Archive: News of Technical University of Darmstadt

“Nature” publication with participation of TU Darmstadt

Scientists at TU Darmstadt and the Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) in Berlin have investigated how large functional biomolecules like proteins or antibodies can be brought into a living cell. Linking antibodies or proteins with cell-penetrating peptides is a promising approach—but it has not yet fully led to the anticipated results. If these peptides are also attached to the cell surface, then proteins or antibodies are transported much better into the cell interior. The groundbreaking results have just been published in the journal Nature Chemistry.

TU-Researchers discover significant privacy leak in Apple's file-sharing service

Apple users can share files with each other using AirDrop. But studies by TU researchers at the Department of Computer Science show that uninvited people can also tap into data. The research team developed a system that could replace the insecure AirDrop. Apple has not yet closed the discovered security gap – the users of more than 1.5 billion Apple devices are still vulnerable.

Vanessa Zeller is an expert in sustainability assessment – and an “Athene Young Investigator”

Dr. Vanessa Zeller is researching how bio-based and recycling-based material cycles can help protect the climate and conserve resources. The Head of the Sustainability Assessment Working Group in the Institute of Material Flow Management and Resource Economy has only been working at TU Darmstadt for a few months but has already successfully applied for funding as an “Athene Young Investigator”.

Spin-off CORAmaps observe agricultural land with satellite radar

They use radar signals to observe agricultural land around the world, and want to score points on the market with AI-supported technology that is more precise, faster and more reliable than previous solutions. CORAmaps co-founder Markus Huhn on a business model that fits perfectly into the digital economy, and the tightrope walk that is currently being carried out by a TU Darmstadt start-up funded by an EXIST research transfer.

Chemistry team of the TU publishes new therapeutic approaches

The research team of Professor Felix Hausch, Department of Chemistry at TU Darmstadt, has shown in two publications how in real life molecular rings worked the magic to improve compounds that could allow a new approach to treat depression, obesity or chronic pain.

Focus on Sustainabilty

The TU Darmstadt and the science and technology company Merck are continuing their long-standing cooperation and establishing a joint research platform, a “Sustainability Hub”.

DFG approves funding worth millions

Over the next six years, the German Research Foundation (DFG) will fund the Priority Programme (SPP) “On the Way to the Fluvial Anthroposphere”, where researchers will analyse the interactions between human societies and pre-industrial floodplains in Central Europe. The framework programme is a collaboration between Leipzig University, the Technical University of Darmstadt and the University of Tübingen and will receive around 5.5 million euros in funding during the first three-year period.

The start-up Lylu opens up the digital world to older people

Maintaining contact with family, shopping, taking an adult education course, watching films or arranging a vaccination appointment: Everyday life for older people has also been increasing shifting over into the digital world, especially since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The start-up company Lylu – which is coached by the HIGHEST Startup and Innovation Center – has launched a new app on the market to help these people gain more digital confidence. It standardizes the use of common websites and services – an innovation that will enable greater digital participation.

Part 2: Research project “PHI-Factory”

If industry wants to face up to the challenges of the energy transition, it must rethink production – a complex transformation process that TU Darmstadt supports with new digital and AI-based solutions. The scientists behind it are application-oriented, interdisciplinary and holistic. Their common goal: to promote emission reductions, resource conservation and flexible energy use technologically. And in doing so, also to contribute to more companies putting environmentally and economically sustainable production on their strategic agendas. In the ETA Factory, researchers and their practical partners have a model factory on the Lichtwiese campus where they can validate their innovations and make them ready for practice.

International Research Team: Inverse kinematics opens unperturbed insight into atomic nuclei

By employing inverse kinematics, an elegant reversion of an established research method, and by choosing appropriate measurement conditions, an international research team has opened a path for a detailed study of properties of the nucleon-nucleon interaction in the atomic nucleus. The experiment has been carried out by a large international collaboration (BM@N Collaboration) led by the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT), the Tel Aviv University, the TU Darmstadt, as well as the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) at the accelerator facility of JINR in Dubna close to Moscow and published in the latest issue of “Nature Physics”.

A research group led by TU Darmstadt is looking for answers

Over the next four years, the DFG (German Research Foundation) is to finance a consortium that wants to know how nature renews itself. This is nothing less than the script for the natural regeneration of the rainforest and how this process can be strengthened from the outside.

Part 1: Research project “Agile resource-efficient production network”

Intelligent and networked machines with the lowest possible carbon footprint protect the environment and save resources. Researchers at TU Darmstadt reveal how this works.

Research project “REScala”

The world is turning into a global “supercomputer” consisting of sensors, smart devices, laptops, desktops, and (cloud) servers all connected via the Internet. A team led by computer sciences professor Mira Mezini is developing new programming approaches that automatically deal with the complexity of this “world supercomputer” so that software developers can focus on solving real problems.

Research at the Institute for Production Engineering and Forming Machines

Normally, Andreas Wächter and Lukas Kluy deal with titanium alloys for dental implants. Almost as an aside, they developed a model for increasing the energy efficiency of production processes.

3rd Dialogue of the European University Alliance Unite!

Unite! convened online for its big event, the Unite! Dialogue from 8th to 10th March 2021. The biggest Unite! event yet – gathering more than 350 guests from all over Europe for the public session – was hosted virtually by Grenoble INP-UGA. Furthermore, the third Dialogue had three premieres to offer: a public session, the inauguration of the Student Forum SURE! and an open call for the thematic parallel sessions – resulting in 18 lively workshops to bring Unite! further ahead.