Research

An intelligent suit is hoped to significantly improve rehabilitation after a serious spinal cord injury. The AI-supported solution will be developed over the next three years by researchers from FAU working in collaboration with Heidelberg University and Heidelberg University Hospital. It combines electrical simulation of muscles with support for movement using artificial tendons, and reacts to patients’ intended movements.

We spoke with ZIWIS Director Michael Jungert about the significance and relevance of the applied philosophy of science and about what is known as the Erlangen model.   

Patients with limited hand function are soon set to benefit from an intelligent neuro-orthosis that will enable them to lead independent lives again. Prof. Dr. Alessandro Del Vecchio, a neuroscientist at FAU, is working on this aim in two new projects and has received over 1.3 million euros of funding from the Free State of Bavaria.

Teachers must be able to include digital teaching and learning activities during their lessons to be able to teach digital skills. This is being addressed in a collaborative project involving FAU, which is being funded from June 2023 to December 2025 with around 6.3 million euros from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Functional nanomaterials could soon control the activity of neurons in the brain. By using this minimally invasive method, Prof Dr. Danijela Gregurec hopes to revolutionize the treatment of neurological disorders such as depression, panic attacks, epilepsy or Alzheimer’s. In conjunction with researchers from Italy, Spain, the UK, and Finland, FAU chemist Gregurec has launched the BRAINSTORM project, which has received 3 million euros of funding from the EU, 740,000 euros of which have been awarded to FAU.

“FAU mourns the loss of an outstanding researcher who had a decisive influence on virological research at our university,” remarked FAU President, Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger, on the news of Harald zur Hausen's death. The Nobel laureate died on Sunday at the age of 87.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is extending funding for a collaborative research center (CRC) or transregio (TRR), for which FAU is a co-applicant. The researchers will receive a further three million euros in funding over the next four years.

An international team of researchers including scientists from FAU has, for the first time, used x-rays for an imaging process that utilizes a particular quantum characteristic of light.

An interdisciplinary research team from FAU and the Universities of Ulm and Würzburg, led by Prof. Falk Nimmerjahn, Chair of Genetics at FAU, has deciphered the mechanism by which intravenous immunoglobulins mediate the resolution of joint inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis.

Prof. Dr. Andreas Landmann from the Institute of Economics at FAU is collaborating on a project that is hoping to secure outpatient health care services in Pakistan. In this interview, he talks about his role as an economist and that of his team in the project and what he does during his research stays in Pakistan.