Die Innovation Grant Ausschreibung ist ein personenbezogenes Förderprogramm der Exzellenzstrategie der Universität Tübingen. Es wird an junge Nachwuchsforscherinnen und -forscher in den Natur- und Lebenswissenschaften sowie in den Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften vergeben. Diese erhalten die Möglichkeit, ihre in der Doktorarbeit gewonnenen Erkenntnisse in verwertbare Verfahren, Dienstleistungen oder Produkte umzusetzen.
The Innovation Grants are a personal funding program of the Excellence Strategy of the University of Tübingen. It is awarded to young researchers in the natural and life sciences as well as in the humanities and social sciences. They are given the opportunity to translate the knowledge gained in their doctoral thesis into usable processes, services or products.
Applications for funding must hold out the prospect that the results can be commercially exploited or that cooperation with non-university institutions can be established as a result.
The criteria for the award are the innovative content of the application and its economic attractiveness and feasibility. Furthermore, the scientific background of the candidates and the scientific quality in terms of relevance, originality and topicality of the underlying work are also important.
An application is possible twice a year (submission deadline 28.02. and 31.08.).
Find out more: Innovation Grants (Sciences and Life Sciences) or (Humanities and Social Sciences)
Felix Schreiber
Teachers and school leaders should know what they are talking about when they talk about digitalization, inclusion or sustainability, for example. They need tools and procedures to find their way in the increasingly confusing field of educational research, which is characterized by multi-perspectivity. In science, systematic reviews are a matter of course in order to maintain an overview. However, little has been done to date to provide similar tools for teachers in their everyday work and to prepare research overviews. The innovative potential of the project is therefore to transfer methods for breaking down fuzzy terms and topics in the educational sciences and their results into a webinar, to develop digital tools and to produce further research overviews. This will provide teachers and school administrators with guidance on complex terms and topics and support their professional work.
Naybel Hernandez-Perez
[S,S]-Ethylenediamine disuccinate ([S,S]-EDDS) is a biodegradable chelating agent produced by the bacterial strain Amycolatopsis japonicum. Chelating agents are used whenever metal ions interfere with a reaction or a certain ion concentration needs to be kept constant. They are used commercially in numerous applications such as textile and paper processing, detergents, agricultural fertilizers as well as for cosmetics, food and medical products.
The most commonly used industrial chelating agent is ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA). It is chemically synthesized using non-renewable fossil resources and is non-biodegradable, making it difficult to remove in conventional wastewater treatment plants. Due to environmental concerns, the use of EDTA is being increasingly restricted for many applications in Western European countries and the use of alternative, biodegradable chelators is being called for. One such alternative is [S,S]-EDDS; it has similar complexing properties to EDTA but is completely biodegradable in this isomeric form.
During her doctoral thesis, Ms. Hernandez-Perez made genetic modifications to A. japonicum in order to improve [S,S]-EDDS production. One of the aims of the funded project is to produce a “super plasmid” that contains all the genes that have shown a positive effect on [S,S]-EDDS production.
Philipp Beuchel
The shortage of school leaders and teachers is currently a major challenge for the German education system. This increases the pressure to act with regard to the increasing importance of stress and resource management in the education system, which has become the focus of educational plans and teacher training in recent years. To date, however, there has been a lack of professional offerings in this area. Mindfulness-based training is a promising and increasingly popular way of meeting this need in the private sector. In the school sector, however, this potential has hardly been exploited to date. This project implements mindfulness-based formats in the school sector that address different levels and groups of stakeholders: A leadership seminar for school leaders and members of steering groups strengthens school development, a teacher training course supports this highly stressed target group and a school project focuses on the school as a whole, including the pupils and their parents. The innovative potential and sustainability of this project lies in the comprehensive, multi-level measures: Training and projects for various stakeholder groups at schools, flanked by digital information and training material for schools and teachers. All measures are scientifically evaluated and aligned with the funding criteria of health insurance companies and prospectively certified in order to implement the measures on a broad scale.
Alexander Neugebauer
Degenerative retinal diseases lead to progressive visual field loss, with no approved treatment options available for at least 99% of patients. As visual field loss has a serious impact on the daily lives of those affected, there is an urgent need for alternative rehabilitation methods. One such approach is eye movement training or gaze training - a non-invasive method in which patients learn to adapt larger and more efficient eye movements in various visual training tasks. This allows them to expand their range of perception in a dynamic way. Building on the promising results of Alexander Neugebauer's doctoral thesis, “GazeQuest” will therefore be developed to provide an effective gaze training application for home use. This uses the advantages of virtual reality to improve the navigation performance of patients with peripheral visual field loss.
Timm Schäfle
In his doctoral thesis, Mr. Schäfle developed an analytical instrument that can examine biological samples non-invasively, i.e. without causing damage. Molecules are ionized by a cold helium plasma, which can then be identified in a mass spectrometer. Living bacteria, for example, can continue to grow during the examination and continue to produce metabolites. This allows the cells to be examined over a long period of time without losing information by destroying the sample, as is the case with conventional methods. As part of the Innovation Grant, the complete analytical potential is to be clarified, combined with the development of two further instruments that also enable the direct examination of human tissue (in vivo) as well as a longer observation of changes over time.
Or Shalev-Skriptchak
The chemical capabilities of microbes are used for many industrial applications, such as the production of food and pharmaceuticals and the purification of wastewater. Unlike most synthetic compounds, microbial products are often biodegradable and non-toxic. They can therefore be used as environmentally friendly alternatives in most cases. A major limiting factor for the wider application of microbes in industrial processes is the difficulty in finding the right microbes for the right problem. In order to analyze microbes for desired properties, throughput is crucial. Therefore, novel methods are needed to more easily identify microbes with commercially interesting properties.
In this project, a platform technology will be developed that makes it possible to test 10 million microbes in a single day for the production of various chemicals as well as for the presence of desired enzymatic functions. This novel method should make it possible to effectively screen the huge diversity of the microbial world and thus make its immense biochemical potential accessible.
Kjell zum Berge
Weather forecasts offer us great added value and planning security. However, the quality of the forecast deteriorates significantly with the length of the forecast period. In order to improve forecasts and simulations, it is important to know parameters such as wind speed, wind direction, air temperature, air pressure and humidity over the entire height of the lower atmosphere. Previous stationary measuring systems are unable to do this. In this project, an automatic flight system (“drone”) is to be equipped with sensors to determine the above-mentioned measured variables up to a flight altitude of 1000 m above the ground with high temporal resolution. This combines the great flexibility of mobile measurement with the high accuracy of the sensors used.
Sarah Ullrich
In her dissertation “Museums and social media: How Digital Images and Everyday Aesthetic Practices Change the Museum Experience”, Ms. Ullrich analyzed the current changes in the museum landscape and examined the influence of digital image practices on the art scene. The “Blickwinkel” project translates the findings of this ethnographic research work into media-oriented art education strategies and practice-oriented teaching units. The aim is to utilize the low-barrier design possibilities and creative potential of social media. In order to strengthen the cultural participation of young people with special educational needs, learning modules are being designed in cooperation with Berlin museums and school support centers. Based on digital design and presentation options, these will offer low-threshold, everyday and individually meaningful access to highly cultural art offerings.
