DFG Research Units
The Research Units of the German Research Foundation (DFG) bring together a number of outstanding scientists to work together on one research topic exclusively. These groups are able to devote substantially more time and financial resources to their projects across a broader range of topics than is normally the case with individual research projects funded by the DFG. The Research Units are usually funded for a period of eight years, and often play a key role in establishing new directions in research.
Current Research Units
Information Abstraction during Sleep (Research Unit 5434)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Jan Born, Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioural Neurobiology
Duration: March 1, 2023 through February 28, 2027
Article on the "Ínformation Abstraction during Sleep" Research Unit
Long-range Interacting Quantum Spin Systems out of Equilibrium: Experiment, Theory and Mathematics (Research Unit 5413)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Igor Lesanovsky, Institute for Theoretical Physics
Duration: June 1, 2022 through May 31, 2026
Being Catholic in the German Federal Republic. Semantics, Practices, and Emotions in Western Germany's Society 1965-1989/90 (Research Unit 2973)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Andreas Holzem, Faculty of Catholic Theology, Church History in the Middle and Modern Ages
Duration: 2020-2023
De/Sacralization of Texts (Research Unit 2828)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Birgit Weyel, Faculty of Protestant Theology, Practical Theology III
Duration: January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2024
The Autotrophy-Heterotrophy Switch in Cyanobacteria: Coherent Decision-Making at Multiple Regulatory Layers (Research Unit 2816)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Karl Forchhammer, Interfaculty Institute of Microbiology and Infection Medicine
Duration: 2019-2024
Homepage of "The Autotrophy-Heterotrophy Switch" Research Unit
Understanding the Behaviour of Multinational Corporations in the Context of International Tax Institutions (Research Unit 2738)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Georg Wamser, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Economics – Public Finance
Duration: 2019-2025
Homepage of "Behaviour of Multinational Corporations" Research Unit
Modal and Amodal Cognition: Functions and Interactions (Research Unit 2718)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Barbara Kaup, Faculty of Science, Psychology – Language and Cognition
Duration: 2020-2026
Epileptogenesis of Genetic Epilepsies (Research Unit 2715)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Holger Lerche, Center of Neurology, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research
Duration: 2019-2024
Migration and Mobility in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Center of Advanced Studies 2496)
Migration and Mobility in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Center of Advanced Studies 2496)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Mischa Meier and Prof. Dr. Sebastian Schmidt-Hofner, Institute of Ancient History, and Prof. Dr. Steffen Patzold, Institute of Medieval History
Duration: 2017-2025
Homepage of "Migration and Mobility" Center of Advanced Studies
Words, Bones, Genes, Tools: Tracking Linguistic, Cultural and Biological Trajectories of the Human Past (Center of Advanced Studies 2237)
Spokespersons: Prof. Dr. Gerhard Jäger, Institute of Linguistics, and Prof. Dr. Katerina Harvati, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment
Duration: 2015-2023
Homepage of "Words, Bones, Genes, Tools" Center of Advanced Studies
Completed Research Units of the last five years
ViroCarb: Glycans Controlling Non-Enveloped Virus Infections (Research Unit 2327)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Thilo Stehle, Interfaculty Institute of Biochemistry
Duration: 2016-2022
Targeting Therapeutic Windows in Essential Cellular Processes for Tumor Therapy (Research Unit 2314), Würzburg, Tübingen
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Lars Zender, Tübingen University Hospital, Internal Medicine VIII – Medical Oncology and Pneumology
Duration: 2015-2021
cGMP Signalling in Cell Growth and Survival (Research Unit 2060)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Robert Feil, Interfaculty Institute of Biochemistry
Duration: 2013-2021
The Physiology of Distributed Computing Underlying Higher Brain Functions in Non-Human Primates (Research Unit 1847)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Thier, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Department of Cognitive Neurology
Duration: 2013-2022
Homepage of "The Physiology of Distributed Computing" Research Unit
Analysis and Promotion of Effective Processes of Learning and Instruction (Research Unit 738)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Dr. Friedrich Hesse, Institute of Psychology and Knowledge Media Research Center (IWM)
Duration: 2006–2017
Platelets – Molecular Mechanisms and Translational Applications (Clinical Research Unit 274)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Meinrad Gawaz, Tübingen University Hospital, Internal Medicine III – Cardiology and Angiology
Duration: 2011-2017
Therapy of Urinary Incontinence by Way of the Cell-based Regeneration of the Urethral Sphincter (Clinical Research Unit 273)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Arnulf Stenzl, Tübingen University Hospital, Department of Urology
Duration: 2012-2017