Research

In 2012, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen was the first hospital in Middle Franconia to use a robot-assisted surgical system. The hospital has now invested over 2.4 million euros in a new da Vinci Xi to enable it to increase the precision of surgical procedures in the future with the latest generation of the robot-assisted surgical system.

In future, it could be possible to remove oil spills on the surface of the ocean by using magnets. Researchers at FAU have developed particles from functionalised iron oxide that attract hydrocarbons. The magnetic particles and their shells can be removed in an environmentally-friendly manner from water.

How can digitalisation help to improve the efficiency of the electricity grid, whilst making it more stable at the same time? These are the questions being considered by ‘InnoSys 2030’, a joint project involving FAU funded with approximately 10 million euros by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

Research network searching for minute tumour markers in the bloodstream, in order to detect cancer earlier – a total of 1.3 million euros awarded in BMBF funding.

Biologists are using miniaturised tracking sensors to investigate maternal care in bat colonies. Scientists fitted mother bats and their offspring with sensors to automatically record contacts between the animals.

The first clinical trial in Germany with a new approach in cancer immune therapy is now under way at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen. The new T cell receptor therapy can provide vital support to the immune system in the fight against certain types of leukaemia and lymphoma.

Physicists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light and at FAU have succeeded in turning an organic molecule into a nearly ideal quantum system with only two well-defined energy levels. The experiments reported in Nature Physics set an important step because they demonstrate some basic building blocks for quantum networks based on organic materials.