© DRESDEN-concept

Let’s Talk About: Genetics

"Let’s Talk About" is the title and content of a new series of events by DRESDEN-concept, in which researchers from the DRESDEN-concept Science and Innovation Campus talk with interested members of the public about various topics and their impact on our lives. On the occasion of the new special exhibition of the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden "Genes and People: Who We Are and Who We Could Become," the next event on April 26 in cooperation with the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum is dedicated to the question of the influence that current findings from genetic research and new genetic engineering processes have on the following four pillars of the essence what makes us human: on our understanding of our origin and identity as well as our conception of health and nature.

Alongside energy research, interdisciplinary topics including societal acceptance of risks, security of supplies, hydrogen research and transfer shall also be dealt with. © Klaus Gigga

IDEA STUDIO on Energy Research

TU Dresden’s University Executive Board and the School of Engineering Sciences are pursuing their mission to consolidate and scientifically reinforce energy research at TU Dresden. An appropriate energy strategy has now been drawn up. With the assistance of the Project Scouts of TUD, an IDEA STUDIO on the subject of energy research will be held on May 26 in the Dülfersaal auditorium. We hope that an intensive exchange will take place both with regard to current research as well as future research and cooperation in the field of energy research. In a further step, concrete ideas for joint projects as well as national and international collaborations will be discussed, and cooperation within the DRESDEN-concept shall be intensified. Those who are interested can register to participate up until April 21.

© vegefox.com – stock.adobe.com

Workshops for Doctoral Candidates and Postdocs

The demands placed on researchers and scientists are truly diverse and challenging be it researching, writing, presenting, applying for external funding or working in an interdisciplinary team. During the summer semester, the Graduate Academy (GA) is once again offering a comprehensive range of qualifications tailored specifically to the needs of doctoral candidates and postdoctoral fellows on the topics of leadership and management skills, career planning, science management, research work, and science communication. These offers are open to members of the GA and the Postdoc Center.

© PantherMedia/everythingposs

Grant Writing Boot Camp in the St. Marienstern Monastery

The Postdoc Center’s "Grant Writing Boot Camp" will be held from June 12 to 15 in the St. Marienstern monastery and is aimed at postdocs who want to work specifically on their writing strategy and competitiveness when preparing applications for external funding. Registrations can be submitted by April 17.

© Postdoc Center HZDR-TUD

Postdoc Day – Careers in Science

On March 22, the "Postdoc Day – Careers in Science" was convened for the first time in the Graduate Academy (GA), and it was all organized by the Postdoc Center HZDR-TUD. Nearly 60 participants seized this opportunity to network and exchange ideas with other postdoctoral fellows. The presentation of the core results of the TUD/HZDR postdoc survey from 2022 was met with particularly strong interest. Reports on the experiences of successful postdocs as well as short workshops, etc. on topics such as science management, funding opportunities, and the strategic planning of scientific careers rounded off the program.

           

Diversity-Inclusive Teaching? A Benefit for All

In 2023, the prize for diversity-inclusive teaching will be awarded for the sixth time at TU Dresden. The aim is to acknowledge lecturers and teaching concepts that address diversity or its individual dimensions in a manner consistent with TUD’s Diversity Strategy 2030 so that students can raise awareness of diversity in their everyday university (and social) life. Proposals may be submitted until May 26.

Prof. Anita Behme © private

Ten Years of the Eleonore-Trefftz Initiative: Interview with Prof. Anita Behme

This year, TU Dresden is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Eleonore Trefftz initiative that promotes female academics on their path to a professorship. Our plan is to introduce former and current Trefftz professors and ask them about their experiences during their time at TUD. Prof. Anita Behme, who was a guest at TUD as part of the initiative in 2013, and who accepted the call to TU Dresden in 2016, will kick things off.

© Landesfrauenrat Sachsen e.V.

Gertrud and Johanna Wiegandt: A Location for Women at TU Dresden

On May 2, the Diversity Management and the Landesfrauenrat Sachsen (Saxon State Women’s Council) will inaugurate the first location dedicated to women at TUD. This will honor the sisters Johanna and Gertrud Wiegand, both of whom have been true pioneers in our university history. Afterwards, the opening of the associated traveling exhibition of the Landesfrauenrat Sachsen will take place in the Barkhausen building. This will celebrate the dynamic and diverse history of women in the State of Saxony.

© Kristof Presslein

Podcast Series "YOU ASK we explain" on Trepidation in Medicine

The podcast "YOU ASK we explain" started in January 2023. Four episodes have already been published. On this podcast, experts and interested individuals exchange ideas on sensitive medical topics. Up until now the topics have included human genes, clinical trials, and the role of humans as experimental subjects – listen to them on Spotify, Apple Music or Deezer.
The fifth podcast will be recorded on April 26 as a live event on the subject of “euthanasia” in the Trinity Cemetery.

© Erzgebirge Atlas

Science on the Roll – TUD in the Ore Mountains

Since 2021, students from the Institute of Urban and Regional Planning at TUD have been traveling in the Ore Mountains and have described their impressions and research in various thematic maps, all collated in the Ore Mountains Atlas with its 18 maps and three portraits. Supported by the excellence measure "TUD in Dialog," the Institute of Urban and Regional Planning is now returning to the Ore Mountains with its printed atlas and a mobile exhibition in its backpack and is inviting you to (re)explore the region together and update the atlas at events and mountain hikes. First dates: May 5 to 6 – exhibition and discussion formats in Seiffen, June 2 to 4 – three thematic mountain hikes around Fichtelberg and Auersberg. Who’s coming along?

Prof. Elena Hassinger © Tobias Ritz/ct.qmat

University-Wide Inaugural Lecture: Unlocking the Quantum World of Superconductivity

Superconductors made from quantum materials can transport electricity without any resistance losses, but up until now this has only been possible at low temperatures. Prof. Elena Hassinger, Chair of Low-temperature Physics of Complex Electron Systems at the Faculty of Physics and at the Cluster of Excellence Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter (ct.qmat), shall report in her University-Wide Inaugural Lecture on April 20 on the discovery of a cerium-based superconductor and its outstanding properties. Everyone is cordially invited to the English-language event which will be followed by a reception. Alternatively, the lecture can also be viewed via livestream.

© Jörg Bandmann/ct.qmat

Surprise in the Quantum World: Disorder leads to Ferromagnetic Topological Insulator

Magnetic topological insulators are an exotic class of materials that conduct electrons without any resistance at all and so are regarded as a promising breakthrough in materials science. Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat have achieved a significant milestone in the pursuit of energy-efficient quantum technologies by designing the ferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi₆Te₁₀ from the manganese bismuth telluride family. The amazing thing about this quantum material is that its ferromagnetic properties only occur when some atoms swap places, introducing antisite disorder.

Jun.-Prof. Verena Klös © Marta Di Fronzo/CeTI

CeTI Welcomes its New Junior Professor Verena Klös

Verena Klös has been a junior professor for “Computer Science, in particular Tactile Computing” at the Institute of Systems Architecture and at the Cluster of Excellence Center for Tactile Internet with Human-in-the-Loop (CeTI) since February. Her research is centered around self-adaptive systems and the (self-) explainability of cyber-physical systems as well as formal methods for ensuring the security of software systems.

Science4Life concept award. State Secretary in the Hessian Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport and Housing Dr. Philipp Nimmermann (left) and Sanofi's Dr. Karl-Heinz Baringhaus (right) with the MAKROPHAGEN 2.0 team Dr. Anke Fuchs and Dr. Ludwig Englmeier. © Science4Life

Start-up Project Makrophagen 2.0 One of the Winners of The Concept Phase of the Science4Life Venture Cup

A new type of cell therapy that can help combat solid tumors, the most common type of cancer. This is the idea behind Makrophagen 2.0, a start-up project led by Prof. Michael Sieweke, Prof. Martin Bornhäuser, Dr. Anke Fuchs, and Dr. Ludwig Englmeier. Now, the team was chosen as one of ten winning teams in the concept phase of the largest German business plan start-up competition, moving the project a substantial step closer to reality.

Dr. Anke Fuchs (left) and colleagues at the GMP Facility with the machine used for producing the virus-specific T cells. © TUD/GMP Facility

Life-Saving Cell Therapies From Just Across the Street: CRTD becomes Production Site for Virus-Specific T Cells for the University Hospital

The Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD) of TU Dresden became a production site for cell therapy against severe cases of viral infections thanks to a new manufacturing license granted to the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus. The CRTD is now the first production site for virus-specific T cells in eastern Germany. The cells will provide an important treatment for patients at the University Hospital.

Shells of L. granifera algae after chemical transformation imaged with electron microscope. © Kuhrts et al./Advanced Science 2023

Scientists Transform Algae into Unique Functional Perovskites with Tunable Properties

Scientists have transformed single-cell algae into functional perovskite materials. The team led by scientists at the B CUBE - Center for Molecular Bioengineering at TU Dresden converted mineral shells of algae into lead halide perovskites with tunable physical properties. The new perovskites have unique nano-architectures unachievable by conventional synthetic production. The method can be applied to the mass production of perovskites with tunable structural and electro-optical properties from single-celled organisms. The results were published in the journal Advanced Science.

Prof. Catherina Becker (left) and Dr. Anna Poetsch (right) © TUD/Magdalena Gonciarz

DFG Funding to Unravel Gene Regulation in Spinal Cord Regeneration

Neurobiologist Prof. Catherina Becker (CRTD) and computational biologist Dr. Anna Poetsch (BIOTEC) have started a new interdisciplinary project to study changes in gene regulation during spinal cord regeneration in zebrafish. The project is funded by the Sequencing Costs in Projects program of the German Research Foundation (DFG).

© GPPAD

K1DS ARE HEROES - the Type 1 Diabetes Awareness Campaign

More than 2000 billboards and 750 info screens in Munich, Hannover, and Dresden will raise awareness for the most common metabolic disorder in children and adolescents: type 1 diabetes. The cross media campaign K1DS ARE HEROES was initiated by the Global Platform for the Prevention of Autoimmune Diabetes (GPPAD) and the Helmholtz Munich Institute for Diabetes Research (IDF) and is supported by participating institutions, including the CRTD at TU Dresden.

© AVANGA Filmproduktion

Progress through Digitalization

Today, science relies on extensive research data. This requires powerful information infrastructures with high security and stability. Prof. Wolfgang E. Nagel, Director of the Center for Information Services and High Performance Computing (ZIH), and his team ensure that research at TU Dresden can be conducted reliably. He is one of the eight passionate scientists featured in the film “Bright Minds. Excellent Research.” which provides insights into cutting-edge research at TU Dresden. In the video he explains how he supports scientists at TUD.