensors for Life Sciences: New Sensor Concepts and Technologies for Biomedical Analysis and Diagnostics, Process- and Environmental Monitoring Coordinator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rolf Jakoby Institute for Microwave Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
2128 AccelencE – Accelerator Science and Technology for Energy Recovery Linacs Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Norbert Pietralla Institute for Nuclear Physics, Department of Physics 2222 KRITIS – Critical infrastructures: Social Construction, Function Failure and Protection in Urban Spaces Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Ivo Engels Institute of History, Department of History and Social Sciences
Research Units 1583 Hydrogen-Bonded Liquids Subject to Interfaces of Various Hydroaffinities Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Michael Vogel Institute for Condensed Matter Physics, Department of Physics 1748 Networks on Networks: The Interplay of Structure and Dynamics in Spatial Ecological Networks Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Barbara Drossel Institute for Condensed Matter Physics, Department of Physics
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TU Darmstadt Progress Report 2018
Why I study here
Ingo Hoyer
Set on TU Darmstadt
Why I study here
Almost 26,000 students are enrolled at TU Darmstadt. We asked some of them why they chose the TU. What do they like about their degree course? Where do they like to spend their time? And what do they like about living in Darmstadt?
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Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
I like studying at the TU because ... it’s recognised as a good university abroad. The demands placed on students are of course correspondingly high – but the outcome is worth the effort. What I particularly like about my degree course is that ... despite a lot of theory, the practical aspects are not neglected. We do a lot of mathematics, but always have the practical application in electrical engineering in mind. I like living in Darmstadt because ... the city combines the functional with the beautiful. The TU is conveniently located in the centre of Darmstadt. The fast connection to Frankfurt and the airport offers many benefits. The Herrngarten and the Mathildenhöhe provide breathing space and tranquillity as a balance to university life.
Rainer Hofmann
Joint Bachelor in History and Political Science
My favourite place on campus is ... the university library in the city centre. In addition to the comfortable egg chairs, the cafeteria offers everything a student needs. Coffee, fellow students and a good excuse not to have to study ... I like studying at the TU because ... very different cultures study, live and exchange views and experiences together. The quality of the courses and the competence of the lecturers are impressive. I like living in Darmstadt because ... city flair meets family vibe. And the beer isn’t bad either, and I’m saying that as a native Bavarian. What I particularly like about my degree course is that ... excursions to various research projects are offered.
Business Information Systems remains champion When it comes to engineering and computer science-related subjects, German HR managers particularly like to recruit graduates of TU Darmstadt. This is confirmed by the 2018 university career ranking of the magazine “WirtschaftsWoche”. According to this, business information systems came first, industrial engineering third. Electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and information technology were also among the top 5. The 500 HR experts surveyed rank TU Darmstadt among the leading universities that provide particularly intensive preparation for future careers. The managers pay attention to whether the universities enable early project experience, ensure multilingual education and the ability to solve problems flexibly and are well acquainted with current requirements in the respective industry.
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“The scholarship from the Thomas Weiland Founation gives me financial independence, allowing me to fully concentrate on my studies”. Felicia Müller, Student of industrial engineering, specialising in electrical and information technology
Scholarships provide support Immense relief
Why I study here
Financing is an important criterion for deciding on a degree course and for successfully completing it: TU Darmstadt offers its own scholarship programmes that take into account performancerelated and social aspects.
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The Prof.-Sorin-Huss Fund provides help with childcare costs to mothers and fathers who are undergraduate or doctorate students. The support particularly provides relief for parents in financially critical situations. Jürgen Mutzl, doctorate student at the Department of Materials and Geosciences, also benefited from the foundation. During his studies he still worked 20 hours a week in order to be able to finance the apartment and the costs of living for himself, his son and his wife, who also studied and worked. “The support of the fund enabled me to reduce my working hours and concentrate more on my studies”. His grades improved immediately. Mutzl completed his Bachelor’s degree and later his Master’s thesis, for which he again received support from the fund, with the grade “very good”. “It just makes a difference whether you can study one or two more days a week or not”, says Mutzl.
Promoting responsibility More than 350 students at TU Darmstadt currently have a scholarship to study in Germany. Companies, foundations and other non-profit organisations as well as private individuals are involved in this fund, which supports students with 300 euros a month for
one year. Merck KGaA is currently the main corporate sponsor. The scholarship works according to the “half and half” principle: Half of the monthly allowance comes from the federal government, the other half from sponsors sourced by the TU. TU Darmstadt receives funding of around 1.3 million euros every year, making it particularly successful in a national comparison.
Big advantage The Thomas Weiland Foundation at TU Darmstadt awards scholarships for the promotion of young scientists in MINT subjects, i.e. subjects related to mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology, to outstanding TU students entering the Master’s phase. The foundation provides an annual grant of 100,000 euros. The funding amounts to 500 euros per month and covers four semesters.
“Thanks to the Thomas Weiland Foundation, I was able to complete the first semester of my Master’s degree abroad”. Tilman Strampe, Mechatronics student
Luisa Pumplun
Business Administration/ Industrial Engineering, specialising in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
My favourite place on campus is ... the old main building, because it shows how the university looked in its early days. I like studying at the TU because ... my fellow students are very friendly and helpful. I feel comfortable in Darmstadt because ... the city is just the right size and has many parks and students.
Decided on TU Darmstadt: Abhijeet Shrotri.
What I particularly like about my degree course is that ... the degree gives me a lot of flexibility and enables me to choose from a wide range of professions.
Final spurt to the finish line A degree scholarship from TU Darmstadt takes the pressure off international students while they are writing their Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis. One of the scholarship recipients is Abhijeet Shrotri, who successfully completed his Master’s degree in Information and Communication Engineering. He became aware of the scholarship through a Facebook post by the Department of International Affairs. The path to funding was unbureaucratic. The grant is awarded depending on performance criteria taking into account the social situation. By the way: The fact that Shrotri chose Darmstadt as his study location for the Master’s phase after completing his Bachelor’s degree in India was due to a friend of his uncle, who is a university lecturer in Germany. The latter recommended to him the German TU9 universities, the union of nine leading technical universities in Germany, to which TU Darmstadt also belongs. Shrotri: “I found out that the electrical engineer had been invented at what was then TH Darmstadt – this tradition won me over”!
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Ayoub Alhousin
Master’s in Civil Engineering
Commitment counts
I like studying at TU Darmstadt because ... it has a good reputation and you can do your doctorate here after your degree course. I feel at home in Darmstadt because ... Darmstadt is a multicultural city with many international students. What I particularly like about my degree course is that ... the teachers are highly qualified and have a lot of professional experience – and not just theoretical knowledge.
Many TU Darmstadt students are involved in around 60 university associations – they assume social responsibility, find innovative technical solutions, establish contact networks, and enrich cultural and social life.
Off into space The students of the university group “TU Darmstadt Space Technology” are driven by the desire to transport a selfdeveloped satellite into space. The idea to found the association was born in 2016 in a lecture: “Some of my fellow students and I quickly realised that we shared an interest in space travel”, explains founding member Mark Fellner. The university group, which is closely networked with the European Space Agency ESA, is currently working on the development and construction of a cube-shaped satellite called CubeSat.
Why I study here
The satellite should have a side length of ten centimetres each and a weight of approximately 1.3 kilograms. If the launch and the mission are successful, CubeSat will collect important data on its orbit in the cosmos for several months and send it to Earth.
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Jan Bambach
Fast and robust: University group Gaelic Athletic Association.
Computer Science
My favourite place on campus is ... the maths building in the city centre, because it has a beautiful view of Darmstadt’s Mathildenhöhe.
Tournaments and team spirit They love the exciting mix of baseball, hockey and lacrosse: The Gaelic Athletic Association, a student group at the TU, practises hurling, probably the oldest field sport in the world and one of the fastest team sports. The students have already taken part in several European championships. Hurling has been part of the Unisport Centre of TU Darmstadt since 2014. “I came into contact with this exciting sport through a student exchange in Ireland. It was clear to me that I also wanted to pursue hurling in Germany”, says Jakob Feldmann, founder and active member of the group.
What I particularly like about my degree course is that ... computer science is a very young science, there are constantly new developments and discoveries that will also be highly relevant in the future.
Social and inspiring The Peruvian Karla Rocío Salazar-Vogel, who completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s studies in Psychology at TU Darmstadt with an excellent result, has been awarded the Prize of the German Academic Exchange Service 2018. The jury felt that the young woman demonstrates a high degree of determination, perseverance and intercultural competence. Salazar-Vogel came to Germany as an au-pair in 2010 and has been enthusiastic about the country and its culture ever since. Salazar-Vogel prepared her stay in Germany carefully with language courses and financed it herself through various jobs. During her studies she worked at the bishop’s ordinariate in Limburg and volunteered in charitable Karla Rocío Salazar-Vogel. projects. At TU Darmstadt she was a member of the university group Sustainability and participated in a social project of the international association AIESEC. She sees herself as an ambassador for her country and brings Peruvian culture closer to friends and acquaintances, such as through cooking or language courses.
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Improving educational opportunities: University group “Nachhelfer für kostenfreie Schülerbetreuung”.
A fresh look
Why I study here
The student management consultancy Junior Comtec is 30 years old: It has managed around 700 projects since its foundation. Around 40 active consultants support clients that include Dax corporations, startups and SMEs, but also affiliated university groups. The student consultants come from degree courses such as industrial engineering, but also business information systems, physics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering or psychology. They are all looking for an entry into practice and the world of work via the university group. Successor projects by satisfied clients such as Lufthansa often end up in the commissions book of the student management consultancy. The university group also attends trade fairs such as the Hannover Messe and actively acquires clients there.
“Clients choose us because they appreciate the young outside perspective”. Leon Heinrichsbauer, Chairman of Junior Comtec
Commitment to equal opportunities What can be done to change the influence of social background on educational outcome? The university group “Nachhelfer für kostenfreie Schülerbetreuung” (after-school helpers for free after-school care) focuses on targeted individual voluntary lessons for disadvantaged children and on joint excursions. About 25 students of TU Darmstadt and the Hochschule Darmstadt are involved in the association. The Erich-Kästner comprehensive school in Darmstadt-Kranichstein cooperates with the after-school helpers and coordinates the programme. The partner school establishes contact with pupils who are considered to particularly benefit from tutoring. The comprehensive commitment is beneficial: “We have already helped many pupils to improve their marks”, says Konrad Neukel, first chairman of the association.
“It’s important to us that everyone has equal opportunities, but especially children with a migrant background”. Anneke Lampe, Member of “Nachhelfer”
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Melina Hadjebi
Master’s in Energy Science and Engineering
Perfect combinations
I like studying at the TU because ... the TU has a very good reputation and there are few universities in Germany that offer a degree course as interdisciplinary as Energy Science and Engineering. What I particularly like about my degree course is that ... energy is a topical issue, and how we deal with our environment and how we optimise everything and make it more efficient is very important for our future.
Virtuoso: Frederik Bous (right).
Maths and music Frederik Bous studied electrical engineering and information technology, mathematics and computational engineering at TU Darmstadt. As a result he hold several degrees. At the same time, a completely different field is close to his heart: music. His composition “The Girl from Hunan” was premiered by the TU Choir and the TU Orchestra during a semester concert. It was based on a poem by the contemporary Chinese poet Zheng Xiaoqiong. Frederik Bous spent a year abroad at Tongji University in Shanghai where he learned Chinese. Xiaoqiong’s work impressed him so much that he set part of it to music. When Bous came to Darmstadt to study, he quickly joined the maths choir and later became its director. Inspired by the cooperation between TU Darmstadt and the Akademie für Tonkunst Darmstadt, the virtuoso also studied piano and composition at the Akademie. As a composer, Bous is versatile: In addition to classical chamber music pieces, he creates pieces with live electronics and experimental instruments. Recurring elements of his compositions are microtonality, classical forms and aleatorics, i.e. random operations. His Master’s thesis dealt with the generation of vocal voices on the computer.
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TU Darmstadt Progress Report 2018
Cooperation and transfer
Highlights 2018 1
cooperation agreement on the project association “Digital City” was signed by TU President Hans Jürgen Prömel and
Jochen Partsch, Lord Mayor of the Science City Darmstadt. The university provides its broad expertise in the profile areas “Internet and Digitisation” and “Cybersecurity”.
3 on one website: TU Darmstadt, the Goethe University Frankfurt and the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz present their association of Rhine-Main Universities with a new joint website at
Cooperation and transfer
www.rhein-main-universitaeten.de
young start-up teams from the university presented their business ideas at the Start-up & Innovation Day at TU Darmstadt.
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2
new part-time Master’s programmes – “Construction Law and Construction Industry” and “Rail Transport, Mobility and Logistics” – are offered by the TU.
With
6
granted start-up scholarships (700,000 euros)
and
3
granted research transfers
(2.6 million euros) from the EXIST federal funding programme, TU Darmstadt was one of the most successful universities in Germany in 2018.
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50 years of partnership with Lyon
German-French friendship: During the ceremony.
On 4 June 2018, TU Darmstadt and the École Centrale de Lyon (ECL) celebrated their 50th partnership anniversary in Darmstadt. During the ceremony, ECL Director Frank Debouck received the Honorary Athena of TU Darmstadt as a sign of the long-standing ties and close friendship. To kick off the festivities, a public conference with speakers from Darmstadt and Lyon addressed the topic “The Future of European Engineering Education Cooperation”. The keynote speech was held by Professor Margret Wintermantel, President of the German Academic Exchange Service. The ECL was the first foreign university with which TU Darmstadt concluded a cooperation agreement. After signing the partnership document in 1968, the first exchanges began in the 1970s. Since then, around 700 students have completed a stay abroad at the respective partner university. In the late 1980s, the two universities developed the first joint double degree programme of its kind in Europe. Around 80 students from TU Darmstadt
and 120 graduates from ECL have received academic degrees from both universities. A double doctorate agreement in mechanical engineering has been in place since 2010. Work is underway on a joint Master’s programme in the field of aeronautics.
“The double degree at TU Darmstadt and the ECL gave me the opportunity to get to know two very different academic systems”. Ann Berit Sperling, double degree graduate of TU Darmstadt in the Department of Mechanical Engineering
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Energy-efficient ETA factory
Cooperation and transfer
Model project ETA factory.
The ETA model factory on the Lichtwiese campus is a kind of large-scale research facility in which the Mechanical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture Departments of TU Darmstadt and more than 30 companies have participated. Around 15 million euros were invested. Since May 2013, the partners have been focusing on energy efficiency in industrial production. The ETA project officially ended in April 2018 with a ceremony. After five years of research and two years of operation, it is clear: Industrial production enterprises can save up to 40 percent of energy if they cleverly network their plants and industrial buildings. The ETA factory, for example, uses waste heat from systems to heat the building. The ETA project, which is integrated into the interdisciplinary Future Energy Systems profile area at TU Darmstadt, was led by the Institute of Production Management, Technology and Machine Tools at TU Darmstadt.
Follow-up projects for energy research are already underway in the ETA factory, such as the “SynErgie” project, which deals with the flexible alignment of industrial processes to the fluctuating supply of renewable energies. The project “ETA-Transfer”, in turn, aims to demonstrate how the principles developed in the ETA project can be transferred to industry.
“With the ETA factory’s holistic view of buildings, machines and processes, we have opened up a new aspect in research funding. The positive project results confirm the potential of these ideas”. Dr. Frank Heidrich, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
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Side by side with SMEs
Signals of the heart Many people are unaware that they suffer from atrial fibrillation. The Dutch company Happitech is developing an app that turns the smartphone into a detector of dangerous cardiac arrhythmias. Tim Schäck and Dr. Michael Muma from the Signal Processing Institute of TU Darmstadt help interpret the recorded data. The partners first optimised a method that processes mobile phone images of the blood vessels in the finger into a one-dimensional signal. This is then evaluated by algorithms co-developed at the TU. The researchers have already examined many thousands of heart signals and compared their results with those of a classical cardiological evaluation. For data sets that were recorded under optimal conditions, they achieved hit rates of almost 100 percent.
Cooperation with Hessenmetall In February 2018, TU Darmstadt and the Employers’ Association Hessenmetall agreed on a strategic cooperation. The cooperation is intended to reinforce the innovative strength of medium-sized companies in Hesse’s metal and electrical industry. The focus is on IT security, industry 4.0, digitisation, energy efficiency, drive systems, autonomous driving and intelligent materials. The partners want to exchange information closely in planning committees in order to identify priority content and participate in the competition for publicly funded research programmes. The cooperation also includes the search for specialists, further training as well as appearances at trade fairs and congresses. Hessenmetall represents 580 companies employing 130,000 people in Hesse.
Research for health: Tim Schäck (left) and Michael Muma.
“The cooperation with Hessenmetall fits perfectly into our regional environment, which ranks among the top metropolitan regions in terms of economic strength, innovative strength, level of qualification and internationality”. Professor Hans Jürgen Prömel, President of TU Darmstadt
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Cooperation and transfer
From the laboratory into practice
Research has a long way to go before it reaches maturity – from the idea lab to practical application.
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Pioneers on the road to success With the Pioneer Fund, TU Darmstadt and the ENTEGA NATURpur Institute support the transfer of research results into practice with 600,000 euros annually. For instance, in the Department of Chemistry, Professor Felix Hausch is using the funding to develop an active ingredient to combat chronic pain. The substance inhibits a protein that also plays a role in obesity and depression. His department colleague Professor Barbara Albert and scientist Dr. Klaus-Dieter Franz are concentrating in their funding project on supercapacitors for energy storage. The TU chemists are researching new electrolytes so that the capacitors can store even more energy. Professor Florian Steinke and Tim Janke from the TU’s Energy Information Networks & Systems Lab are also driving the energy revolution forward with their Pioneer Fund project: Their model for predicting electricity prices makes it easier to react to fluctuations in renewable energies. Biology Professor Cristina Cardoso and Professor Rolf Jakoby from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology are designing a microwave porator that transfers DNA and other substances into living cells – a promising path in biological research.
The “MagnoTherm” project led by materials scientist Dr. Max Fries develops cooling aggregates with magnetocaloric materials. The innovative cooling technology is quiet, environmentally friendly and up to 40 percent more energy-efficient than a compressor. A team led by Professor Oskar von Stryk from the Department of Computer Science uses the “Energy Robotics Brain” software to make mobile ground robots autonomous so that they can carry out work in high-risk areas such as industry or rescue operations. The EXIST grant enables the Core Sensing Technologies start-up project to ensure the market-readiness of a technology for the integration of sensors. This was developed in the field of mechanical engineering and plays an important role in the internet of things.
Solid foundation for start-ups The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy promotes technology-oriented start-ups from universities with the EXIST research transfer. All three projects applied for by TU Darmstadt in 2018 were approved. They will receive a total of 2.6 million euros.
Materials scientist Dr. Lars-Oliver Heim, in turn, is building a hand-held device for surface analysis that creates a precise plastic impression of the surface structure. The Institutes of Physical Metallurgy and Functional Materials, together with the Institute for Production Engineering and Forming Machines in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, have also initiated a Pioneer Fund project for the alternative production of magnets from neodymiumiron-boron alloys. The process, for which a patent has already been applied, is now to be further improved and validated for industry.
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Ground mission in the lecture hall
Professor Reinhold Bertrand, Head of the Research and Technology Management Office of the European Space Agency ESA, has assumed the first ESA cooperative professorship at the TU Darmstadt. The 54-year-old researches and teaches one day a week in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Institute of Flight Systems and Control Engineering. He focuses on the development of small satellites, space stations and robotic systems for planetary exploration and interplanetary research. Bertrand describes the cooperation with the TU as “a very creative environment with a lot of development potential” and cites the construction of satellite modules with 3D printers as an example.
Cooperation and transfer
Three years ago, ESA and TU Darmstadt concluded a framework agreement on space topics, doctorates and joint research projects. Since the winter semester of 2015, Bertrand has been teaching the fundamentals of space systems several times per semester – as an open event. Soon another building block will be added to the cooperation: the ESALab@TU Darmstadt. An initial pilot project of ESALabs, the only one of its kind in Germany, will be dedicated to space weather and solar observation.
Cooperation Professor Reinhold Bertrand.
“My lecture is attended not just by engineering students – humanities scholars also attend and even take an exam”. Professor Reinhold Bertrand, ESA Cooperation Professor at TU Darmstadt
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Clean water
Analysing toxic substances in water: Christoph Schüth, Kaori Sakaguchi-Söder, Behane Abrha (from left).
Safe storage of desalinated seawater
Jointly against microplastics
In Israel, seawater desalination covers about 70 percent of the water needs of private households. In times of low consumption and when working on the mains pipes, surplus water is stored in waterbearing soil layers. The problem: The desalinated water contains chlorine, which reacts with organic substances in the soil to form toxic compounds such as chloroform. In the German-Israeli joint project “MAR-DSW”, a team led by Christoph Schüth, Professor of Applied Geosciences at TU Darmstadt, is investigating the reactions in the soil. Israeli partners are Ben-Gurion University, the Volcani Center of the Agricultural Research Organization and the water supplier Mekorot. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Israeli Ministry of Science are funding the project as part of the German-Israeli cooperation in water technology research.
The “EmiStop” joint project, which was launched at the beginning of 2018, is investigating the contribution of industry to environmental pollution with microplastics. In addition to the Departments of Wastewater Technology and Wastewater Management at TU Darmstadt, the project participants include the RheinMain University of Applied Sciences, the plant manufacturer EnviroChemie, the particle manufacturer BS-Partikel and the consulting firm inter 3. The developments by the TU teams include analytical methods for measuring microplastics in water samples. However, “EmiStop” not only aims to quantify the discharges of plastic particles into the environment, but also to provide processes that remove microplastics from wastewater. By the end of 2020, the collaborative research alliance will receive a total of 1.83 million euros from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
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The mobility of the future
An assistance system that improves itself through machine learning helps with turning.
Cooperation and transfer
Accident-free through the city In the fourth edition of the “PRORETA” research project, TU Darmstadt and the technology company Continental have developed a machine-learning driver assistance system. It supports drivers in innercity traffic and has already been installed in a prototype. A key role is played by algorithms that create a profile of the person behind the wheel. On the basis of this characterisation the system performs a variety of calculations, such as the time windows for driving recommendations, for instance when turning left, and also adapts other recommendations to the individual driving style.
“The results of our work will help to further increase the safety in the vehicle and for other road users”. Professor Hermann Winner, Institute of Automotive Engineering
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The PRORETA partnership between TU Darmstadt and Continental has existed since 2002. Previous projects included emergency braking, emergency evasion and overtaking assistance systems. The cooperation is named after the boatswain on ancient Roman ships, who warns of shallows.
The car of tomorrow The “UNICARagil” project was launched at the beginning of 2018 and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with 21.9 million euros. The participants include TU Darmstadt as well as universities in Aachen, Braunschweig, Karlsruhe, Munich, Stuttgart and Ulm and also six companies. Together they are developing an autonomous electric car that is networked with its surroundings and that has neither front nor rear, left and right. Each of the four wheels has an electric motor and the vehicle orientation is decoupled from the direction of movement.
3D scanner for insects
Finest details at a glance: Unique insect scanner with automated 3D application.
A 3D scanner developed by TU Darmstadt and the Hochschule Darmstadt makes the digital archiving of insects possible. In May 2018, the scientists presented the device, the only one of its kind in the world, in a specialist journal. In times of insect mortality it is particularly important to document the diversity of the animals. The scanner makes a valuable contribution here, especially as the insects preserved in the collections are threatened by natural decay and by pests such as the museum beetle. With his extensive experience in optical 3D measurement, Professor Bernhard Strรถbel from the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the Hochschule Darmstadt proved to be the ideal partner for the TU Darmstadt working group Ecological Networks.
A prototype of the 3D insect scanner is already in use. During recording, the needled insect is rotated around two axes. The approximately 25,000 individual images from 400 different spatial directions are used by the software to calculate three-dimensional models that can be rotated, zoomed and measured on the computer. The models can be enlarged and reproduced with a 3D printer. The scanner currently captures insects ranging from flies two millimetres in size to animals the size of a cockchafer. It is designed as an open project that can be replicated. The developers hope to make the blueprint available to many prospective customers, including private individuals.
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New tools
Switch for foams Regine von Klitzing explores matter that is neither clearly liquid nor clearly solid, but a mixture of both, known as “soft matter”. The physics professor and her team hope to use this research to develop functional coatings and “switchable” foams. The researchers bring broad expertise: “We cover the entire spectrum, from the synthesis of new materials to their characterisation”, says von Klitzing. So-called nanogels, which are globules of molecule chains interconnected in a net-like manner, can be switched, for instance between large and small, with signals such as heating, pH value or laser beams. The team is also investigating thin liquid films enclosed by solid surfaces or air, such as those found in foams or emulsions. Von Klitzing’s results could benefit the cosmetics, pharmaceutical and food industries. The team is developing the latest measuring methods. For instance, the team is building a sample holder that enables rapid sample changes for the ESS neutron source currently being developed in Lund, Sweden.
Cooperation and transfer
Accelerator on the chip
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Particle accelerators are usually large and costly. However, in an international collaboration, electrical engineers from the TU’s Accelerator Physics Department are building a low-cost electron accelerator on a silicon chip. The partners are now putting the design published in the journal “Physical Review Letters” into practice. The American Stanford University and the Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg are leading the project, which is sponsored by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
Regine von Klitzing, Matthias Kühnhammer.
Awakening inquiring minds with Merck
Ten years of junior laboratory Since 2008, the science and technology company Merck and TU Darmstadt have been operating the Merck-TU Darmstadt junior laboratory on the Lichtwiese campus. It offers a total of 32 experimental stations and over 30 topics for day and holiday courses, experimental lectures and advanced training on over 200 square metres. More than 28,000 pupils from the third primary school year to the sixth form have already experimented here, for example on dyes, medicines or organic light-emitting diodes. The junior laboratory, headed by the chemist Dr. Andrea-Katharina Schmidt, works closely together with the Chair of Didactics of Chemistry at TU Darmstadt, which was established at the end of 2017 and is held by Professor Markus Prechtl. He would like to focus more on the career orientation of young women, especially those with a migration background. He is supported in this by a joint project between the TU and the PH Ludwigsburg University of Education. Digitisation and current results from energy and sustainability research will also play a greater role in the junior laboratory in the future. Markus Prechtl, Andrea-Katharina Schmidt.
BioLab in regular operation The Livfe BioLab, which TU Darmstadt operates at the Botanischer Garten campus with the support of Merck school funding, started regular operation in October 2018. During the two-year pilot phase, more than 2,300 young people took advantage of the opportunity to experiment with modern research equipment and gain an insight into biological research. The head of the Livfe BioLab is Dr. Guido Klees, who previously spent eight years in teacher training.
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TU Darmstadt Progress Report 2018
Life on campus
Highlights 2018
Triangles, pentagons, hexagons: Students at the Institute of Constructive Design and Building Construction designed and built a pavilion made entirely of cardboard.
40 years old is the legendary “Karlshof”, the largely self-governing and probably
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charming way to a free parking space:
most well-known student hall
The “intelligent bracket”, which can be operated
of residence in Darmstadt.
via an app, is in use on campus – a start-up from the university is now marketing the product.
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lighting elements on the façade of the high-performance computer form a work of art: They reflect aphorisms
of the universal scholar Georg Christoph Lichtenberg in binary code and plain text.
Life on campus
1st place: As in 2017, TU Darmstadt won the University Challenge for the German Sports Badge – this time ahead of the universities of Hannover and Leipzig, TU Braunschweig, the Humboldt University of Berlin and the University of Paderborn. 76
Thousands were wide awake
Impressive: Many children and young people did not want to miss the Science Day.
More than 50 fully booked guided tours, around 200 TU staff and students with their hands full and several thousand visitors, mostly young families, who were fascinated for six hours: On its second Science Day with the motto “hellwach!” (“wide awake!”), the TU showed what exciting research it has to offer in the engineering and natural sciences, humanities and social sciences at the Lichtwiese and Stadtmitte locations. The extensive programme, which ranged from space travel and robotics to construction and language research, was playfully cheerful, experimental and scientifically demanding. For instance, at the Institute of Paper Technology and Mechanical Process Engineering, the science team showed how houses can be built from cardboard. In the puzzle game “Around the World in 80 Languages”, linguists pro-
vided answers to questions such as how many languages there are and how they were created. And those who wanted to know how particles can be brought to almost the speed of light particularly quickly, were able to find out more about the electron accelerator S-DALINAC in the nuclear physics building. During a panel discussion, TU experts also called for faster action in environmental protection and warned of the risks of political and social conflicts. For example, the vital resource of water must be given more intensive protection from contamination by drug residues and microplastics, and the extraction and trade of rare raw materials must become fairer.
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Urban quality
German Urban Development Award In the “German Urban Development Award 2018” competition, TU Darmstadt received the special award “Places of Education and Culture in an Urban Context” endowed with 5,000 euros. The prize is awarded every two years by the German Academy for Urban and Regional Planning. The jury praised the redevelopment projects and new buildings which the TU had carefully integrated into the urban ensemble “with high urban quality” and which had significantly influenced the urban development of the science city. At the award ceremony in Mainz, the committee expressed its particular appreciation of how, on the basis of an overall concept, open spaces were qualified, buildings modernised, adapted to new educational requirements and supplemented by new buildings such as the reception building “karo 5”, the University and State Library or the congress centre “darmstadtium”.
Life on campus
Since 2005, the autonomous TU has invested more than 500 million euros in a large number of new buildings, renovation measures, technical infrastructure and the design of open spaces. Thanks to the annual construction budget and own funds as well as capital from the Economic Stimulus Package II and the University Pact 2020, it was possible, for example, to convert the historic Maschinenhaus into a lecture room and seminar building, to create space for the University IT-Service and Computing Centre and for cultural purposes in the new “Karl-PlaggeHaus” building and to convert the Schlossgraben into a park with the help of donations from residents. The Well designed in the heart of the city: University campus. inner city campus has been significantly upgraded.
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Refurbished and redesigned
Architecture Day
The renovated Hochschulstraße invites you to stroll and stay for a while: The road section between the old main building and Herrngarten has been largely freed from car traffic. The central eye-catcher is an old freestanding chestnut tree as well as seating furniture made of concrete and wood. Historical tram tracks remind of a route that led through the Hochschulstraße in 1914. The wooden paving once laid for sound absorption had to be disposed of, pipes and sewers had to be renovated or renewed. Total costs amounted to 2.6 million euros.
The TU presented three award-winning projects at the nationwide “Architecture Day”. Interested visitors were able to visit the “Gerhard-Pahl-Zentrum” on the Lichtwiese – the multifunctional building of the Department of Mechanical Engineering with computer pool and three halls for research and teaching was opened in 2017. The new “KarlPlagge-Haus” building in the city centre was also open to groups of visitors, as was the “Keller-Club” in the city palace, which had been renovated in line with historic preservation requirements.
Family-friendly Since May 2018, TU Darmstadt has been entitled to hold the “Family-friendly University” certificate on a permanent basis. The accreditation organisation “berufundfamilie Service GmbH” particularly praises the longstanding commitment to family-friendly working and study conditions.
“The award underlines the high urban development quality of the TU construction measures of the last decade. Together with those responsible for the science city of Darmstadt and numerous planners, we have given the city a striking and timelessly modern face”. TU Vice President Dr. Manfred Efinger
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Climate-friendly energy centre
Efficiency at the touch of a button: TU President Hans Jürgen Prömel, Lord Mayor Jochen Partsch, Marie-Luise Wolff (ENTEGA),
Life on campus
Joachim Rumstadt (STEAG) (from left).
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Energy efficiency and sustainability are central topics for the university. Thanks to innovative, highly efficient technologies, the TU’s supply of heat, cooling and electricity is secured for the next few years. A consortium consisting of STEAG New Energies GmbH (Saarbrücken) and ENTEGA AG (Darmstadt) has invested around 17 million euros in the university’s energy supply. On the Lichtwiese campus, ENTEGA STEAG Wärme GmbH built a new energy centre consisting of three block-type thermal power stations, an absorption chiller and a three-kilometrelong cooling network. Furthermore, the TU’s district heating network was connected to ENTEGA’s heating network via an approximately two-kilometre-long section. This means that almost half of the heating requirement can be covered by the waste-to-energy plant in an environmentally friendly way.
Dr. Marie-Luise Wolff, CEO of ENTEGA AG, emphasized that the TU’s energy supply was not only economically attractive, but also technically and ecologically future-oriented. Joachim Rumstadt, Chairman of the Managing Directors of STEAG GmbH, emphasized that the energy centre makes an important contribution to the success of the energy revolution. The city is also improving its climate balance. Many municipal properties are connected to the district heating network of the TU, and more are added as a result of the new route.
Vespa swirl
Dynamic art near the Mensa.
The courtyard between the Otto-Berndt-Halle and the Institute of Printing Science and Technology, which was redesigned for 1.4 million euros, is part of a network of closed courtyards and open spaces on campus. Inspired by the principle of a printer’s type case, fields of different sizes were filled with various asphalt surfaces, grasses and shrubs. Trees, hedges, benches and the sculpture “Rollercoaster” by the Stuttgart-based artist Stefan Rohrer complete the picture.
suitable motif for the square, which since its renovation has been inviting visitors to linger again. The trained stonemason Stefan Rohrer studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart and has been awarded numerous scholarships and prizes. In 2012, his works were shown in the exhibition “Mensch Maschine” at the Kunsthalle Darmstadt. Rohrer’s sculptures are characterised by his passion for cars. He creates elegantly vibrant works of art from car body parts.
The commissioned work combines technology and art: Two elongated Vespa scooters whirl around each other in swirls of red and shiny silver. The 3.5 by 4.5 metre work gives a feeling of speed and movement, but at the same time a pause button seems to have been pressed. Time standing still is a 81
90 years university swimming pool
Life on campus
Fun and games in the university pool.
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It was 15 metres wide, 50 metres long and made of concrete: When the swimming pool of Technische Hochschule (TH) Darmstadt was opened on 16 June 1928, it was a unique sports facility for its time. The construction is closely linked to the development of university sports at the former TH. The first part-time teaching appointment for gymnastics was already in place in 1898. The university sports field was built on the edge of the Lichtwiese in 1923 and later completed with the construction of the open-air swimming pool. Karl Roth designed the swimming facility in the “International Style”. The TH professor of architecture and building science planned the concrete pool so that it was suitable for swimming competitions as well as water polo games. In addition to changing rooms and a grandstand with sports and equipment rooms, there was also a diving platform. The facility was extended for the 4th International Student
Championships in 1930, a major event that put Darmstadt on par with venues such as Warsaw, Rome and Paris. After the Second World War, the US Army requisitioned the swimming bath for several years. Extensive renovation work was necessary between 2009 and 2011. The swimming facility, protected as a historic monument, today also includes a children’s pool, has been popular with students and residents of Darmstadt for 90 years.
New cultural business with tradition
Three questions for ... Matin Nawabi from the General Students’ Committee and organising team of the Cultural Enterprise “806qm”, which was opened in the ground floor and basement of the new “Karl-PlaggeHaus”. It was here that the predecessor “603qm” had enriched the Darmstadt event calendar for ten years before the so-called Stoeferlehalle was demolished and replaced by a new building. What do the “old fans” recognise? The special flair and patina of the Stoeferlehalle are a thing of the past. There are many new things to discover on “806qm”. New spaces, new architecture, new aesthetics, new programme. What has remained are the claim, idea and concept of our project. This has always included the idea of providing a platform for culture and discourse in Darmstadt, the city of science and research, and of inviting people to experience something new.
What does the programme look like? We offer a stage for exciting local culture as well as for exciting national and international artists of contemporary pop and subculture. We see ourselves as a lively cultural enterprise and as a link between university and city, student and non-student life. The integrated “221qm” café has evolved into a popular meeting point in the city centre. In addition, our cultural programme provides space for formats such as flea markets as well as photography and art exhibitions. What do you appreciate about the new spaces? We particularly appreciate the fact that the TU involved us centrally in the planning of the new building right from the start. This made it possible to tailor the spaces precisely to the needs of our cultural industry. We are pleased about the much better conditions for our work and having more options for our programme.
Space for experimental culture.
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Life on campus Facts and figures
Good old money
In motion
2,381 TU students received a total of 13.59 million euros from BAföG
71,179 places in university sports courses
funds from the Student Affairs Finance Department in 2018.
were booked in 2018.
112,085 individual entries were recorded in the university stadium (48,140 students and 5,846 employees).
Food & drink
57 Unifit courses were held
1.426 million warm meals were served
415 employees from 118 office units
per quarter in 2018.
in the Stadtmitte and Lichtwiese canteens in 2018.
were active in the Office Fresh Up break training.
3.533 TU students took part in a survey
141 employees per quarter took advantage
by Student Affairs on ecological perspectives for the canteen. Animal welfare is very important criterion to the students when it comes to the future of university gastronomy.
of the courses offered at uniGym.
25 times did TU students make it into the top three at the German University Championships – in athletics, karate, swimming and judo.
Up to 220 participants use the courses
Energy & sustainability TU Darmstadt consumed 51,400 megawatt hours of district heating in 2018. TU Darmstadt needed 53,200 megawatt hours of electricity in 2018. Of this total, 29,500 megawatt hours were generated in the university’s own combined heat and power plant. The remainder was purchased as green electricity.
189,000 cubic metres of fresh water were drawn by the university in 2018.
144,396 litres of water, 25,804 kilowatt hours of energy, 10,027 kilograms of wood and 2,139 kilograms of CO2 were saved by Student Affairs in 2018 by fully switching to recycled paper with the “Blue Angel” certificate.
on the new crosstraining facility in the university stadium every week.
357 people took part in sports excursions. 391 international students took advantage of the sports programmes tailored to their needs.
Assistance 343 students sought advice and support in difficult life situations from Student Affairs’ social counsellors.
60 parents with 50 children were guests for the first time at the newly established “Brunch for Students with Children” at Student Affairs. Information on care and counselling services was provided by parents’ initiatives, day-care centres and family facilities, together with actors affiliated with the campus.
Living At the end of 2018, 1,866 TU students were living in halls of residence provided by Student Affairs. 85
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TU Darmstadt Progress Report 2018
Awards
Highlights 2018 50,000 euros in prize money from the Adolf Messer Foundation for Professor Ulrike Kramm and her research on precious metal-free catalysts for the energy sector.
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TU scientists successful with
start-up idea “Walkerchair”: When required, their wheelchair can “walk” over obstacles. A software recognises the environment automatically and takes over the motion control.
ONE year of free space for the “Opus Magnum”: Arthur Benz, professor for political science, is being sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation to be able
10,000 euros in prize money
to dedicate himself
for the student start-up project “FeetBack”: A shoe orthosis controlled by sensors and a smartphone helps Parkinson’s patients walk.
to a large scientific work on “Federal Democracy”.
Awards
Endowed with
25,000 euros: The Franziska Braun Prize of the Carlo and Karin Giersch Foundation at TU Darmstadt goes to a group planning an innovative computer science conference by students for students.
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Double peak power
TU Darmstadt has been awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship for the first time: The nuclear physicist Dr. Alexandre Obertelli, nominated by the TU, is one of five scientists selected for Germany’s highest endowed international research prize in 2018. The professorship, which is endowed with up to five million euros, honours world-leading researchers who have worked abroad up to now. Obertelli most recently worked as a senior researcher at the Institut de recherche sur les lois fondamentales de l’Univers (IRFU) of the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternative (CEA) in Paris-Saclay, France. He also conducted research at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) of Michigan State University, USA, and at the RIKEN Research Institute in Japan. In 2018 he was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council for his work. This prize is associated with subsidies amounting to 2.55 million euros. This enables TU Darmstadt to expand its research into the field of antimatter in the Institute of Nuclear Physics. Obertelli is leading a project aimed at developing an innovative technique for investigating extreme ranges of core density using specific properties of antimatter.
Humboldt Professor Alexandre Obertelli.
“Dr. Alexandre Obertelli will contribute to developing the university as a top research location for physics. And he will play an important role in the development of the FAIR particle accelerator facility at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt”. Professor Hans Jürgen Prömel, President of TU Darmstadt
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Postdocs with Athene
The physicist aspires to become a professor. The support of the Athene-Young-Investigator programme allows him to supervise and scientifically support Master’s students or doctoral students as his career progresses.
Personalised therapies against cancer Chemist Meike Saul is investigating the role of microRNAs in inflammation and cancer. The TU scientist wants to develop drugs for improved pain management and individual cancer therapies. She is supported by the TU’s Athene-Young-Investigator programme. Inflammatory reactions play an important role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases, especially cancer. MicroRNAs can promote tumour growth through the regulation of RNA –
Joel Lynn.
Awards
Numerical solutions
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TU researcher Joel Lynn, who specialises in nuclear structure physics and nuclear astrophysics, is funded within the framework of the TU’s AtheneYoung-Investigator programme. The US American moved to the Darmstadt Institute of Nuclear Physics four years ago as a postdoctoral fellow. Lynn, who previously worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, conducts research into a variety of topics, including Monte Carlo methods and Ab-Initio theory. The Monte Carlo methods are based on a very large number of similar random experiments. They are an attempt to find a numerical solution for problems that cannot be addressed analytically, using probability theory and supercomputers. Joel Lynn wants to get to the bottom of questions about the origin of the universe and the elements.
Meike Saul.
a kind of transcription of DNA. miRNA-574–5p, for example, promotes the growth of lung carcinomas. However, this type of cancer does not always develop in the same way; rather, individual differences between the individual tumours can be observed. Meike Saul and her team want to validate a personalised therapy approach: Patients with a high plasma level of miRNA-574–5p could be effectively treated with special drugs.
More flexible edge computing Since 2016, Lin Wang has headed the Smart Urban Network research group in the Telecooperation Lab at the Department of Computer Science. There, the Athene Young Investigator is working on the next generation of edge computing. The increasing number of applications for mobile phones, the internet of things or augmented reality are a challenge for real-time data processing. Mobile devices and their batteries are not designed for large data volumes and the necessary transmission speed. Streaming to remote clouds and data centres causes time delays and enormous unnecessary network traffic. Edge computing, on the other hand, moves applications and data from central data centres to the outer edges of a network. This decentralised processing can reduce transmission bottlenecks and error sources and increase security. Wang’s research should make edge computing as broad and flexible to use as cloud computing and create a corresponding infrastructure for mobile applications.
Lin Wang.
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Take-off in research
3D printing of nanoporous membrane materials
Awards
Professor Annette Andrieu-Brunsen’s project “3D-FNP Writing” deals with the transport of substances through nanopores and thus addresses a key step for many technologies. An unsolved challenge is the design of nanoporous membranes that allow the recycling of metallic nanoparticles and their salts. These substances are increasingly released into the environment, for example when washing outdoor clothing with an antibacterial coating. In this context, “3D-FNP Writing” aims to transfer the fascinating transport properties of natural nanopores, such as highly selective and aligned transport, to artificially produced materials.
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“3D-FNP Writing” wants to use a new technology: This is based on 3D printing of complex, functional, nanoporous membrane materials using high-resolution microscopy techniques.
Excellent researcher: Annette Andrieu-Brunsen.
World of transmission electron microscopy Dr. Leopoldo Molina-Luna’s project “FOXON” deals with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Aberration correctors based on the research of the former Darmstadt-based physics professor Harald Rose pushed the spatial resolution down to 50 picometres. Ultra-bright electron guns, improved energy resolution of electron energy loss and highly efficient energy-dispersive X-ray detectors enable 2D imaging of compositions and chemical bonding information. “FOXON” continues these developments. The aim is to apply an operando TEM method to investigate the correlation of electrical behaviour, structure and chemical composition of oxide-based functional materials simultaneously under an applied electrical field. Pixel and ultra-fast electron detectors make it possible to capture a diffraction pattern for each sampling point and to access information far beyond the capabilities of standard STEM detectors.
Double thrust Two new projects at the TU are funded by the European Research Council as excellent, innovative basic and pioneering research with ERC Starting Grants. A total of around 3.5 million euros will go to the researcher Annette AndrieuBrunsen and the researcher Leopoldo Molina-Luna.
Pioneer researcher: Leopoldo Molina-Luna.
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Search for matter 2.0
Jens Braun, who is appointed to a Heisenberg professorship, wants to find new answers to an old question: “What is matter?”. To this end, the physicist wants to find out whether exotic aggregate states exist, for example so-called “supercrystals”. These would have similar incomprehensible properties as superfluids, which, after a single stir, continue to swirl forever. Supercrystals would also have an internal periodic order. “This is a fascinating topic because it puts our understanding of how particles generally bind to each other to the test”, says Braun. In this way, the 39-year-old and his team at the Institute of Nuclear Physics at TU Darmstadt are investigating the dynamics of nuclear matter and ultracold gases. The latter could be precisely investigated experimentally, said Braun. The researchers are theoretical physicists. After laboratory testing, their models can be used for quantum chromodynamics, a theory about quarks and gluons, the building blocks of atomic nuclei. The team hopes to prove the existence of the supercrystalline state in an interdisciplinary exchange with other areas of physics. And to then see “matter” in a new light.
Awards
Explores the dynamics of ultracold gases: Jens Braun.
“This is a fascinating topic because it puts our understanding of how particles generally bind to each other to the test”. Jens Braun, Heisenberg Professor at the Institute of Nuclear Physics at TU Darmstadt
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Not always platinum
Concrete becomes environmentally friendly The civil engineer Dr.-Ing. Moien Rezvani was awarded the Kurt-Ruths Prize, endowed with 20,000 euros, for his dissertation “Modelling of the shrinkage behaviour of concrete from cements rich in limestone”. In times of climate change, researchers are working on reducing the clinker content in cement and concrete, the production and burning of which accounts for a large proportion of CO2 emissions. Considerable amounts can be replaced by ground limestone, but this changes the properties of fresh and hardened concrete as well as the durability of the concrete. The Iranian scientist developed a prediction model that accurately determines these shrinkage deformations. He also presented a proposal for the corresponding adaptation of the reinforced concrete design standard. This facilitates the use of environmentally friendly concretes in practice.
Prize for “green” technology Ulrike Kramm develops precious metal-free catalysts for energy applications. For her research, she was awarded the Adolf Messer Foundation Prize worth 50,000 euros. The prize honours outstanding achievements in the natural sciences and engineering as well as economics, social sciences and the humanities. Assistant professor Kramm, who is an associate of the Departments of Chemistry, Materials Science and Geosciences, wants to make forward-looking technologies even “greener”. Many energy-relevant applications, such as low-temperature fuel cells, contain catalysts made of precious metals that are scarce, expensive and often mined under questionable conditions.
Winner of the Kurt-Ruths Prize: Moien Rezvani (left).
nitrogen atoms. Unlike haemoglobin, the molecular centres developed by Kramm are integrated in pure carbon in the form of graphene. The catalysts do not necessarily contain iron, but also cobalt, copper or manganese. The need for metal for catalysis is greatly reduced by its integration into the molecular centre. The TU researcher is regarded as a leader in this promising technology.
In her search for a replacement, Kramm is guided by a model from nature: the blood pigment haemoglobin. At its centre is an iron atom surrounded by four
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Instructive
Gathered and congratulated by the Executive Board: Winners of the Athene Prizes for Good Teaching.
Awards
Every year, the Athene Prize for Good Teaching is awarded by the Carlo and Karin Giersch Foundation at the TU in several categories. They are endowed with a total of 46,000 euros. In 2018, Professor Jens Ivo Engels, Department of History and Social Sciences, was awarded the Special Prize for Digital Teaching: He combined research-based learning with a permanently visible digital presentation of the work that is relevant for regional cultural promotion in the Rhine-Main region.
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The special prize for gender and diversity-sensitive teaching went to Dr. Meinrad von Engelberg, Department of Architecture, for the seminar “Frauen lassen bauen – Auftraggeberinnen in der Architekturgeschichte von Hatschepsut bis Merkel” (“Female construction clients in the history of architecture from Hatshepsut to Merkel”), conceived in cooperation with the Deutsches Architekturmuseum Frankfurt am Main.
The Special Award for Interdisciplinary Teaching was presented to a team from “Interdisciplinary Key Study Fields iSP”. The jury’s statement said: “Over the past ten years, the “Global Challenges” lecture series has created an additional continuous interdisciplinary range of courses at the TU Darmstadt, with which socially highly relevant global problems can be integrated into interdisciplinary degree programmes as cross-sectional topics”. The initiators Professor Liselotte Schebek, Professor Alfred Nordmann and Professor Jens Steffek want to contribute to consolidating a sustainable development mindset at the TU. The general topic 2018: “Fake News”.
Deutschlandstipendium – List of sponsors • Airbus Defence & Space GmbH, Taufkirchen
• IBM Client Innovation Center Germany GmbH, Frankfurt a. M.
• ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH, Hanau
• IBM Deutschland GmbH, Ehningen
• Atotech Deutschland GmbH, Berlin
• Infraserv GmbH & Co. Höchst KG, Frankfurt a. M.
• Avanade Deutschland GmbH, Kronberg
• ING AG, Frankfurt a. M.
• BASF SE, Ludwigshafen
• Ingenieursozietät Prof. Dr.-Ing. Katzenbach, Darmstadt
• BBBank Stiftung, Karlsruhe
• Isra Vision AG, Darmstadt
• Bickhardt Bau AG, Kirchheim
• ITCatalysts GmbH, Kriftel
• BIG Bau Investitionsgesellschaft mbH, Kronhagen
• Jakob Wilhelm MenglerStiftung, Alsbach-Hähnlein
• Bosch Gruppe, vertreten durch Bosch Rexroth AG, Lohr am Main
• KFT Chemieservice GmbH, Griesheim • KSB AG, Frankenthal
Start-ups of TU Darmstadt
• Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft, Coburg
• Kurt und Lilo Werner RC Darmstadt Stiftung, Darmstadt
• BSI Business Systems Integration Deutschland GmbH, Darmstadt
• LEONHARD WEISS GmbH & Co. KG, Satteldorf
Compredict GmbH (30,000 euros): Second prize in the “Digital Start-up of the Year” competition of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
• campoint AG, Seligenstadt
• Ludwig-Schunk Stiftung e.V., Heuchelheim
• Carlo und Karin Giersch-Stiftung an der TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt
• Lufthansa Technik AG, Hamburg
• Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH, Frankfurt a. M.
• Merck KGaA, Darmstadt
• Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, Aachen
• MEWA Textil-Service AG & Co. Management OHG, Wiesbaden • Miele & Cie. KG, Gütersloh
• Deloitte GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Düsseldorf
• MLP Finanzberatung SE, Wiesloch
• Deutsche Bahn AG, Berlin
• msg systems ag, Ismaning
• Deutsche Bank AG Group Technology & Operations Strategic Management Services, Eschborn
• Opel Automobile GmbH, Rüsselsheim
• d-fine GmbH, Frankfurt a. M.
• osd GmbH & Co. KG, Frankfurt a. M.
• Döhler GmbH, Darmstadt
• Poclain Hydraulics GmbH, Pfungstadt
• 360 Treasury Systems AG, Frankfurt a. M.
• PPI AG Informationstechnologie, Frankfurt a. M.
• DS Smith Paper Deutschland GmbH, Aschaffenburg
• PSI Energy Markets GmbH, Aschaffenburg
• DuPont Sustainable Solutions, Neu-Isenburg
• Qytera Software Testing Solutions GmbH, Eschborn
• DZ BANK-Stiftung, Frankfurt a. M.
• Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim
• Ed. Züblin AG, Stuttgart
• Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Frankfurt a. M.
• Endress + Hauser Messtechnik GmbH + Co.KG, Weil am Rhein
• SAP SE, Walldorf
• ENTEGA NATURpur Institut gGmbH, Darmstadt
• SCHENCK RoTec GmbH, Darmstadt
• Essity, Ismaning
• Schwarz IT GmbH & Co. KG, Neckarsulm
• Evonik Stiftung, Essen • Ferchau Engineering GmbH, Darmstadt • Förderverein der Freunde des Institutes für Geotechnik an der Technischen Universität Darmstadt e.V., Darmstadt • Fritz und Margot Faudi-Stiftung, Frankfurt a. M. • GFP Goldschmidt Fischer Schütz Projektmanagementgesellschaft mbH, Heusenstamm • GOLDBECK GmbH, Hirschberg/Bergstraße • Gruber + Hartmann Ingenieurbüro für Baustatik, Darmstadt • Hans Hermann Voss-Stiftung, Wipperfürth
• Sigi und Hans Meder Stiftung, Bad Soden/Taunus
• Hottinger Baldwin Messtechnik GmbH, Darmstadt • HPP – Harnischfeger, Pietsch & Partner Strategieund Marketingberatung GmbH, Frankfurt a. M.
agriBORA: Start-up award “Hessischer Gründerpreis” in the category “Start-up from the university” for Kizito Odhiambo, student of electrical engineering and information technology. Start-up teams “Digital Shopfloor Management”, “Floating Office”, “Harvey”, “Karuna”, “Process Control Unit for additive manufacturing using the FDM process”, „Quodera”: Certificates of support as part of the “Hessen Ideas Scholarship” competition initiated by the State of Hesse Prof. Gerhard Sessler, Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology: Information and Communication Technology Science Award by the Information Technology Society of the VDE (5,000 euros). The highest distinction of the professional association is awarded every three years. Prof. Petra Gehring, Department of History and Social Sciences: Confirmation as Chairperson of the German Council for Scientific Information Infrastructures on behalf of the Joint Science Conference Prof. Oliver Gutfleisch, Department of Materials and Geosciences: Prize of the German Materials Society Prof. Mira Mezini, Department of Computer Science: Google Faculty Research Award for the project “Identifying Problematic Children Apps” (70,000 euros)
Prof. Jürgen Rödel, Department of Materials and Geosciences: Robert B. Sosman Award
• Stiftung Zusammen Wachsen, Darmstadt • STRABAG AG, Darmstadt • TE Connectivity Germany GmbH, Bensheim • Tosoh Bioscience GmbH, Griesheim • TRUMPF GmbH & Co. KG, Ditzingen • Union Investment Stiftung, Frankfurt a. M.
• Viessmann Werke Allendorf GmbH, Allendorf (Eder)
• Horst Görtz Stiftung, Neu Anspach
FeetBack (10,000 euros): Winner and distinguished with the Information Technology Award in Virginia Tech’s (USA) „Global Challenge” start-up competition
• Sparkasse Darmstadt, Darmstadt
• Heinrich Sauer & Josef Schmidt Stiftung, Gelnhausen
• Honda Research Institute Europe GmbH, Offenbach
Xelera (32,000 euros): First prize in the “Start-up Competition – Digital Innovations” of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
Prof. Jan Peters, Ph.D., Department of Computer Science: Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, IFEE
• Vereinigung von Freunden der TU zu Darmstadt e.V., Darmstadt
• hkp Deutschland GmbH, Frankfurt a. M.
Freemotion Systems: First prize in the “Start-up Competition – Digital Innovations” of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy for the project „Walkerchair“ (participants: Professor Oskar von Stryk (Department of Computer Science at TU Darmstadt, research associates Felix Biemüller and Johannes Geisler)
• SolidLine AG, Walluf
• HEAG mobilo GmbH, Darmstadt
• Herrhausen, Traudl, Bad Homburg
Outstanding
Prof. Helmut F. Schlaak, Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology: VDE Ring of Honour Prof. Ruth Stock-Homburg, Department of Law and Economics, and Prof. Ralf Steinmetz, Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology: Appointment to the Council for Digital Ethics of the Government of the State of Hesse Prof. Peter Stephan, Department of Mechanical Engineering: Golden VDI Medal of Honour of the Society for Chemical and Process Engineering
Giersch Excellence Awards of the Carlo and Karin Giersch Foundation for outstanding doctoral theses at the TU Darmstadt (6,000 euros each): Dr. Julius Gronefeld, Dr. Alexander Tichai,
Dr. Olga Sokol.
• Vössing Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Frankfurt a. M.
Giersch Excellence Grants for the doctorate phase (2,500 euros each): Sajjad Hussain Mirza, Lukas
• von Ledebur, Ernst, Freiherr, Darmstadt
Rammelmüller, Jan-Paul Hucka, Alexey Prosvetov, Philipp Bolz, Bernhard Maaß, Frederic Kornas
• vwd Vereinigte Wirtschaftsdienste GmbH, Kaiserslautern • Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau AG, Frankfurt a. M. • Weisenburger Bau GmbH, Rastatt • wörner traxler richter planungsgesellschaft mbh, Frankfurt a. M. • Yatta Solutions GmbH, Frankfurt a. M.
Awards of the Vereinigung von Freunden der Technischen Universität zu Darmstadt e.V. for outstanding doctoral theses (2,500 euros each): Dr. Konstantin Biel (law and economics),
Dr. Dirk Hommrich (social sciences and history), Dr. Marzia Ahmad Sharbafi (humanities), Dr.-Ing. Alexandru Calotoiu (computer science), Dr.-Ing. Björn Richerzhagen, (electrical engineering and information technology), Dr.-Ing Bernhard Jochen Simon (mechanical engineering), Dr.-Ing. Hendrik Hellmers (civil and environmental engineering), Dr. Hannes Meinlschmidt (mathematics), Dr. Johannes Simonis (physics), Dr. Doreen Könning (chemistry), Dr. Anne Kathrin Ludwig (biology), Dr. Stephan Schulz (materials and geosciences)
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Proximity to the Nobel Prize
As a guest in Stockholm Norbert Pietralla and Markus Roth, TU professors at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, were invited by Gérard Mourou to attend the Nobel Prize celebrations in Stockholm. Together with Donna Strickland, Mourou received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneering contributions to nuclear photonics. The representatives from Darmstadt were also present when Mourou gave his Nobel Prize lecture at the University of Stockholm. During the celebrations, Mourou sent greetings to the TU and emphasized that he was looking forward to further cooperation. Professor Roth has worked closely with the Nobel laureate and is also researching high-energy lasers at the TU. Mourous’s contributions have revolutionised laser and plasma physics. Thanks to new developments by Strickland and himself, lasers that shone more than a thousand times brighter than previous systems were built as early as the 1980s. In recent years, Mourou has pursued the vision of building a European infrastructure for high-performance lasers. He initiated the European “Extreme Light
Infrastructure” (ELI), a network of three large research facilities in Prague, Bucharest and Szeged, which will house the new generation of laser systems. The TU has supported and accompanied ELI from the very beginning.
Outstanding chemist with TU connection Frances H. Arnold, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018, has connections with TU Darmstadt: In 2013, the enzyme researcher received the Emanuel Merck Lectureship prize, which is jointly awarded by Merck and the TU. Arnold showed for the first time 25 years ago that proteins can specifically acquire a non-natural quality in the laboratory. Her “guided evolution in the test tube” has fundamentally changed the development of catalysts.
Nobel laureate Gérard Mourou, flanked by Professors Norbert Pietralla (left)
Awards
and Markus Roth.
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Concentrated inspirations
Nobel Laureate Conference in Lindau with young scientists from all over the world.
The numbers alone are impressive: At the 68th Nobel Laureate Conference in Lindau, 39 of those honoured in Stockholm in the disciplines of medicine, chemistry and physics met around 600 young researchers from 84 nations. Student Ann Schirin Mirsanaye and doctoral student Oliver Rauh attended this special event on behalf of the TU.
„This week in Lindau was unique in many respects and has certainly inspired us. We can only encourage anyone who enjoys research to apply to participate“.
They travelled to Lake Constance with the support of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation. The conference included different formats. In “classic” lectures, the Nobel Laureates reported on the latest developments in their research and personal experiences that have shaped their scientific careers. In the relaxed atmosphere of the “Agora Talks”, the guests spoke about a topic of their choice and were available for questions of any kind. The “Open Discussions” offered the opportunity to discuss scientific, political or personal topics with the Nobel laureates in a relaxed atmosphere. A special highlight for the two TU associates was the “Academic Dinner” of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation with Professor Tomas Lindahl, the Nobel Laureate for Chemistry 2015.
Student Ann Schirin Mirsanaye and doctoral student Oliver Rauh
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5 international* appointments
12 appointments in total * Appointments of foreign citizens or individuals abroad to professorships/assistant professorships
New honorary professors Rudolf Pfaendner Department of Chemistry Jรถrg H. Mayer Department of Law and Economics Markus Landgraf Department of Mechanical Engineering
Awards Facts and figures
Henning Puder Department of Electrical Engineering and information technology
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Matthias Scheitza Department of Mechanical Engineering
New Adjunct Professors (apl. Prof.) Yuri Genenko Department of Materials and Earth Sciences
Foundation Professorships NATURpur Institut für Klima- und Umweltschutz und Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft:
Foundation Professorship Applied Geothermal Science and Technology in the Department of Materials and Earth Sciences Professor Ingo Sass Deutsche Bahn Stiftung gGmbH:
Foundation Professorship Railway Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Andreas Oetting Institut Wohnen und Umwelt GmbH
Foundation Assistant Professorship Models of Housing and Energy Policy in the Department of History and Social Sciences Professor Kai Schulze
New Professors Name
from
Department
Nathalie Behnke
University of Konstanz
History and Social Sciences
Reinhold Bertrand
European Space Agency, European Space Operation Center, Darmstadt
Mechanical Engineering
Thomas Burg
Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen
Electrical Engineering an Information Technology
Marco Durante
Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Applications, Italy
Physics
Jan Giesselmann
University of Stuttgart
Mathematics
Sophie Loidolt
University of Vienna, Österreich
History and Social Sciences
Alexandre Obertelli
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Physics
Thomas Schneider
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Computer Science
Anke Weidenkaff
University of Stuttgart
Materials and Earth Sciences
New Assistant Professors Name
from
Department
Jochen Hack
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Materials and Earth Sciences
Vera Krewald*
University of Bath, United Kingdom
Chemistry
Yingkun Li
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Mathematics
* Tenure-Track
New KIVA-Professors Name
from
Department
Annette Mütze
Graz University of Technology
Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
Antke Engel
Institute for queer theory, Berlin
History and Social Sciences
Claudia Harzer
University of Kassel
Human Sciences
Marco Weber
University of Kassel
Human Sciences
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Campus impressions
Lichtwiese
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Botanical Gardens
August-Euler Airfield (with wind tunnel) University Stadium
City Centre
Imprint Publisher President of TU Darmstadt Karolinenplatz 5 64289 Darmstadt Editor Jörg Feuck Corporate Communications, TU Darmstadt Copy TU Darmstadt, Astrid Ludwig, Uta Neubauer. Authors: Boris Hänßler, Hildegard Kaulen, Christian Meier, Jutta Witte
Translation Lund Languages, Köln Photo Editor Patrick Bal Photography Titelbild Ellen Lewis Katrin Binner: 32 Jan-Christoph Hartung: 19 Patrick Bal: 10 Claus Völker: 5 Felipe Fernandes: 4 Thomas Ott: 4 Sandra Junker: 4 Gregor Rynkowski: 3 Michael Jorden / DAAD: 1
Hiroko Tadokoro / World Robot Summit 1 Felix Gauger: 1 Thomas Eicken: 1 Christoph Jaeckle: 1 Julia Nimke / Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting: 1 Stephanie Werner: 1 Linda Theisinger-Reinartz: 1 Bettina Bastian: 1 Daniel Thieme: 1 Jens Guthermuth: 1 HIGHEST: 1 Jürgen Mai / ESA: 1 Continental: 1 Gregor Schuster: 1 Ellen Lewis: 1
Concept and Design conclouso GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz www.conclouso.de Printing Druckerei Ph. Reinheimer GmbH Darmstadt Circulation (english): 350 May 2019
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