Obituary
Prof. em. Dr.-Ing. Hartmut Weule
Creating the Future
ProjectsBeyond Retinal: Machine Learning Models for Photochemical Control in Rhodopsins
Hector RCD Awardee Prof. Dr. Carolin Müller Hector Fellow Prof. Dr. Klaus Robert Müller Hector Fellow Prof. Dr. Peter Hegemann
The project is developing a machine learning framework to accurately predict the excited states of rhodopsins. To this end, a dataset of quantum chemical calculations on retinal derivatives in protein-like environments is being compiled and used for model training. The models are validated and refined through the repeated synthesis and spectroscopic analysis of specifically designed rhodopsin variants. The goal is to create a data-driven platform for the rational design of light-sensitive proteins and the accelerated development of new photoreceptors.
Ultra-High Fatigue Life Elastocaloric Microcooling for Photonic Systems
Hector Fellow Prof. Dr. Peter Gumbsch Hector Fellow Prof. Dr. Juerg Leuthold Hector RCD Awardee Dr. Jingyuan Xu
Modern photonic systems require precise thermal management to ensure stability and performance. This interdisciplinary project develops a new type of elastocaloric microcooling device capable of operating for more than one million cycles. By combining advanced materials research on shape memory alloy films with innovative device engineering and photonic system integration, the project aims to create a highly efficient solid-state cooling technology. The collaboration between KIT, ETH Zurich, and Fraunhofer IWM addresses key challenges in durability and reliability of microscale cooling technologies for next-generation photonic and neuromorphic systems.
Engineering Covalent Quantum Model Systems
Hector Fellow Manfred Kappes
Hector RCD Awardee Philip Willke
The project is developing covalently linked porphyrin spin chains on ultrathin insulators to create designer quantum model systems. Using low-energy electrospray ion beam deposition (LEIBD), mass-selected metal-tetraphenylporphyrin fragments are selectively deposited onto MgO/Ag(100) or NaCl/Au(111) substrates and linked into short 1-D chains (2–6 units). Using ESR-STM and pulsed ESR techniques (Rabi, Ramsey, Echo), the g-factor, exchange, and dipole couplings are determined and the spins are coherently controlled, creating a versatile platform for molecular quantum simulators.
PRECISE-CRC: PREvention through Causal Inference and Stratified Embeddings in ColoRectal Cancer
Hector Fellow Bernhard Schölkopf
Hector RCD Awardee Carolin Schneider
PRECISE CRC is developing an embedding-based system that transforms heterogeneous lifestyle and healthcare data from biobanks into structured patient summaries using a context-specific large language model (LLM), embeds these into latent vectors, and identifies true causal risk factors for colorectal cancer using advanced causal methods to identify true causal risk factors for colorectal cancer.
Modelling extracellular matrix of human adult brain injury for repair
Meriam Ernez - Hector RCD Magdalena Götz
Brain injury and neurodegeneration cause irreversible neuron loss. This project models the adult human brain injury environment by decellularizing adult human brain tissue from patients and characterizing its extracellular matrix (ECM). Neuronal replacement strategies will be tested, including transplantation of human iPSC-derived neurons and reprogramming of iPSC-derived or adult astrocytes isolated from resection material, to define conditions that support neuronal replacement across diseases and ages.
New Video Portrait: Children’s Rights in Focus
Christoph Klein’s Research on Rare Diseases and Child Participation
Random Tessellations on Hyperbolic Space
Nat Kendal-Freedman - Hector Fellow Anna Wienhard
Tessellations divide a space similarly to how the tiles of a mosaic divide a picture. Studying the individual tiles and the patterns they form provides a way of analyzing both real-world phenomena like microstructures and mathematical objects like metric spaces. In this project, we study random tessellations on hyperbolic space, with the goal of better understanding a surprising connection between probability, geometry, and algebra.
Defining novel resilience pathways in rare monogenic disorders
Daniel Petersheim - Hector Fellow Christoph Klein
In the EU alone, approximately 30 million people are affected by a rare disease, many of them children. Most of the 6,000 to 8,000 rare diseases known to date are caused by the altered function of a single gene (Boycott&Ardigó, 2018). This project under the supervision of Prof. Christoph Klein aims to develop innovative strategies for precision medicine in rare diseases by (i) re-wiring aberrant molecular networks for therapeutic purposes and (ii) identifying novel “druggable” targets using CRISPR-Cas9-mediated genome-wide screens.
Hector Research Career Development Award Honors Young Researchers on Their Way to a Professorship
Robert Hein, Viola Introini, and Maximilian Dax receive the award
