Actions, Awards, Events

2025 has been a year of change, and of progress. It gave us ample opportunity for actions and new ventures.

20 years of the TUM-IAS

We used this anniversary to take a critical look at what we have achieved and set new challenges for ourselves. Over the past 20 years, we expanded our Fellowship program, developed new formats, and established new thematic or regional focal points. A significant part of our Fellowship program could be funded by public grants.

In addition, over the years, more than 20 million euros have been raised, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the TUM-IAS.

We are extremely grateful for the many years of support:

• BMW AG
• Dieter Schwarz Foundation
• EU Marie Curie COFUND
• Georg Nemetschek Innovation Foundation
• Nobel Sustainability Trust
• Siemens AG
• TÜV Süd Foundation
• Rotary Club München Friedensengel
• as well as numerous individual donors supporting our TUM-IAS Ukraine Fellowships in particular.

Our Board of Trustees, which over the years included highly renowned international scientists from academia and industry, often helped the TUM-IAS develop further through well-considered recommendations. We took the 2025 annual meeting as an opportunity to look back with all four previous directors and numerous international Fellows and alumni, while also identifying new areas of action.

See more
www.ias.tum.de/ias/institute-for-advanced-study/20-years-of-tum-ias/

New funding for seven Clusters of Excellence

TUM has once again made a successful start to the highly competitive Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments: Starting in 2026, seven Clusters of Excellence at TUM and its cooperation partners will be funded, as announced by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Four existing Clusters demonstrated their worth in the international review process. They will be funded for a further seven years with a future-oriented focus on energy conversion, quantum technologies, neurological diseases, and the origin of the universe. In addition, three new Clusters of Excellence convinced the international review panels with leading research approaches in nucleic acid research, biosystem design, and societal transformation through technologies.

Each Cluster includes numerous TUM-IAS Hosts, TUM professors whose work as principal investigators has been closely linked to the clusters' topics for years or who have laid the groundwork for the successful competition. A great number of international TUM-IAS Fellows have contributed to the success of the Clusters with their work.

Particularly noteworthy is the e-conversion Cluster in energy research, which funded three Fellows at the TUM-IAS: Naomi Halas and Peter Nordlander from Rice University, and Laura Herz from Oxford University. In addition, the Cluster was further strengthened by Fellows Sossina Haile (Northwestern University), and Ib Chorkendorff and Dennis Christensen (both DTU), all hosted by e-conversion PIs.

Fellowship Call

In response to our Fellowship Call 2024–25, we received an unprecedented number of applications for our various TUM-IAS Fellowship programs – twice as many as in 2023, and more than ever before in the Institute’s 20-year history. This impressive response reflects the strong interest in our Fellowship program and its growing recognition within the research community.

Twelve Fellowships were awarded. Seven of these were funded directly by TUM, while the remaining Fellowships were made possible thanks to the generous support of Siemens AG, the Georg Nemetschek Innovation Foundation, the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, and the TÜV SÜD Foundation. Their contributions have allowed us to nearly double the number of Fellowships in recent years. We welcome our new Fellows from Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the UK, and the US.

Dieter Schwarz Courageous Research Grant

The Dieter Schwarz Courageous Research Grant, funded by the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, supports bold, visionary project ideas with one million euros. This new Fellowship is open to outstanding international scientists from outside TUM who, together with a TUM research group, intend to use groundbreaking technology to propose a radical solution to a major challenge in the field of “Digitalization and Sustainability.”

Thanks to the generosity of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation and due to outstanding proposals, we were able to award not one, but two Fellowships in 2025:

Timothy Brodribb is a tenured professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Tasmania. His special interest is in plant physiology, especially plant-water relations, and his team has developed new tools and methodologies that provide insight into the dynamic behavior of plants as they respond to changing environmental conditions. This work has applications in natural systems, where it provides insight into plant stress under a changing climate, and in agricultural systems, where its tools are being adapted for irrigation management.

Samarjit Chakraborty is a William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor at the Department of Computer Science at UNC Chapel Hill. The goal of his Focus Group is to develop models, algorithms, and tools for designing sustainable cyber-physical systems, that is, embedded computers and software systems that interact with and control physical systems, such as machines in an industrial production plant, autonomous robots, and autonomous vehicles. He works on making such systems more energy-efficient and, ideally, batteryless, powered by energy-harvesting techniques.

TUM-IAS Fellowships provided by Siemens AG

In 2025, Siemens moved its research center to the Garching Campus. Once more, Siemens provided funding for two Fellowships, one focused on Simulation and Digital Twins, and the other on the Future of Autonomous Systems/Robotics.
We welcome Aaron M. Johnson from Carnegie Mellon University and Cordelia Schmid from the French National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology, INRIA (see also the chapter “Welcoming our New Fellows,” p. 30 ff.).

TÜV SÜD Foundation Fellowship

TÜV SÜD Foundation funded a new Hans Fischer Fellowship for three years, focusing on the research field “Digitalization in Engineering,” open exclusively to early-career female researchers. Our common goal is to promote more young female scientists in engineering and the natural sciences and to give them opportunities early in their careers.

TUM Ambassadors

Many international scientists have enriched our university with their expertise and experience over the past decades. Since 2013, the TUM President has annually awarded the honorary title of TUM Ambassador to those who have particularly enriched TUM with their scientific expertise and international experience during their stay. They are links between TUM and the international academic and industrial research communities. The dedicated participation of TUM Ambassadors as ambassadors and advisors strengthens our global network and promotes international knowledge exchange. TUM Ambassadors are Members of our TUM-IAS and can apply for annual funding to return to TUM for research and guest stays.

2025 Ambassadors are:

• Prof. Vivek Vitthal Buwa, India Institute of Technology, Delhi, India
• Prof. Shobhana Narasimhan, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, India, and Alumna Hans Fischer Senior Fellow
• Prof. Jonathan Onyekwelu, The Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria
• Prof. Jenny Reardon, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
• Prof. Oren Schuldiner, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
• Prof. Takao Someya, The University of Tokyo, Japan, and Alumnus Hans Fischer Senior Fellow

• Dr. Sutthiphong “Spot” Srigrarom, National University of Singapore, Japan

   

Special publications

China’s Rise and the Reconfiguration of Global Economic Governance

China’s rapid economic and political ascension is reshaping the architecture of global economic governance.In some cases, Chinese initiatives complement existing multilateral structures; in others, they challenge or­ 

entirely circumvent them. This new special issue of the Review of International Political Economy, guest-edited by Eugénia da Conceição-Heldt (Carl von Linde Fellow, and TUM) and Susan Park (Alumna Hans Fischer Senior Fellow, and University of Sydney), provides a comprehensive analysis of how China seeks to reconfigure global economic governance in an era of shifting power.

The volume examines China’s role across key domains, including development finance, trade, and sovereign debt restructuring. It presents detailed, empirically grounded studies of China’s strategies – ranging from deep cooperation to active contestation – and explores how and why China chooses to support, challenge, or reform multilateral economic institutions. In doing so, the special issue offers new theoretical and practical insights into the dynamics of global governance amid China’s rise and the responses of established powers such as the United States.

Philipp Schwartz Initiative of Humboldt Foundation

Since April 2025, the TUM-IAS has taken over responsibility for the Philipp Schwartz Initiative (PSI). The PSI – established in 2015 by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in cooperation with the German Foreign Office – enables universities and research institutions in Germany to host researchers at risk on the basis of a full fellowship.

The initiative is funded by the German Foreign Office, the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, the Gerda Henkel Foundation, the Klaus Tschira Foundation, the Robert Bosch Foundation, the Stifterverband, and Stiftung Mercator.

TUM successfully applied to be a host institution in 2016 with a dedicated support and mentoring concept, which now serves as the foundation for new nominations. Since then, the program has supported researchers at risk in continuing their academic work at a TUM chair through a collaborative research project, ensuring their integration and professional development through mentoring and networking.

By taking on the PSI, the TUM-IAS strengthens its commitment to academic freedom and to providing safe, sustainable pathways for displaced scholars to pursue excellent research within the TUM community. Nominations are submitted centrally via the TUM-IAS in coordination with the hosting chair and in cooperation with additional TUM units. In 2025, a total of seven PSI Fellows were supported under the program, two of whom were successfully nominated in July; one Fellow received a position at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics after completing the Fellowship.
 

Company spinoff

Dominik Bucher, TUM Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Quantum Sensing, helped found another company from his scientific working group. Karl Briegel, a PhD candidate from his group, is co-founder of the start-up QTAS. Together with his colleagues, he is building on the quantum sensor technology from his doctoral research to develop a new blood analysis device that will enable faster assessment of cancer therapies.

Obituary: Professor Rolf Moeckel

On 4 February 2025, Rolf Moeckel passed away unexpectedly, aged 52 years. After he became a Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Professor at the Technical University of Munich and a member of our TUM-IAS, he was a very active and supportive member and friend of our Institute. He repeatedly gave lectures and acted as a moderator at our events. In 2022, he succeeded in bringing Gregory Erhardt, University of Kentucky, to TUM as a Hans Fischer Senior Fellow for longer research periods. Gregory and his wife, Andrea Erhardt, an Alumna Anna Boyksen Fellow, have enriched academic life at TUM and the TUM-IAS, with Rolf Moeckel playing a major role as Host.

Rolf Moeckel studied Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Dortmund in Germany. During his studies, he spent a year at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA, USA, funded by a Fulbright Scholarship. From 2002 to 2006, he worked as a research associate at the Institute of Spatial Planning at the University of Dortmund, where he completed his doctorate in 2006. Next, he worked as a principal professional associate with the consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff in the USA. From 2013 to 2015, he conducted postdoctoral research at the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland, USA. In 2015, he became a Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Professor at TUM, and he was promoted to Associate Professor in 2021.

To the many who knew him, Rolf Moeckel was an outstanding modeler, planner, and researcher, and a passionate teacher and advisor who shared his expertise in travel behavior and transportation modeling with great dedication, supervising and inspiring many students and junior researchers. He developed several agent-based models and was highly respected in his field – both for his expertise and for his extraordinary kindness.

Rolf Moeckel was deeply committed to research in activity-based modeling and played a significant role in the international scientific community. Those who were lucky enough to know Rolf Moeckel remember him as a warm-hearted, caring, and inspiring person. His absence leaves a great void – both professionally and personally. He will be deeply missed.

Outreach: Wednesday Coffee Talks

The TUM-IAS has undertaken a variety of activities to further expand its outreach. We continued and expanded the new series of video portraits of our Fellows, which are available on our website.

In our weekly Wednesday Coffee Talks: Scientists meet Scientists, we presented current research topics of our Fellows from TUM to an interested scientific public. In 2020, we moved the format online, which means that we can now reach all six TUM locations, as well as our international Fellows, many of whom join us from their home universities and research institutions. With more than 20 online talks on current research topics by our Fellows from TUM, as well as on special events such as the Nobel Prizes, we reach a large international community.

Garching Talks

Three times a year, the Garching Talks, organized by TUM-IAS, present scientific topics to a broader circle of interested citizens in the city of Garching. The Garching Talks are a format designed to bring scientific topics closer to the citizens of Garching. The topics range from basic understanding to current developments. Evenings on the foundations of AI have been followed by lectures on the US elections and their consequences. They are organized by the TUM-IAS, the Protestant and Catholic university communities, and the district council.

Highly Cited Researchers

Highly Cited Researchers demonstrate significant and broad influence in their field(s) of research. Each researcher selected has authored multiple Highly Cited Papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for their field(s) and publication year in the Web of Science Core Collection over the past eleven years. However, citation activity is not the sole selection indicator. This list, based on citation data, is then refined using additional quantitative metrics, qualitative analysis, and expert judgment.

Congratulations to Dieter Schwarz Courageous Research Grant awardee Tim Brodribb (University of Tasmania), Hans Fischer Senior Fellows Yang Shao-Horn (MIT) and Tao Zhang (Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics), and Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Professor Melanie Schirmer (TUM), who all made it on the Highly Cited Researchers list this year, meaning that they are among the most cited scientists worldwide!

ERC Advanced Grant for IAS Alumnus Fellow Giuseppe Savaré

Two recent ERC Advanced Grants were awarded for computational mathematics. Both Giuseppe Savaré, TUM-IAS Alumnus Hans Fischer Senior Fellow, Professor at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, and his host, Massimo Fornasier, Professor of Applied Numerical Analysis at TUM, each received an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council ERC. The funding amount for Advanced Grants is up to 2.5 million euros each.

Both projects focus on solving non-convex optimization problems. Traditional iterative algorithms are central to scientific computing but are generally limited to finding local optima. The aim is to develop new, efficient algorithms that reliably find global solutions for non-convex functions and are supported by rigorous mathematical methods. This could pave the way for scientific breakthroughs, for example, in the research of new drugs by optimizing molecular properties or in the improvement of materials for solar energy.

ERC Starting Grant for Benedikt Zott

Benedikt Zott, an Albrecht Struppler Clinician Scientist at TUM-IAS, secured an ERC Starting Grant for his project MONSil-AD!

MONSil-AD focuses on the question of why some neurons fall silent in Alzheimer’s disease. Brain cells of patients with Alzheimer’s disease display characteristic activity patterns – often decades before classic symptoms such as memory problems emerge. At this early stage, some neurons are, so to speak, hyperactive. The mechanisms behind this phenomenon are already quite well understood. Later on, in contrast, an increasing number of neurons become less active and eventually fall completely silent. In animal models, Benedikt Zott aims to investigate whether the silencing of neurons is associated with the loss of their connections with other neurons. He is also interested in the role of tau protein deposits, typical of Alzheimer’s disease, in the functioning of individual brain cells. In addition, Benedikt Zott wants to examine whether the protein sTREM2 could be partly responsible for the shutdown of nerve cells. A better understanding of these processes could help pave the way for new approaches to Alzheimer’s drugs.

Lisa Adams (Albrecht Struppler Fellow and Senior Physician at Radiology at TUM University Hospital) has been called into the Planning Committee for the Radiological Society of North America. She also received funding from the German Research Council (DFG), the Wilhelm-Sandner-Stiftung, Bayern Innovativ, and the Federal Ministry of Research, Space, and Technology.

Nathalie Bredella, Anna Boyksen Fellow and Professor for the History and Theory of Architecture at Leibniz University Hanover, received funding for the Workshop “Scoping the Digital” by the Volkswagen Foundation.

Jia Chen, TUM Alumna Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Assistant Professor and Professor of Environmental Sensing and Modelling, received the Timothy Oke Award at ICUC 12 - International Conference on Urban Climate 12 in Rotterdam, for unique contributions to greenhouse gas monitoring and measurement in urban areas.

Jieshan Chen, Dieter Schwarz Fellow, has been promoted to the rank of senior research scientist at her home institution, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia.

Angelika Harbauer‚ Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Assistant Professor, was awarded the Teaching Award Lecturer of the Year in the category “Non-Tenured Lecturers” of the study course “Biomedical Neuroscience” at the TUM School of Medicine and Health.

Julian Grünewald, Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Assistant Professor, is a Principal Investigator in two Clusters of Excellence: NUCLEATE and BioSysteM (starting January 2026)

Jiang Hu, Hans Fischer Senior Fellow and Professor at Texas A&M University, received the “Eric D. Rubin” endowed professorship from Texas A&M University. He was also awarded a 300,000 USD research grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation, titled “HexAI: Holistic Exploration for Design Automation of Efficient AI Accelerators”.

Max Hülsey, Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Assistant Professor, was elected a member of the Sigma Xi academic honor society. The membership is by nomination only.

Ronit Kart, Anna Boyksen Fellow and Professor for Psychology at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, is among the top-cited international scientists, according to Elsevier Publishing. She also won the Academy of Management Societal Impact Award for 2025 (together with Herman Aguinis), in the Organization Behavior Division. In addition, she became a Senior Fellow with the Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP) at the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, in Boston.

Melanie Kraus, Albrecht Struppler Clinician Scientist Fellow and Medical Specialist at TUM University Hospital, completed her specialist medical training in Radiation Oncology.

Heather Kulik, Hans Fischer Senior Fellow and Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT, received the American Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest federal honor for early-career researchers in the US, from US President Joe Biden in early 2025.

Jihyun Lee, Alumna Anna Boyksen Fellow and Professor at the School of Engineering at the University of Calgary, Canada, received an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researcher, and continued her joint research with Michael Zäh, at the Mechanical Engineering department at TUM.

Ghang Lee, Hans Fischer Senior Fellow, supported by the Georg Nemetschek Innovation Foundation, and Professor at Yonsei University, South Korea, received the Best Paper Award 2025, for “Design Assistant for Excavation Support System in Large Construction Project”, at the 2025 European Conference on Computing in Construction in Porto, Portugal.

Rainald Loehner, Hans Fischer Senior Fellow and Professor of Computational Fluid Dynamics at Mason University, USA, received a “Doctor Honoris Causa” from Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany, in 2025. He was also made a Fellow at The Learned Society of Wales, UK.

Frank Ortmann, Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Assistant Professor, won the TUM Teach Award in Chemistry “Golden Chalk”. In addition, he is now a Member of the Excellence Cluster e-conversion 2.0.

Lorenz Panny, Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Assistant Professor, was granted funding for his Project “CRYPTIQ” by the German Research Council (DFG) under the Weave framework, amounting to 370,000€.

Bjørn P. Pedersen, Hans Fischer Senior Fellow and Professor of Molecular Biology at Aarhus University, Denmark, has been appointed Director of a new center of excellence with Partners in Denmark, Belgium, and Germany. The Danish National Research Foundation established the new Center of Excellence “Plant-PATH” and provided it with 8 million euros in support.

Elizabeth Qian, Hans Fischer Fellow and Professor of Aerospace Computational Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, has received the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program Award (CAREER). This five-year award, totaling over 599,000 USD, will support her group’s work developing new computational methods to support engineering design, as well as educational efforts to train engineers at Georgia Tech and beyond in these cutting-edge methods.

Alessandro Reali took over as the new rector of the University of Pavia on 1 October 2025. He has been a Full Professor of Civil Engineering (Mechanics of Solids and Structures) at Pavia since 2016. In 2015, he became a Hans Fischer Fellow at the TUM-IAS. In the Focus Group Computational Mechanics, he collaborated with his host, Ernst Rank (Computation in Engineering, TUM). In 2019, he was honored as a TUM Ambassador by TUM, re­cognizing his collaboration and achievements connected to the university. The following year, he was awarded the “Euler Medal”, on a biennial basis, by the European Community on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences (ECCOMAS) for outstanding and sustained contributions to computational solid and structural mechanics.

Simon Schäfer, Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Assistant Professor, has been named Adjunct Assistant Professor (Honorary) at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA. In addition, he received funding from DFG for different projects and is a Member of the Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy).

Melanie Schirmer, Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Assistant Professor, received funding for a project in the new DFG-established Priority Program “Illuminating Gene Functions in the Human Gut Microbiome”. The program is designed to run for six years.

Cornelius Senf, Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Assistant Professor, has secured a total of 2.3 million euros in funding since the start of his professorship, focusing on the remote sensing of ecosystems under climate and land-use change.

Mathias Senge, Alumnus Hans Fischer Senior Fellow, and Professor of Organic Chemistry at Trinity College, Dublin, received a grant of € 2,649,497 through Research, Ireland’s Research Infrastructure Program. The awards granted under this program are intended to advance high-quality, high-impact research across Ireland. The NMR Centre of Expertise, led by Mathias Senge and representing critical infrastructure for exploring molecular structures, materials, and drugs, will provide advanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques for chemistry research, including a multi-channel 600 MHz NMR and a 400 MHz instrument for high-throughput analyses.

Yang Shao-Horn, Hans Fischer Senior Fellow and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT, received the David C. Grahame Award from the Electrochemical Society for 2025.

Manuel Spitschan, Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Assistant Professor, was awarded the Sleep Research Society Rising Star Award.

Nikkil Sudharsanan, Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Assistant Professor, won, as a Principal Investigator, a 5-year grant from the United States National Institutes of Health, for a project “Behavioral Science Strategies to Improve Hypertension Diagnosis and Treatment”. The total value of the grant is 3.4 million USD, split across multiple partners.

Piotr Tryjanowski, Hans Fischer Senior Fellow, and Professor of Zoology at Poznan University, Poland, was elected as a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Agnieszka Wykowska, TUM-IAS Hans Fischer Senior Fellow and Principal Investigator and Senior Researcher at the Instituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy, has won the 2025 Young Academy Europe André Mischke Award for outstanding scientific excellence and involvement in science policy.

Tao Zhang, Hans Fischer Senior Fellow and Professor of Chemistry at Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Science, has won an Alexander Humboldt Research Award 2025 and Karl Wamsler Innovation Award of TUM. In addition, he received the 2025 National Catalysis Achievement Award in China.

Zhenbin Zhang, Hans Fischer Fellow and Professor at the School of Electrical Engineering at Shandong University, China, received the First Prize of the China Power Supply Society (CPSS) Science and Technology Award - Technological Invention Award. He also won the First Prize of the Fujian Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award.

Humboldt Research Award

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grants up to 100 Humboldt Research Awards yearly to internationally leading researchers of all disciplines from abroad in recognition of their academic record to date.

Axel Hoffmann, (Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA) has been awarded the Humboldt Research Award in 2024. He is a world-renowned experimental solid-state physicist in magnetism and spintronics. His groundbreaking research in microwave spin-electronics, spin-current generation, and magnetic skyrmion texture generation has opened novel paths towards topological magnetic computing. During his stay in Germany at the TUM Chair of Experimental Physics of Functional Spin-Systems (Prof. Back), Axel Hoffmann will work with several experimental groups to explore novel topological magnetic textures in emergent quantum materials.

Gang Chen (Carl Richard Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, USA) has been awarded the Humboldt Research Award in 2025. His research interests center on nanoscale thermal transport and energy conversion phenomena and their applications in energy storage and conversion, thermal management, and water treatment and desalination. He has made important contributions to the understanding of heat transfer in nanostructures and has exploited this understanding to develop energy conversion, storage, and water technologies. During his stay in Germany at the TUM Chair of Thermodynamics (Prof. Wen), Prof. Chen will work on a few fundamental aspects of nanoscale energy conversion that have puzzled the community for some time, such as interfacial evaporation under light and heat, and ultrafast heat transfer at the nanoscale. 

Highs and lows in research and clinical practice: Symposium on Advances in Radio-Oncology

The symposium marking the 80th birthday of TUM-IAS Director Michael Molls on 17 January brought together experts from radiation oncology, radiation medicine, gynecology, physics, economics, and philosophy. TUM President Emeritus Wolfgang A. Herrmann gave the laudatory speech, followed by specialist presentations on the scientific development of radiation therapy and radio-oncology. There was an outlook on further research in radiation therapy, which was illustrated with selected examples. Above all, the interplay between medicine, physics, and technical device development for advances in radiation therapy became clear. 

See also:

www.ias.tum.de/ias/news-events-insights/events/past-events/symposium-hoehen-und-tiefen-in-forschung-und-klinik/

10th Munich Battery Discussion: Innovations in Materials and Manufacturing for Next-Generation Batteries

The tenth edition of the Munich Battery Discussion took place in Garching on 24–25 March, organized by Hubert Gasteiger, TUM Professor of Technical Electrochemistry. Under the theme Advancing Materials and Production Strategies for Next-Generation Automotive Batteries, around 240 participants from research and industry spent two days discussing current challenges and solutions along the entire value chain – from materials research to scalable manufacturing technology.

Speakers included Jürgen Janek (Justus Liebig University Giessen), Clare Grey (University of Cambridge), William Chueh (Stanford University),Hans Fischer Senior Fellow Yang Shao-Horn (MIT), and Raphaële Clément (UC Santa Barbara).

The first day of the event was devoted to material innovations for Li-ion and solid-state batteries as well as scalable production processes. Topics discussed included new insights into the microstructure of metallic anodes, operando characterization methods, and the role of disordered rocksalt cathodes. In the afternoon, the focus was on practical contributions to dry electrode manufacturing, continuous mixing, and modular plant concepts.

The second day focused on fundamental electrochemical research and interface processes in Li-ion cells. In addition to detailed presentations on aging mechanisms, heat generation, and electrolyte movement in large cells, the mechanical properties of solid electrolytes and electrochemical interactions at interfaces were also examined.

International Air Quality Workshop

On 9–11 September, an international workshop served as a platform for cutting-edge discussions on air-quality science, innovation, and solutions for pressing urban challenges. It was organized by Frank N. Keutsch, Stonington Professor of Engineering and Atmospheric Science at Harvard University and Hans Fischer Senior Fellow, and by Prof. Jia Chen, TUM Professor for Environment Sensing and Modeling. The event welcomed experts from Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), UC Berkeley, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), ETH Zurich, Tsinghua University, the University of Innsbruck, the University of Augsburg, and EMPA. Over three days, participants engaged in a rich exchange of knowledge and experience, sharing their latest findings and exploring collaborative opportunities.

A central highlight of the workshop was the presentation of results from a detailed air quality measurement campaign conducted in Munich during the summer of 2023 and the spring of 2024. This large-scale campaign, jointly carried out by the teams of Jia Chen, Frank Keutsch, and Harald Saathoff (KIT), aimed to address a critical question: When and what emissions can be effectively reduced to deliver a measurable improvement in Munich’s air quality? The campaign involved deploying advanced sensor networks, conducting ground-based monitoring with high-precision instrumentation, and using modeling tools, enabling the collection of an exceptionally detailed dataset. The insights generated are expected to guide both scientific understanding and future policy decisions aimed at improving air quality in urban areas.

Beyond the campaign results, the workshop facilitated in-depth discussions on a wide range of topics central to the future of air quality research. These included characterizing heterogeneous urban emission sources, applying high-resolution air-quality modeling, using distributed sensor networks, and employing data-driven analytical approaches leveraging machine learning and big data. The exchange of ideas highlighted innovative ways to combine measurements and models to better understand pollution dynamics and inform effective mitigation strategies.

Participants also reflected on the broader implications of their work, emphasizing the importance of international collaboration in advancing air-quality science. The workshop provided a unique setting to explore ongoing and prospective projects and identify opportunities for joint studies that could address complex air pollution challenges at both local and regional scales. By building these collaborations, researchers aim to produce outcomes that have not only scientific but also societal impact, supporting evidence-based policy solutions that protect public health and the environment.

TUM-IAS meets Humboldt: Yearly Humboldt Reception at the TUM-IAS

The yearly Humboldt Reception with Senior Vice President Professor Gerhard Kramer took place on 14 October. Invited were all Humboldt Fellows and Awardees at TUM, together with TUM-IAS Fellows and their TUM hosts.

After an opening speech by TUM-IAS Director Michael Molls and TUM Senior Vice President Gerhard Kramer, Humboldt Foundation’s Carl Friedrich von Siemens Research Awardee Noelle Selin (MIT) gave insight into her research:

Noelle Selin is based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society; Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. From 2018 –2022, she was a Hans Fischer Senior Fellow. She is well known internationally for her major contributions to atmospheric chemistry and environmental sustainability research. She has examined how science can inform policy processes, empirically testing how models affect decision-making and engaging with communities to shape, conduct, and communicate research. She focused on “Modeling and analysis to support sustainability decision-making.” Together with Miranda Schreurs, chair of Environment and Climate Policy at TUM, she conducts research on the effectiveness of international environmental treaties addressing climate change, ozone depletion, persistent organic pollutants, and mercury.

Afterwards, Humboldt Fellows had the opportunity to present their research projects in a poster session and engage in discussions. The evening concluded with drinks and a buffet, while participants continued their discussions and exchanged ideas.

Quantum Matter Days: From entanglement to spin liquids, conference brings leading quantum researchers to the TUM-IAS

As more than 70 researchers from around the world gathered for the first-ever Munich Quantum Matter Days, the TUM-IAS became a hub of international exchange on the frontiers of quantum materials. Organised by Natalia Perkins, Hans Fischer Senior Fellow and Professor at the University of Minnesota, together with Johannes Knolle, Professor of Quantum Matter and Nanophysics at TUM, and Christian Pfleiderer, Scientific Director of the FRM II and at the MLZ, the week-long event beginning on 27 October brought together 30 highly renowned speakers to discuss recent breakthroughs in areas such as quantum magnetism, spin liquids, and topological materials.

Connected yet apart: Unraveling the quantum many-body entanglement

The focus of the workshop was on one of the central challenges in quantum physics: understanding strongly correlated quantum materials – systems in which the state of each particle is deeply entangled with those of others. This phenomenon, known as quantum entanglement, is probably one of the most paradoxical in all of physics. It describes how two or more particles are so closely linked that their states can no longer be considered independently – a phenomenon Albert Einstein once called “spooky action at a distance.”

In strongly correlated materials, the entanglement extends across entire systems of countless interacting particles, a phenomenon known as many-body entanglement. Although researchers have made significant progress in discovering and classifying new quantum states of matter, many aspects of their dynamic behavior remain elusive. How do these systems respond to light, heat, or magnetic fields? Developing improved theoretical models to describe such processes is crucial to identifying and characterizing new quantum states.

Theory meets practice

“The feedback from the more than 70 participants was extremely positive,” said Natalia Perkins. “Many highlighted the stimulating talks, lively discussions, and open atmosphere that fostered exchange between theorists and experimentalists alike.” The sessions held at both the TUM-IAS and the Center for Quantum Engineering (ZQE) provided fertile ground for collaboration, suggesting that the Quantum Matter Days may become a biannual event.

Biological tumor heterogeneity – Digital autoradiography in 3-D – Microdosimetry of cancer drugs

An exploratory workshop on 12 November, led by TUM-IAS Director Michael Molls, addressed the latest developments in understanding tumor physiology (blood perfusion) and their implications for medical tumor treatment (drugs). The starting point was a method first introduced in 2024 for experimentally determining the 3-D distribution of radiopharmaceuticals in tumors and organs of animal models. Following on from this, the workshop discussed possible applications of the method for investigating biological tumor heterogeneity and optimizing radiopharmaceutical therapeutics – and, more generally, non-radioactive cancer therapeutics. A working group focusing on biological tumor heterogeneity in vivo and microdosimetry of cancer therapeutics, including Christian Reiter, TUM Professor of Applied Nuclear Technologies, Wolfgang Weber, Professor of Nuclear Medicine, and Florian Bassermann, Professor of Internal Medicine, will further investigate the possibilities of these new approaches and identify more precise methods of tumor treatment.

Symposium exploring the architecture and motions of biomolecules in action

Ultrahigh-field NMR continues to yield groundbreaking insights into the molecular mechanisms of biomolecules, underscoring the critical roles of dynamics and allostery in biological function. This 4-D view of structural biology (considering time in addition to the three spatial coordinates) – further enabled by breakthroughs in cryo-EM, complementary biophysical techniques (e.g., FRET), computational methods, and AI – provides unprecedented mechanistic insights, empowering breakthrough therapeutic innovations.

This central topic guided the international symposium Ultrahigh-field NMR and 4-D Structural Biology – From Mechanisms to Therapies on 6–7 November, hosted by the Bavarian NMR Center (BNMRZ), a joint research infrastructure of Helmholtz Munich and TUM. The organizers are members of the TUM-IAS Focus Group In-cell 19F NMR of Protein Interactions, reflecting the strong interdisciplinary ties and the high relevance of this cutting-edge research topic. (Focus Group members are Hans Fischer Senior Fellow Angela M. Gronenborn, University of Pittsburgh, Michael Sattler, and Franz Hagn, both Professors at TUM.)

Bringing together more than 150 participants and world-leading experts, the symposium explored how adding time as a fourth dimension in structural biology can facilitate novel discoveries. Understanding motions – a fundamental property of biomolecular function – is essential for describing how cells and organisms work and for developing novel, advanced therapeutic strategies.

By integrating ultrahigh-field NMR with complementary structural and spectroscopic techniques such as cryo-electron microscopy and tomography (cryo-EM/ET), fluorescence methods, and computational modeling and machine learning, researchers can now visualize the motions of biomolecules across multiple time scales, helping to elucidate the beautiful choreography of life.

The event included lectures from more than 25 internationally recognized scientists and fostered discussions on the future of dynamic structural biology.