Junior Research Groups - Projects at TU Dresden (selection)
CoSiMa
Computer Simulations for Materials Design
Funding: ESF Saxony, Directive BSEC: Junior Research Groups
Funding period: 01.09.2015-31.08.2018
Total budget: 2,109,430.78 EUR
TUD Budget: 2,109,430.78 EUR
Project leader at TUD: Prof.Dr. Gianaurelio Cuniberti
Project website: tbd
Computer simulations for material design
Due to the enormous scientific progress in material modeling on the one hand and the growing demand for reliable simulation methods from industry on the other hand, computer-aided material design is gaining in importance. Within the junior research group CoSiMa 'Computer Simulations for Material Design' ten young scientists are working in this field and will be thereby qualified in scientific work on a highly topical subject. The junior research group CoSiMa thus contributes to meeting the increasing demand for highly-qualified academic professionals in interdisciplinary cross-cutting issues in Saxony.
The scientific objective of this junior research group is the successful and internationally visible processing of ten ambitious topics concerning material design and development in the application fields of Electronics, Biology and Life Sciences, Electrical Engineering, Process Engineering and Automobile Manufacturing. Together with high-performance partners from other universities and non-university research institutions, CoSiMa will identify and further strengthen synergies in the field of computational materials research in Saxony. In addition, the Saxon research network "Dresden Center for Computational Materials Science (DCMS)" will be given a lasting boost.
OpTiM
Optical technologies in medicine
Funding: ESF Saxony , Directive BSEC: Junior Research Groups
Funding period: 01.07.2016-30.09.2019
Total budget: 1,537,906.19 EUR
TUD Budget: 1,537,906.19 EUR
Project leader at TUD: : Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Edmund Koch
Project website: tbd
Optical technologies in medicine
The interdisciplinary junior research group "Optical Technologies in Medicine" (OpTiM) will qualify professionals for optical methods in medical technology and allow them a professional perspective in Saxony. The junior research group, settled in an important future field of medicine, forms an interface between optics, sensor technology, measuring technology, IT, and medical technology.
Within the junior research group seven engineers, scientists, computer scientists, and medical researchers as well as dentists will be qualified as specialised technical staff of biophotonics (PhD, habilitation). The junior researchers are supposed to transfer innovative concepts of optical imaging into medicine (translational approach) and implement them. Six institutes, clinics and departments of TU Dresden bring together their competences in this interdisciplinary project in order to develop new optical diagnostic methods for neurosurgery, dentistry and otorhinolaryngology as well as to translate these into clinical trials.
The proposed optical imaging approaches of dynamic thermography, optical coherence tomography and molecular spectroscopy have high information content, come without harmful radiation, are contactless and do not cause any further costs.
The high-quality vocational training as well as its implementation by the Saxon economy ensure the sustainability of the project.
Sorbenwissen
Funding: ESF Saxony , Directive BSEC: Junior Research Groups
Funding period: 01.07.2016 – 30.06.2019
Total budget: 1,022,236.41 EUR
TUD Budget: 676,923.80 EUR
Project leader at TUD: Prof. Dr. Prunitsch | Prof. Dr. Scharloth
Project website: tbd
The junior research group “Sorbenwissen” (engl. “Sorbian knowledge”) is focusing primarily on the critical examination of discourses and practices of the conceptualization of Sorbs and being a Sorb within the tension between internal or external attribution, science and culture as well as politics and daily life.
The subprojects within this junior research group are to open up this complex topic in exemplary case studies.
Besides the scientific terminology, the term "Sorbian knowledge" also includes a number of other forms of social knowledge about the Sorbs. At the same time, the term also refers to the socially constructed character of all knowledge.
In practical research terms, this latter fact is supposed to be addressed by methodological pluralism. At the same time, the project is part of the current research discussion on transnational or intercultural History and Cultural Studies especially, which do emphasise the heuristic potential from a comparative as well as transfer- and interrelated approach.
The main objective of the project is to develop an overall view that will further enhance our understanding of the production and distribution of society’s knowledge about the Sorbs. Moreover, the used approach promises to generate lasting impulses for the discussion about Sorbs and their scientific and social positioning.
In the long run, the results are supposed to be included in a permanent digital knowledge database about Sorbs.
GraphD
Funding: ESF Saxony , Directive BSEC: Junior Research Groups
Funding period: 01.07.2016 – 30.06.2019
Total budget: 1,815,848.00 EUR
TUD Budget: 1,688,738.00 EUR
Project leader at TUD: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Xinliang Feng
Project website: tbd
Graphene Center Dresden
With this joint competence, TU Dresden will emerge as one of the most important European actors in the field of the “wonder material” graphene and related two-dimensional materials. These one-atom thin materials exhibit outstanding physical properties, which render them promising candidates for application in various fields of electronic and energy applications as well as, for instance, novel lubricants. Meanwhile, graphene has been implemented in the first industrial applications. This is also one of the core competences of the Graphene Center Dresden: The close relationship to industrial partners is an elementary part of its strategy.
The recently started ESF young researcher group ‘GraphD’ is an important milestone, funded by the European Social Fund (ESF). GraphD started on July 1st and consists of three postdocs, six PhD students, and the research group leader Dr. Reinhard Berger. Aims of the group are, amongst others, to attract the world’s most renowned young scientists in the field, train outstanding experts for Saxony’s industry, enforce the innovation potential of local companies, and to efficiently complement the regional cluster of ‘Silicon Saxony’.
IRIS
Funding: ESF Saxony , Directive BSEC: Junior Research Groups
Funding period: 01.01.2020 – 31.12.2022
Total budget: 145,866.10 EUR
TUD Budget: 135,655.44 EUR
Project leader at TUD: Prof. Reinhard Pohl
Project website: tbd
IRIS - Improvement of the Resilience of InfraStructures
The Junior Research Group IRIS deals with flash flood hazards at rivers in prosperous mountainous areas with steep slopes in the Free State of Saxony and assess their direct impacts on receptors at risk like bridges, earthworks, hydraulic structures, roads and specific buildings. Flash floods are triggered by dam breaks, levee breaches or convective rain events and are associated with high flow velocities and intense debris flows. Scenario analyses, statistical modelling as well as simulation modelling provide information on the magnitude and likelihood of flash floods occurring. Climate and societal change likely increase the frequency and severity of flash flood events and therefore demand greater attention to this type of flooding.
As flash floods may cause severe damage, the Junior Research Group uses a multi-level approach to evaluate the probability of structural failure of above mentioned receptors: (i) anamnesis, (ii) diagnosis, (iii) prognosis and (iv) therapy. This approach emphasizes the importance of all four steps in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the structural behaviour of infrastructures.
The Junior Research Group is jointly set up by the University of Applied Sciences Dresden and the Technische Universität Dresden and comprises six scholars. Its main purpose is the individual promotion of talented young researchers. The members of the interdisciplinary YIG conduct theoretical and empirical research, gain valuable teaching experience, acquire leadership qualifications and have access to scientific networks. They receive mentorship by both professors and external experts. Through manifold knowledge transfer activities to practitioners, local authorities and institutions, the YIG contributes to scientific and societal discourses on resilient infrastructures.