On Friday, 16 January 2026, TU President Professor Tanja Brühl welcomed the First Mayor of Hamburg, Dr Peter Tschentscher, to the University. Together with Bijan Kaffenberger, member of the Hessian State Parliament, Tschentscher was the first guest of the Cluster of Excellence Reasonable Artificial Intelligence (RAI), which has been funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as one of 70 clusters since 01 January.

New soft landing services open up funding, contacts and ecosystem access across Europe

Start-ups and spin-offs from TU Darmstadt now benefit from a new Europe-wide support system offered through the Unite! university alliance. The newly launched soft landing services of the Unite! partner universities help early-stage ventures access regional innovation ecosystems, funding opportunities, and expert networks across nine countries.

Policy debate on the future of EU University Alliances – 14 January 2026 in Brussels

The State Government of Hessen invites you to a high-level event titled “Empowering Europe through EU University Alliances – Hessian Universities driving Innovation and Cooperation”, taking place on Wednesday, 14 January 2026, at the Representation of the State of Hessen to the European Union in Brussels. The hosts are Manfred Pentz, Minister for Federal and European Affairs, International Affairs and Bureaucracy Reduction and Timon Gremmels, Minister for Science and Research, Arts and Culture.

New findings published in Physical Review Letters

Describing matter under extreme conditions, such as those found inside neutron stars, remains an unsolved problem. Researchers from TU Darmstadt and Goethe University Frankfurt have studied this matter and its thermodynamic properties. Their results have now been published in the renowned journal “Physical Review Letters”.

Study by TU Darmstadt becomes cover story for ‘Soft Matter’ journal

Tiny drops of oil can resist a fluid flow and hover at a constant position. Researchers at TU Darmstadt have now documented and investigated this phenomenon for the first time. They made use of the so-called Ouzo effect.

TU Professor Christian Hasse receives Leibniz Prize

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has awarded TU Professor Christian Hasse the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize. The award is worth 2.5 million euros and is considered the most important and most highly endowed German research prize. The DFG is thus recognising Hasse's achievements in the field of reactive thermofluid dynamics. His work opens up new knowledge-based paths for a climate-neutral energy future.

Publication by TU researchers in ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA’

Tiny cavities in energy storage devices form small vortices that help with charging, according to a research team led by TU Darmstadt. This previously unknown phenomenon could advance the development of faster storage devices.

New degree program at TU Darmstadt and Goethe University Frankfurt

The Technical University of Darmstadt and Goethe University Frankfurt will launch a joint master's degree program in “Urban Studies” in the summer semester of 2026.

ULisboa will award 30 PhD fellowships under a collaboration agreement between FCT and ULisboa as part of European University Unite!

Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa) is part of the Unite! – University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering, together with Technishe Universität Darmstadt (Germany), Aalto University (Finland), KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), Grenoble INP – UGA (France), Politecnico di Torino (Italy), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain), Graz University of Technology (Austria) and Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (Poland). ULisboa and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) signed a collaboration agreement to award PhD fellowships under Unite! priority areas.

In a video, TU President Prof. Tanja Brühl and Vice President for Research Prof. Matthias Oechsner explain what the joint RMU-EXCITE excellence application by the Rhine-Main universities is all about – and what opportunities it offers for TU Darmstadt. The interview is available to members of TU Darmstadt in the internal area.

Research team develops method to accelerate reinforcement learning

Robots can learn to perform tasks. However, this learning process often requires large amounts of data and computing time. Researchers at TU Darmstadt have now developed an algorithm that works efficiently even for complex tasks. The research is part of the Cluster of Excellence ‘Reasonable Artificial Intelligence (RAI)’.

Applications accepted until 15 December

The sixth edition of the ULISSES project (University of Lisbon Interdisciplinary Studies on Sustainable Environment and Seas) is once again inviting students to engage intensively with ocean-related sustainability issues. The application deadline is 15 December 2025.

New trilateral master's program in physics at Rhine-Main universities – applications now being accepted

With the new trilateral master's program “Particle Accelerator Science” the Rhine-Main universities are pooling their expertise in accelerator science, which is unique in Europe. Starting in the summer semester of 2026, students will have access for the first time to a joint, internationally oriented program of study at three locations, covering the entire spectrum of this key technology.