DFG German Research Foundation to establish 16 new Priority Programs

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish 16 new Priority Programmes, in which researchers will investigate fundamental scientific questions in particularly topical or emerging areas of research over the next few years.

The new programmes were selected by the Senate of the DFG - Germany's largest research funding organisation and central self-governing organisation for the research community - at its spring session in Bonn from a total of 72 proposed concepts. The programmes cover all scientific fields, including humanities and social sciences, life sciences, natural sciences and engineering sciences. Topics range from the analysis of historical foundations for economic activities to the investigation and development of electromagnetic sensors for applications in medicine, biology and pharmacology. Other topics include multitasking, new communication and safety systems for road traffic, and signal and information processing in engineering and applied mathematics.

All the programmes are highly interdisciplinary and are notable for their application of innovative methods. The participation of early career researchers, as well as active support for them, is an essential part of all the programmes, and is in fact one of the key criteria for establishing a new Priority Programme. All programmes also have a gender equality strategy.

The approved concepts each describe the main subject of a Priority Programme. Over the coming months, the DFG will announce a separate call for proposals for each of the 16 programmes. Proposals will be evaluated in a rigorous review process to determine their scientific quality and their contribution to the general topic in question.

A total of 89 million euros will be available for the 16 new programmes in the first three-year funding period. Priority Programmes generally run for six years. The DFG is currently funding 95 such programmes. The 16 new programmes will get underway in 2015.

The new Priority Programmes grouped by scientific discipline are:

Humanities and Social Sciences

Experience and Expectation. Historical Foundations for Economic Activities
(Coordinators: Prof. Dr. Alexander N-tzenadel, Humboldt University of Berlin, Prof. Dr. Jochen Streb, University of Mannheim)

Human Performance under Multiple Cognitive Task Requirements: From Basic Mechanisms to Optimized Task Scheduling (Coordinators: Prof. Dr. Andrea Kiesel, University of W-rzburg, Prof. Dr. Iring Koch, RWTH Aachen University, Prof. Dr. Hermann M-ller, University of Giessen)

Life Sciences

Rapid Evolutionary Adaptation: Potential and Constraints
(Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Karl Schmid, University of Hohenheim)

Epithelial Intercellular Junctions as Dynamic Hubs to Integrate Forces, Signals and Cell Behavior
(Coordinator: Prof. Thomas Magin, University of Leipzig)

Chemical Biology of Native Nucleic Acid Modifications
(Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Mark Helm, University of Mainz)

Natural Sciences

Compressed Sensing in Information Processing (CoSIP)
(Coordinators: Prof. Dr. Gitta Kutyniok, Technical University of Berlin, Prof. Dr. Rudolf Mathar, RWTH Aachen University)

The Cross-Fertilization of Homotopy Theory and Algebraic Geometry, Especially Through Motivic Homotopy Theory, Derived Algebraic Geometry and Differential Homotopy Theory
(Coordinator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marc Levine, University of Duisburg-Essen)

Control of London Dispersion Interactions in Molecular Chemistry
(Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Peter R. Schreiner, University of Giessen)

Quantum Dynamics in Tailored Intense Fields (QUTIF)
(Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Manfred Lein, University of Hanover)

Building a Habitable Earth
(Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Carsten M-nker, University of Cologne)

Study of Earth System Dynamics with a Constellation of Potential Field Missions
(Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Hermann L-hr, Helmholtz-Centre Potsdam)

Engineering Sciences

Electromagnetic Sensors for Life Sciences (ESSENCE)
(Coordinator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rolf Jakoby, Technical University of Darmstadt)

High Frequency Flexible Bendable Electronics for Wireless Communication Systems (FFLexCom)
(Coordinator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Ellinger, Technical University of Dresden)

Tailored Disorder - A Science- and Engineering-Based Approach to Materials Design for Advanced Photonic Applications
(Coordinator: PD Dr.-Ing. Silke Christiansen, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen)

Cooperatively Interacting Automobiles
(Coordinator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christoph Stiller, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT)

EARTHSHAPE: Earth Surface Shaping by Biota
(Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Todd Alan Ehlers, University of T-bingen)