University of Freiburg applies for four Clusters of Excellence

Constitutions are at the centre of socio-political expectations and conflicts. Yet neither their nature nor their impact can be fully understood if we focus primarily on constitutions as legal texts. Therefore, the ConTrans initiative sets out to analyse constitutions as a network of social practices, ranging from rituals and symbols to procedures and institutions. Researchers from eleven disciplines will establish an analytical framework that for the first time allows description of the role of constitutions as both objects and drivers of social change across global spaces and epochs. The interdisciplinary research initiative seeks to develop answers to what holds societies and political systems together, and what makes them erode. Freiburg will become a centre of innovative study within the international landscape of constitutional research.

The following faculties of the University of Freiburg participate in ConTrans (in alphabetical order): Faculty of Economics and Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Philology, Faculty of Theology. ConTrans is part of the interdisciplinary focus area Cultures and Societies in Space and Time in the University of Freiburg’s research profile.

In view of rapid climate change, new types of disturbance, the colonisation and loss of species, large parts of forests are developing into novel ecosystems that have no equivalent in evolutionary history. At the same time, major societal changes are to be expected, resulting for example from urbanisation, globalisation and land use change. Forest ecosystems and society are closely intertwined; they interact in complex ways, giving rise to new and difficult-to-quantify risks. The Future Forests initiative aims to develop new concepts for analysing forests as socio-ecological systems. The aim of the cluster is to use these approaches to provide the basis for a transformation to more adaptable forests.

The following faculties of the University of Freiburg participate in Future Forests (in alphabetical order): Faculty of Biology, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of Medicine. Future Forests is part of the interdisciplinary focus area Pathways to Sustainability in the University of Freiburg’s research profile.

The cells of complex organisms constantly exchange biological signals – including signalling molecules, metabolites, physical stimuli, and combinations thereof. This dense network of dynamic signalling processes enables cells to coordinate their tasks, form complex tissues and adapt to environmental conditions. The cluster of excellence CIBSS aims to understand this “language of life” and to generate new fundamental knowledge in the field of biological signalling studies by taking a new approach that focuses on the integration of biological signals, i.e. the mechanisms by which different signals are processed across spatial and temporal scales. Building on the growing understanding of signal integration across scales, research groups in CIBSS are also developing methods to precisely control biological signals – allowing us not only to understand but also to communicate in the “language of life”. To achieve these objectives, CIBSS combines innovative approaches and interdisciplinary collaboration and brings together cross-institutional expertise from the life, physical, and engineering sciences, as well as ethics and law.

The fundamental signalling research at CIBSS provides the basis for identifying the causes of disease, developing new treatments and opening up opportunities to make agriculture more robust and sustainable, thus addressing global challenges in health, agriculture and food security.

The livMatS Cluster of Excellence has been significantly shaping scientific work on materials research at the University of Freiburg and beyond since 2019. This includes, for example, the areas of energy storage, multi-material 3D printing, glass printing and soft robotics, as well as the assessment of technology acceptance. The cluster has established two professorships and five junior research groups, which strengthen materials science in Freiburg by providing new impetus. The cluster has been particularly successful in the area of third-party funding: its scientists have raised an additional 25 million euros for projects. The publication of over 400 articles in more than 180 scientific journals and the registration of several patents reflect the achievements of the research team. livMatS has promoted interdisciplinary exchange in collaborations with Penn State University in the USA and the Stuttgart Cluster of Excellence Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture (IntCDC). The collaboration with Stuttgart in particular has resulted in two innovative and highly acclaimed biomimetic pavilions that make livMatS research issues tangible to the public.

livMatS is part of the interdisciplinary focus area Pathways to Sustainability in the University of Freiburg’s research profile.