
by Robert Schreiber
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Nov 08, 2025
The College of Freiburg has secured 4 coveted Synergy Grants from the European Analysis Council, strengthening its position as a pacesetter in collaborative science and technological innovation. These grants will fund daring new analysis initiatives in fields starting from photovoltaics and mobile biology to most cancers remedy applied sciences, cell community effectivity, and early medieval European archaeology.
Professor Stefan Glunz leads the ‘UltimatePV – Final Photovoltaics’ venture, which plans to rework the design and effectivity of photo voltaic cells. Glunz and his group, working in partnership with establishments together with EPFL in Switzerland and CNRS in France, goal to develop ultrathin photovoltaic units with revolutionary photonic constructions. Their strategy is predicted to considerably cut back materials utilization by an element of ten, whereas rising cost service focus and total power conversion effectivity. The group’s purpose is to allow energy-selective extraction of photo-generated carriers earlier than power loss via thermalization, promising future photo voltaic cell designs that surpass present limits. The UltimatePV collaboration receives almost ten million euros in ERC assist, with 3.35 million euros allotted to Freiburg.
Professor Claudine Kraft is awarded ERC funding for the ‘DegrAbility: On the Degradability of Protein Aggregates by Autophagy’ venture. Joined by colleagues from the Max Perutz Lab in Vienna and UC Berkeley, her group investigates why sure protein aggregates are degraded by way of autophagy whereas others persist. Utilizing superior structural and biochemical analyses, they discover the interactions between autophagic equipment and protein aggregates. Preliminary analysis means that degradation failures could relate extra to molecular interactions than to the properties of aggregates themselves. These findings may inform efforts to alleviate breakdowns in autophagy which might be linked to neurodegenerative circumstances and mobile getting older. The venture brings in virtually ten million euros in funding, with 3.33 million euros for Freiburg.
Junior Professor Caglar Ataman leads ‘Zee-Zoom-Zap’, a pioneering program to develop a mixed diagnostic and therapeutic system for pancreatic most cancers. The goal is to carry out optical imaging, non-invasive biopsy, and localized remedy throughout a single endoscopic session. Ataman’s group is engineering multifunctional optical catheters able to high-resolution, three-dimensional microscopy all through the pancreatic duct. Utilizing state-of-the-art 3D micro- and nanoprinting, the venture intends to determine a brand new commonplace for endoscopic devices, working alongside analysis companions in Denmark and Spain. The initiative will tackle longstanding gaps in early detection and intervention for pancreatic most cancers and is granted ten million euros, with Freiburg’s share exceeding two million.
Archaeologist Dr. Susanne Brather-Walter participates within the ‘CoCo – Linked Communities in Early Medieval Europe’ venture, a multi-country collaboration led by researchers from Leiden, Milan, Brno, and Leuven. The venture revisits long-standing assumptions concerning the fragmentation of Europe after the Western Roman Empire by analyzing grave finds and burial practices. Evaluating 1000’s of burial websites and artifacts, the group works to reconstruct the continent’s hidden social and cultural hyperlinks, now illuminated additional by historic DNA research. Brather-Walter focuses on the distribution and patterns of bead finds throughout Central Europe, Scandinavia, and Italy. The trouble is funded for 11.1 million euros, with Freiburg receiving almost half one million.
Professor Rudiger Quay’s ERC-backed DISRUPT venture takes goal on the escalating power prices of cell communications infrastructure. As director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Utilized Strong State Physics and professor at Freiburg’s Division of Sustainable Programs Engineering, Quay and his group suggest novel high-frequency semiconductor applied sciences to doubtlessly halve the power consumption of next-generation networks. Collaborators embody Delft College of Know-how and College Faculty Dublin, and the venture secures round ten million euros.
Altogether, the 4 ERC Synergy Grant initiatives characterize an funding of about 41 million euros, with the College of Freiburg straight receiving over 9 million euros for its essential roles throughout the disciplines.
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