As strong research universities with complementary profiles, the RMU partners work together on more than 30 joint research projects. Through their research focal areas DATA, HEALTH, MATTER and SOCIETY, the universities pool their activities and address major scientific and societal challenges that no single institution could tackle alone. This strength is reflected in, among other things, the more than two dozen Collaborative Research Centres and Transregios currently funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), each with two or all three universities playing a leading role, as well as in vibrant networks built around specific disciplines and topics.

Since the beginning of this year, researchers from TU Darmstadt and Goethe University have been working on a novel intelligent sensor system that could significantly improve the treatment of children with cancer. The project is called 'Personalised medical technology for therapeutic drug monitoring at the point of care in paediatric oncology – MultiDrug-TDM'. Seven of TU Darmstadt's research groups contribute technological innovations in biosensing, biophotonics, nanomaterials and micro-/nanofluidics, 3D printing technology, and AI-assisted signal processing and data analysis. These are combined with leading medical expertise in paediatric oncology and clinical pharmacology at Goethe University's Faculty of Medicine.

A multidisciplinary team led by TU Darmstadt has shown how proteins that occur naturally in human cells can be harnessed to deliver therapeutics specifically to diseased cells. The study emerged from the ProxiTRAPS and ProxiDIRECT projects within ProxiDRUGS, a Clusters4Future initiative funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), which brings together drug researchers from the RMU and the wider Rhine-Main region. The findings underpin the spin-off initiative MoProX, and close collaboration with Merck will enable their broad application in the development of innovative new medicines.

Researchers from TU Darmstadt and the University Medical Center Mainz have also examined how well cells from people who had cancer in childhood can repair radiation-induced DNA damage. Their insights into the underlying repair mechanism also offer clues as to why some people develop cancer early in life or more than once.

The Collaborative Research Centre 'Iron, upgraded!' ('Eisen, neu gedacht!'), coordinated by TU Darmstadt, entered its second funding period this year. Its aim is to influence iron in its compounds so that it becomes a selective, versatile and valuable substitute for rare, toxic or critical metals. Researchers from all three RMU universities are involved. The alliance also opens up new ways of feeding research into teaching. The centre's success further strengthens the RMU research focal area MATTER.

There are places that no human being will ever set foot in, simply because they do not exist in our everyday reality. Mathematicians in the Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio 'GAUS' ('Geometry and Arithmetic of Uniformized Structures') visit such places every day: they study curious objects that can be neither touched nor drawn, and that no one can picture. Goethe University is the coordinating university, with TU Darmstadt and Heidelberg University also involved; JGU Mainz is a partner.

A study by TU Darmstadt with the participation of Goethe University shows just how topical RMU collaborative research can be. Since 2 August 2026, new transparency obligations for AI-generated content have applied in the European Union. While the major AI providers are developing technical solutions for tracing the origin and creation of digital content, the study turns its attention to a side effect that has so far received little attention: what does labelling AI actually do to human creativity?

These examples show how the strengths of the three universities complement one another. As an alliance, they achieve excellence together in research and teaching.

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