EPICUR Seed Funding 2026: Five Research Projects Selected
Freiburg, 19/02/2026
Once again, the European University Alliance EPICUR is funding interdisciplinary research projects this year under the ´EPICUR Seed Funding Scheme’. For 2026, five innovative projects involving researchers from the University of Freiburg have been approved.
Once again, the European University Alliance EPICUR is funding interdisciplinary research projects this year under the ´EPICUR Seed Funding Scheme’. Image: EPICUR
In the second call for proposals, 31 applications were submitted by over 270 researchers, and five projects were ultimately selected. Each project involved several partner universities, including the University of Freiburg. The total budget of €750,000 was divided among the participating institutions.
This seed funding provides project teams with initial financing for socially relevant initiatives. The funding aims to foster transnational cooperation on new topics, allowing for initial results and proof of concept to gain momentum. These highly interdisciplinary projects combine international, cutting-edge research with ambitious training formats. The chosen projects come from the fields of thanatology, therapeutic chemistry, flexible robotics and bio-based plastics.
The following section focuses on two projects in which the University of Freiburg is involved:
SMILE – Soft Matter for Intelligent Life-like Engineering
Even the simplest living beings are able to interact with their environment in complex ways, thanks to their diverse forms of intelligence. ‘Physical intelligence’ refers to the adaptability of matter: the complex, non-linear physical properties of materials and structures that allow them to respond to stimuli and adapt to changing conditions.
The SMILE project is pioneering the combination of this emerging field of soft matter physics with flexible robotics. Kirigami structures, metamaterials, foams, emulsions, and other concepts are being investigated in order to mimic the behaviour of living organisms. Through exploratory research, courses, and exchange programmes for students, the project aims to develop new concepts for flexible robotics.
Partners: University of Freiburg (project lead), University of Southern Denmark (Denmark), University of Amsterdam (Netherlands), University of Strasbourg (France)
Contact at the UFR: Jun-Prof. Dr. Edoardo Milana, Institute for Microsystems Engineering and Cluster of Excellence Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS), University of Freiburg.
DIGNITY EU: Dignity at the End of Life: Thanatology, Ethics, and Spiritual Care in European Perspective
Thanatology is the scientific study of death and the end of life from biological, sociological, cultural and medical-legal perspectives. Focusing on issues of dignity, euthanasia, and spiritual care, The DIGNITY EU project will establish a foundation for a European body of work on the subject of ‘dying’. The initiators refer to this as ‘death competence’: a matrix of knowledge, practices, beliefs, ideas and fantasies.
The first step in this long-term project is to bring together experts from various disciplines across the continent, into European summer schools. This will include fields such as psychology, medicine, nursing, theology, and humanities and ethics, and incorporate professionals from Germany, Denmark and France. The participants will then develop scientific contributions together, based on data collected from NERSH (the international research network on spirituality and health).
Partners: University of Southern Denmark (Denmark, project lead), University of Strasbourg (France), University of Freiburg.
Contact at the UFR: Prof. Dr. Klaus Baumann, Chair of Caritas Studies and Christian Social Work at the University of Freiburg.
Further information
EPICUR Seed Funding – successful projects from the 2025 Call announced for 2026