EPICUR Seed Funding – Seven research projects to be funded in 2025

The project investigates the effects of border shifts on European integration. The focus is on three border regions between Germany, France, Denmark and Poland. Researchers compare these from an interdisciplinary social science perspective. Three workshops and a summer school promote the exchange between science, students and cross-border actors. The aim is to establish an EPICUR network in the field of border studies and European integration.

The project brings together seven interdisciplinary early-career researchers from four different EPICUR universities and one external research partner. The project investigates how the European Union can combine its energy transition with regional supply chains and the renaturation of local ecosystems. The focus is on social and ecological challenges arising from regional differences in population density, income and environmental standards.

The project develops sustainable photoresponsive polymers that change under the influence of light and can be used in sensor technology or electronics. Unlike conventional materials, they are derived from biogenic sources such as castor oil, lignin and amino acids. A newly discovered molecular light switch based on peptides is responsible for the light sensitivity. The aim is to create sustainable alternative materials for modern technologies.

The project brings together four institutes with expertise in the fields of nano-optics and nano-magnetics to explore the fundamentals of energy-efficient quantum technologies and telecommunications. Scientific workshops, exchange programmes and student recruitment are planned to deepen cooperation and create the basis for future EU funding applications.

The project promotes sustainable and resilient forest management through agent-based modelling and the development of a serious game-based learning programme. Students, stakeholders and partner institutions in the EPICUR network benefit from simulation workshops on risk management and an international competition that implements the knowledge learned in a practical way in a digital game. The project is also involved in the “Future Forest” Cluster of Excellence.

This project analyses the diagnostic diversity of depression. This mental illness comprises numerous subtypes that often cannot be clearly distinguished. The project uses qualitative interviews and conceptual analyses to enable a more precise differentiation of mood disorders and thus facilitate research into the causes and new therapeutic approaches.

The project explores how resources can be distributed more fairly among the world’s population to enable everyone to live a dignified life without exceeding planetary boundaries. The project investigates what minimum resources are necessary and what influence human action has on global resource consumption. Expert workshops, an exchange programme for students and a position paper will create the basis for further research funding.