What School Doesn’t Teach Us About Mathematics
New Video Portrait with Anna Wienhard
Creating the Future
Projects
Science Evening 2025: Brain, Computer, and AI – Soon Hard to Distinguish?
An exciting program highlights the intersection of brain research, supercomputing, and artificial intelligence How similar are the human brain and artificial intelligence, and what can each learn from the other? What role do supercomputers play in developing modern...
Electrically Free Thermal Actuator for Precision Control
Athira Kattiparambil Sivaprasad - Hector RCD Jingyuan Xu
Non-electric actuators offer a promising alternative for sustainable and remote operations. My research focuses on the development of thermal micro-actuators based on thermomagnetic thin films, which harness the intrinsic material property of magnetization loss near the Curie temperature to achieve controlled mechanical motion. Unlike conventional actuators that rely on electrical stimulation, these devices operate by thermal triggering, eliminating the need for continuous electrical input and thereby reducing power consumption.
tRNA thioepitranscriptome: Regulation of protein synthesis in vessel development
Ioannis Theodorou - Hector RCD Sofia-Iris Bibli
This project investigates how sulfur-containing amino acids regulate tRNA thiolation in endothelial cells, thereby controlling protein translation during vessel growth. Mapping the human endothelial tRNA thio-epitranscriptome will uncover novel translational control mechanisms and lay the foundation for potential therapeutic strategies targeting pathological angiogenesis.
Mechanisms underlying pathogenesis of SARS-CoV‑2 infections
Yannick Stahl – Hector Fellow Ralf Bartenschlager
SARS-CoV‑2 has caused a pandemic and is responsible for more than 18 million infections. It is hypothesized that COVID-19 is the result of killing of infected cells and excessive immune activation. To reveal cell types and pathways that are critically involved in viral replication and pathogenesis, I will use transcriptomics and functional studies of genes likely involved in these processes. The results might inform the development of therapeutic strategies and the discovery of biomarkers.
Inter-kingdom wound care between ants and plants
Melina Kienitz - Hector RCD Awardee Erik T. Frank
This project investigates the mutualism between Vachellia trees and Pseudomyrmex ants, focusing on their role in wound care. Using chemical ecology, proteomics, microbiology, and behavioral experiments, we plan to identify relevant wound healing compounds as well as the evolutionary mechanisms that enabled inter-kingdom wound care. This research expands on our concept of the social immune system by expanding it towards the ants’ host in this unique relationship.
Neuromodulatory Processes Involved in Learning and Brain Plasticity Across the Lifespan: Insights from Visual Perceptual Learning
Savanna Babu - Hector RCD Awardee Sebastian Frank
This project investigates how mechanisms of learning and brain plasticity differ between young and older adults using Visual Perceptual Learning (VPL) as a model. VPL refers to an improvement in a visual skill with repeated visual experience or training. VPL will be studied using behavioral training protocols combined with techniques such as eye-tracking, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS).
Visual perceptual learning after a transient phase of congenital blindness: Neural mechanisms of sight recovery
Hector Fellow Brigitte Röder
Markus Becker - Hector RCD Awardee Sebastian Frank
Hector Fellow Eberhart Zrenner
This project aims to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying vision recovery through visual perceptual learning in patients treated for congenital blindness. Led by Dr. Sebastian Frank, Prof. Dr. Brigitte Röder and Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. mult. Eberhart Zrenner, in collaboration with the LV Prasad Eye Institute, the study uses MRS and EEG to assess changes in excitation and inhibition. The goal is to bridge neuroscience, psychology, and ophthalmology to improve rehabilitation strategies, deepen a comprehensive understanding of visual plasticity, and advance treatments for visual impairments.
Living in night and day: genomics of light adaptations in moths as caterpillars and adults
Hector RCD Awardee Anna Stöckl
Hector Fellow Axel Meyer
This project, led by Jun.-Prof. Dr. Anna Stöckl and Prof. Dr. Axel Meyer (University of Konstanz), investigates how moths adapt to artificial light at night. By combining genomics, neuroanatomy and behavioral studies, the team aims to elucidate the mechanisms of sensory plasticity during metamorphosis. Using transcriptomics, epigenetics, and behavioral analysis, the research will investigate how caterpillar light exposure affects adult moths. The results will provide critical insights into animal adaptation to human-induced environmental change and shape future ecological and evolutionary studies.
Unraveling universal mechanisms of viral replication
Hector Fellow Ralf Bartenschlager
Dr. Leonard Bäcker - Hector RCD Awardee Tessa Quax
This project, led by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ralf Bartenschlager (University of Heidelberg) and Prof. Dr. Tessa Quax (University of Groningen), investigates whether archaic viruses form specialized replication compartments, a strategy that has already been demonstrated in bacterial and eukaryotic viruses. By combining structural biology, cell biology, medicine, and chemistry, the goal is to identify universal mechanisms of viral replication. Using advanced imaging, genetic labeling, and lipid analysis, the viral replication process in archaea will be studied and compared to other life forms. The results will provide new insights into the evolution of viruses and identify potential approaches for antiviral therapies. In addition, young scientists will be trained in interdisciplinary virology to promote virus research in different biological areas.
