Resounding success for TUD: The German Research Foundation (DFG) awards millions in funding to two Collaborative Research Centers

The research focuses on road infrastructure and mechanisms for detecting genetic materials

Success for researchers at TUD Dresden University of Technology: At its meeting on May 13, 2026, the Funding Committee of the German Research Foundation (German DFG) resolved to continue funding two Collaborative Research Centers/Transregios involving researchers based in Dresden. The Collaborative Research Center/Transregio 237 “Nucleic Acid Immunity,” which is a joint venture situated at the Medical Faculty of TUD, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich and the University of Bonn, is therefore entering its third funding period, while the Collaborative Research Center/Transregio TRR 339 “Digital Twin Road – Physical-informational Representation of the Future Road System” enters its second. Researchers from TUD and RWTH Aachen University are collaborating in this project. Collaborative Research Centers allow innovative, ambitious and long-term research projects to be carried out within a network and therefore bolster the development of priority areas and the necessary structures at the applicant universities; they are funded for a maximum of twelve years.

Road to the future! Collaborative Research Center/Transregio 339 “Digital Twin Road” enters its second DFG funding period
In TRR 339, researchers are investigating the fundamentals of an intelligent, sustainable, and digitally connected road infrastructure. The goal is to develop a “Digital Twin Road”—a digital representation of the entire road system comprising vehicles, tires, road surfaces, and traffic space.

The research network combines civil engineering, computer science, and transportation and social sciences. Using modern sensor data and digital methods, a virtual representation of the road system is being created, which enables traffic analysis, prediction, and control at a new level of quality.

In the first funding phase, key sub-models were developed. In the second phase, these are to be integrated via standardized interfaces into a comprehensive digital representation of the road system. In the long term, this will lead to a fully controllable digital twin that supports intelligent traffic management, sustainable infrastructure development, and automated driving.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Kaliske, spokesperson for Collaborative Research Center/TRR 339, emphasizes: “With this Collaborative Research Center/Transregio, we are working on a globally unique project with its comprehensive, complex approach, driven by the team’s outstanding expertise.”

TRR 339 is one of the major coordinated research networks of the German Research Foundation and enhances the international visibility of German infrastructure and mobility research.

More information:
Collaborative Research Center/TRR 339 “Digital Twin Road”: https://www.sfbtrr339.de/de/

Press inquiries:
TUD Dresden University of Technology – Institute of Structural Analysis
Prof. Michael Kaliske
Email:
Tel.: +49 351 463 34386


The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding immunology research on nucleic acid recognition in Dresden, Munich, and Bonn with EUR 14.6 million
The immune system is constantly exposed to foreign genetic material: Bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens introduce their nucleic acids, that is, DNA and RNA, into the body. Specialized receptors detect whether the genetic material is endogenous or foreign and, in the event of an intruder, trigger a targeted immune response. This balance is vital, as it protects against infections while simultaneously preventing the immune system from attacking the body’s own structures. If this mechanism gets out of balance and the body’s own DNA or RNA is mistaken as foreign, this can lead to serious consequences such as chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases, or tumor development.

Against this backdrop, the German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the Collaborative Research Center/Transregio 237 “Nucleic Acid Immunity” with approximately EUR 14.6 million in a third funding period. The research network, which includes the Faculty of Medicine at TUD Dresden University of Technology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich (LMU Munich), and the University of Bonn, investigates the mechanisms of genetic material recognition and their significance for health and disease. The goal is to develop innovative approaches for the diagnosis and treatment of infectious, inflammatory, and tumor-related diseases. Approximately EUR 4.1 million of the grant funding is allocated to the Dresden site under the leadership of Min Ae Lee-Kirsch, professor at the Clinic for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine and head of Molecular Pediatrics at the TUD Faculty of Medicine, as well as spokesperson for the third funding period.

More information:
Collaborative Research Center/Transregio 237 (SFB/TRR 237) „Nucleic Acid Immunity“

Research contact:
Prof. Min Ae Lee-Kirsch
Molecular Pediatrics
Clinic for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine
Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital and
Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine at TUD Dresden University of Technology
+49 351 458 12530 


Media contact:
Anne-Stephanie Vetter
Public Relations Office Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine
of TUD Dresden University of Technology
+49 351 458 17903