Carl Zeiss Foundation
Within the framework of the ‘CZS Breakthroughs’ programme, the Carl Zeiss Foundation (CZS) funds top international research from the states of Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Thuringia in the fields of natural sciences, life sciences, and engineering. The funding is intended to support universities in promoting innovative and scientifically promising research programmes and excellent international research with up to five million euros in funding over a period of up to six years. Current projects at the University of Freiburg include the following:
IPROM – Interactive and Programmable Materials
Novel technical materials are supposed to react to changing environmental conditions with a response previously programmed into the material itself. Like biological materials, they can thus adapt to changing environmental conditions.
- Period of funding: 02/2020–01/2025
- Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rühe (Department of Microsystems Engineering)
ReScale – Responsible and Scalable Learning for Robots Assisting Humans
Can robots learn through observation? An interdisciplinary project team is asking itself this question and researching new training methods for AI-based robots.
- Period of funding: 05/2022–04/2028
- Spokesperson: Prof Dr. Joschka Bödecker (Department of Computer Science)
nEOdiag – Nanopore-Based Electrical Optical Protein Diagnostics
Protein sequencing promises to significantly advance research and medicine but is expensive and time-consuming. Simultaneous measurement of electrical signals and fluorescence should enable rapid, cost-effective protein sequencing.
- Period of funding: 10/2023–09/2029
- Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Jan C. Behrends (Institute of Physiology)
Within the framework of the ‘CZS Wildcard’ programme, the Carl Zeiss Foundation supports unconventional research projects from the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) at a very early stage of development with up to 750,000 euros in funding per project over a period of two years. Eligible for funding are interdisciplinary groups comprising at least three scientists. Current projects at the University of Freiburg include the following:
DELIVER – Data-driven Engineering of Sustainable Living Materials
DELIVER is a new concept at the interface of materials science, synthetic biology, and data science. It aims to produce wood-based materials with arbitrarily adjustable properties by means of cell programming and machine learning.
- Period of funding: 01/2023–12/2024
- Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Thomas Speck (Institute of Biology II)
MINI – Magnetically Induced Neuroinhibition
MINI is investigating the non-invasive blockade of nerve conduction using high-frequency magnetic stimulation. To this end, the project team combines scientific expertise from the fields of anaesthesiology, medical physics, and biomedical microtechnology.
- Period of funding: 01/2024–12/2025
- Spokesperson: Dr. Jakob Hufschmidt (University Medical Center, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care)
Vector Foundation
‘STEM for the Environment’ early career research group: The Solar Cells of the Future
- Period of funding: 07/2022–06/2026
- Principal Investigator: Dr. Juliane Borchert (Department of Sustainable Systems Engineering)
‘STEM for the Environment’ early career research group: CO2 to X
- Period of funding: 03/2020–02/2026
- Principal Investigator: Dr. Severin Vierrath (Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies)
VW Foundation
EPSS@UFR – Earth and Planetary System Sciences
- Period of funding: 2024–2030
- Spokespersons: Prof. Dr. Thomas Kenkmann, Dr. Johanna Gülcher (Departement of Geology and Environmental Natural sciences)
Click here for an overview of further ongoing projects:
Georg H. Endress Foundation
The Georg H. Endress Foundation has been funding the postdoc cluster ‘QUSTEC – Quantum Science and Technologies at the European Campus’ since 2018. The Georg H. Endress Cluster is a cross-border collaboration between the Universities of Freiburg and Basel (Switzerland) and promotes outstanding young scientists on current and emerging topics in quantum science.
- Period of funding: 2018–2027
- Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Andreas Buchleitner (Institute of Physics)
Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation
The Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation has provided funding for numerous projects in sustainability research at the University of Freiburg since 2020, thus helping the University to sharpen its profile in this area. The foundation supports research groups, awards prizes for early career researchers, and promotes modern science communication.
The Young Academy for Sustainability Research at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) gives young postdoctoral researchers from various disciplines the opportunity to collaborate on joint research initiatives, projects, and publications in the field of sustainability research.
- Period of funding: 2021–2027
Hector Foundation II
With the ‘Hector Baden-Württemberg STEM staff fund’, the Hector Foundation is providing additional performance-based grants to outstanding researchers from the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics from 2022 to 2025.