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.

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.

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 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. 

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.

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.

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.

The aim of the project led by Hector RCD Awardee Agnieszka Nowak-Król (Univer­sity of Würzburg) and Hector Fellow A. Stephen K. Hashmi (Heidel­berg Univer­sity) is to develop well-defined helically chiral gold(III) complexes, the first examples of helically chiral gold complexes with gold atoms on either an outer or an inner helicene rim. The catalytic poten­tial of these unprece­dented complexes and their practi­cal utility will be demon­strated in the enantios­e­lec­tive synthe­sis of small organic compounds and biolog­i­cally or pharma­ceu­ti­cally relevant targets, i.e. natural products and pharma­ceu­ti­cally active compounds.

In this project the Hector Fellows Jürg Leuthold and Eberhart Zrenner are working together with the HFA Postdoc Dr. Wadood Haq (Eberhard Karls Univer­sity, Tübin­gen) and doctoral students Shadi Nashashibi (ETH Zurich) and Marina Homs (ETH Zurich) towards the next gener­a­tion of retinal implants. By combin­ing highly sensi­tive photode­tec­tors with a micro­elec­trode array operat­ing under a new stimu­la­tion paradigm, the RetinaSen­sor will enable previ­ously unachieved spatial and tempo­ral resolu­tion in electric retinal implant technologies.