LOEWE

State initiative for the development of scientific and economic excellence

The research funding programme LOEWE (state initiative for the development of scientific and economic excellence) is the excellence programme of the state of Hesse. TU Darmstadt is home to a LOEWE research centre and several LOEWE research clusters. In addition to this, researchers from the TU are involved in other research clusters.


The LOEWE research funding programme (State Offensive for the Development of Scientific and Economic Excellence) is the excellence programme run by the German State of Hesse.

The aim of the LOEWE programme is to support differentiation and profile building between the research institutions in Hesse and to increase their national and international competitiveness through better networking and targeted strengthening of already existing research expertise.

Furthermore, the objective is to utilise the innovative strength of the research institutions for developing the Hessian economy. The LOEWE funding is provided as initial project financing and is designed to help the research institutions in Hesse to apply for third-party funds on a larger scale and to successfully participate in major national and international collaborative projects.

LOEWE offers three funding lines (research centres, research clusters, SME projects). Calls for proposals are launched regarding the institutional programme lines (research centres, research clusters) – on an annual basis for research clusters and on an irregular basis for research centres.

You can find out more information about the LOEWE programme and the three funding lines on the website of the Hessen State Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts. As the number of applications per university is limited, the two-stage application process is subject to a preceding selection process within the university.

You will find an overview of projects funded by the LOEWE programme that were applied for by scientists at TU Darmstadt below. The LOEWE Research Centres are generally operated together with non-university research institutes and/or other universities.

Title Coordinator
emergenCity Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Hollick (Fachbereich Informatik)
Title Coordinator
FLOW FOR LIFE (from 1.1.2022) Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jeanette Hussong (Department of Mechanical Engineering), Prof. Dr. Ulrike A. Nuber (Department of Biology)
WhiteBox Prof. Constatin Rothkopf, PhD (Department of Human Sciences), Prof. Dr. Kristian Kersting (Department of Computer Sciences)
TraBiTa Prof. Dr. Felix Hausch (Department of Chemistry)
Nukleare Photonik Prof. Dr. Markus Roth, Prof. Dr. Joachim Enders (both Department of Physics)
FLAME – Fermi Level Engineering Antiferroelektrischer Materialien für Energiespeicher und Isolatoren Prof. Dr. Andreas Klein (Department of Materials- and Geosciences)
Title Coordinator
Architekturen des Ordnens Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
Ansprechpartner an der TU Darmstadt: Prof. Christiane Salge, N. Gribat, O. Tessmann, T. Paulitz
GLUE Philipps-Universität Marburg
Ansprechpartner an der TU Darmstadt: Prof. Dr. Felix Hausch, PD Dr. Tobias Meckel

LOEWE research centres

CASED – Center for Advanced Security Research Darmstadt

Koordination: Prof. Dr. Michael Waidner (Fachbereich Informatik und Fraunhofer SIT)


LOEWE research clusters

Uniformisierte Strukturen in Arithmetik und Geometrie

Prof. Dr. Jan-Hendrik Bruinier (Department of Mathematics)

Software-Factory 4.0 (SF 4.0)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heiko Mantel (Department of Computer Sciences)

BAMP! – Bauen mit Papier

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Samuel Schabel (Fachbereich Maschinenbau)

CompuGene – Computer-gestützte Verfahren zur Generierung komplexer genetischer Schaltkreise

Prof. Dr. Beatrix Süß (Fachbereich Biologie), Prof. Dr. Heinz Koeppl (Fachbereich Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik)

iNAPO – Ionenleitenden Nanoporen

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Ensinger (Materialwissenschaften), Prof. Dr. Bodo Laube (Biologie)

NiCER – Vernetzte infrastrukturlose Kooperation zur Krisenbewältigung

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Hollick (Fachbereich Informatik)

Soft Control – Mit Polymeren an Grenzflächen Funktionen effektiv schalten

Sprecher: Prof. Dr. Markus Biesalski (Fachbereich Chemie)

Cocoon – Kooperative Sensorkommunikation

Sprecher: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Abdelhak M. Zoubir (Fachbereich Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik)

Dynamo PLV

Sprecher: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Eberhard Abele (Fachbereich Maschinenbau)

RESPONSE – Ressourcenschonende Permanentmagnete durch optimierte Nutzung seltener Erden

Koordination: Prof. Dr. Oliver Gutfleisch (Fachbereich Material- und Geowissenschaften)

Sensors Towards Terahertz – Neuartige Technologien für Life Sciences, Prozess- und Umweltmonitoring (opens in new tab)

Koordination: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rolf Jakoby (Fachbereich Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik)

Eigenlogik der Städte

Sprecherin: Prof. Dr. Martina Löw (ehem. Fachbereich Gesellschafts- und Geschichtswissenschaften)


Participation of TU Darmstadt in LOEWE research centres

AdRIA – Zentrum Adaptronik – Research, Innovation, Application

Koordination: Fraunhofer LBF, Darmstadt
Ansprechpartner: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Tobias Melz (Fachbereich Maschinenbau und Fraunhofer LBF)

HIC for FAIR – Helmholtz-International Center for FAIR

Koordination: Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Ansprechpartner TU Darmstadt: Prof. Dr. Norbert Pietralla (Fachbereich Physik und GSI Helmholtzzentrum)

Ansprechpartner TU Darmstadt: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf Steinmetz (Fachbereich Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik)


Participation of TU Darmstadt in LOEWE research clusters

Natur 4.0

Philipps-Universität Marburg
Ansprechpartner an der TU Darmstadt: Prof. Dr. Steinmetz

Infrastruktur – Design – Gesellschaft (Designforschung in Mobilitätssystemen zur Entwicklung multimodaler, umweltfreundlicher Mobilität im Ballungsraum Rhein-Main)

Hochschule für Gestaltung
Ansprechpartner an der TU Darmstadt: Prof. Dr. Annette Rudolph-Cleff (Fachbereich Architektur)

Allegro (Hochleistungskomponenten aus Aluminiumlegierungen durch ressourcenoptimierte Prozesstechnologien)

Universität Kassel
Ansprechpartner an der TU Darmstadt: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Groche (Fachbereich Maschinenbau)

Digital Humanities

Koordination: Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Ansprechpartnerin TU Darmstadt: Prof. Dr. Iryna Gurevych (Fachbereich Informatik)

Elektronendynamik chiraler Systeme (ELCH)

Koordination: Universität Kassel

Always online? (Social Link)

Koordination: Universität Kassel
Ansprechpartner TU Darmstadt: Prof. Dr. Robert Berger (ehem. Fachbereich Chemie)

Directions for applicants (in German)

Current call for proposals and documents for the application process

Time line of the current call for proposals and the evaluation process (opens in new tab)

Please contact the Directorate for Research and Technology Transfer if you are planning to submit an application.