TU Hamburg heads one of eleven new DFG Priority Programs
First funding period with around 72 million euros
26.03.2024
The German Research Foundation (DFG) is establishing eleven new Schwerpunkteprogramme (short: SPP; Eng.: "Priority Programs"). As the DFG recently announced, these will start in 2025 and initially be funded for three years with a total of around 72 million euros. Hamburg University of Technology is also represented with the topic "Productive Biofilm Systems".
The aim of the TU Hamburg priority program is to lay the biological and process engineering foundations for more sustainable production in the future - for example in the chemical industry. Continuous biofilm-operated processes should help to form basic and fine chemicals with low energy consumption and in continuous long-term operation. Carbon dioxide will also play a role here as a substrate, so that CO2-negative processes can also be developed.
The focus coordinator, Prof. Johannes Gescher from the Institute of Technical Microbiology, says: "Biofilms are the natural growth form of microorganisms on our planet and yet only play a subordinate role in bioprocess engineering. The reason for this is that they are less well understood in application and biofilm reactor concepts for biotechnology are not well established. The priority program aims to close this knowledge gap." To this end, a Germany-wide interdisciplinary network of working groups organized by the TU Hamburg will conduct research on the topic in the future.
About the Schwerpunktprogramme Funding
According to the DFG, Priority Programs are intended to work on topics that are expected to have a formative effect on a scientific field. This can be achieved by discovering new areas of research or by working on known areas from a different perspective or using a new approach. In addition, DFG Priority Programmes are characterized by interdisciplinary and cross-location collaboration between researchers.
The eleven new consortia, which were selected from 43 submitted initiatives, will receive a total of around 72 million euros for an initial period of three years. In addition, there is a program allowance of 22 percent for indirect project expenses.
In the coming months, the priority programs will be announced individually by the DFG in order to invite interested researchers to participate in the consortia. Priority Programs will be funded for a total of six years.
TUHH - Public Relations Office
Kaja Weber
E-Mail: kaja.weber@tuhh.de
