Several of Freie Universität Berlin’s Collaborative Research Centers Have Received Funding Approval or Funding Extensions
The German Research Foundation will fund a number of projects in which Freie Universität Berlin is involved from January 2022 for a maximum of twelve years
№ 242/2021 from Nov 25, 2021
The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved funding for one collaborative research center (CRC) hosted by Freie Universität Berlin and another managed by Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin. A transregional collaborative research center run by Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Halle-Wittenberg, which is based at Freie Universität Berlin, has received a funding extension. Professor Jürgen Brokoff from the Department of Philosophy and Humanities is the spokesperson of the newly approved collaborative research center at Freie Universität Berlin. The project aims to redefine the position of art in society under the title of “Intervening Arts.” The new CRC based at Charité, a joint institution between Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, is dedicated to researching heart failure, with Professor Burkert Pieske as its spokesperson; while Professor Martin Weinelt from the Department of Physics at Freie Universität Berlin is the spokesperson of the transregional CRC with the University of Halle-Wittenberg focusing on ultrafast spin dynamics. Two other collaborative research centers undertaken with Freie Universität Berlin’s participation also had their funding extended.
New Collaborative Research Centers Approved
Now, more than ever before, the arts are being defined by their role in shaping society, as they have been making significant contributions in areas as diverse as democracy and human rights, climate change, the Covid-19 crisis, and envisioning new ways of living and working. A group of researchers from a wide variety of disciplines in the humanities and sociology have proposed the term “Intervening Arts” to describe this phenomenon and selected this name for their collaborative research center. The researchers will pursue the goal of redefining art’s position in society as an intervening practice as well as developing a conceptual framework for art in our current era.
Spokesperson: Professor Jürgen Brokoff, Department of Philosophy and Humanities, Freie Universität Berlin
Hardly any medications have been developed to treat heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), a condition that was only recently discovered and is often fatal. Ejection fraction is a measurement of the percentage of blood pumped out from the heart’s left chamber with each contraction. Establishing a comprehensive characterization of the illness (spanning the range from basic to clinical research) and gaining a better understanding of the multitude of mechanisms underlying the condition are the objectives of the collaborative research center “Multilevel Mechanistic Characterization of Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction – Towards a Novel Classification of HFpEF for Targeted Therapies.”
Spokesperson: Professor Burkert Pieske, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Project lead at Freie Universität Berlin: Professor Stephan Sigrist, Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy
Extended Funding for the CRC/TRR 227 Ultrafast Spin Dynamics
The transregional collaborative research center 227 – “Ultrafast Spin Dynamics” – is dedicated to researching electron spin, a special magnetic property that produces a magnetic moment and thus gives rise to magnetism. In particular, it investigates ultrafast changes to spin systems by observing dynamics on a timescale of femtoseconds, a unit which corresponds to a quadrillionth part of a second. These properties can be controlled via interfaces in materials that are just a few atomic layers thick. The individual subprojects of the CRC/TRR aim to advance our understanding of these fundamental processes and generate key elements for spin-based information technologies that work on a terahertz bandwidth. This could lead to long-term storage systems and information technologies that could be used on ultrashort timescales.
Spokesperson: Professor Martin Weinelt, Freie Universität Berlin, Department of Physics
Extended Funding for CRCs with Freie Universität Berlin as Participant
CRC 1265: Re-Figuration of Spaces
Host university: Technische Universität Berlin
Project lead at Freie Universität Berlin: Professor Barbara Pfetsch, Department of Political and Social Sciences
https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/290045248
SFB 1319: Extreme Light for Sensing and Driving Molecular Chirality
Host university: University of Kassel
Project lead at Freie Universität Berlin: Professor Christiane Koch, Department of Physics
https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/328961117
Press Release from the German Research Foundation
https://www.dfg.de/en/service/press/press_releases/2021/press_release_no_48/index.html