Junior Research Groups at Freie Universität Berlin
By establishing junior research groups, the university offers outstanding young scholars and researchers the opportunity to conduct independent research and build up their own working groups. In recent years, a number of funding institutions have established programs of this kind that include participation from academics and scientists at Freie Universität Berlin.
Images of the Crisis - Affective Rhetoric of Audiovisuals
Group head: Dr. des. Jan-Hendrik BakelsFunding period: 12/2015 - 11/2021
Dept. of Philosophy and Humanities, Film Studies
Email: jan.bakels@fu-berlin.de
Bioökonomie als gesellschaftlicher Wandel (Modul 1), Food for Justice - Power, Politics and Food Inequality
Group head: Prof. Dr. Renata Campos MottaFunding period: 4/2019 - 3/2024
Dept. Institute for Latin American Studies
Email: renata.motto@fu-berlin.de
Entwicklung neuer Methoden zur Erforschung der zoonotischen Vektorbiologie von Schildzecken mittels CRISPR-Technologie und künstlicher Fütterung
Group head: Dr. Ard Menzo NijhofFunding period: 7/2017 - 6/2022
Dept. of Veterinary Medicine, Institute of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine
Email: ard.nijhof@fu-berlin.de
eBio - Endolysion - Integrative Systembiologie der endosomalen/lysosomalen Ionenhomöostase
Group head: Dr. Tobias StauberFunding period: 6/2014 - 6/2020
Dept. of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Institute for Chemistry and Biochemistry
Email: tobias.stauber@mdc-berlin.de
The Emmy Noether Programme supports researchers in achieving independence at an early stage of their scientific careers. Postdocs gain the qualifications required for a university teaching career during a DFG-funded period, usually lasting five years, in which they lead their own independent junior research group.
As a rule, researchers who have acquired between two and four years of postdoctoral research experience are eligible to apply. Applicants must have international research experience.
Quantifying Multivalent Interactions
Group head: Dr. Stephan BlockFunding period: 9/2017 - 8/2022
Dept. of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmay, Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Email: stephan.block@fu-berlin.de
Neural dynamics of visual cognition
Group head: Dr. Radoslaw CichyFunding period: 5/2016 - 4/2021
Dept. of Education and Psychology, Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience
Email: mcichy@mit.edu
Mythical Literary Works of the Old Babylonian Period as Epistemic Artefacts - as well as the Question of a "Philosophy before the Greeks"
Group head: Dr. Gösta GabrielFunding period: 10/2019 - 9/2022
Dept. of History and Cultural Studies, Institute of Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Email: /
Reaching the People
Group head: Dr. Valeska HuberFunding period: 10/2017 - 9/2022
Dept. of History and Cultural Studies, Friedrich Meinecke Institute of History
Email: -
Directionality in Engineered Quantum Systems
Group head: Dr. Anja MetelmannFunding period: 2/2018 - 1/2023
Dept. of Physics, Experimental Physics
Email: anjam@princeton.edu
Structural Glycobiology of Interactions between Viruses and Bacteriall Polysaccharides
Group head: Dr. Ursula NeuFunding period: 7/2018 - 4/2021
Dept. of Biology, Chemistry, and Pharmacy, Biochemistry
Email: ursula.neu@fu-berlin.de
Oxygen Photosynthesis at the Energy Limit: Membranes and Proteins for Growth in the Near Infrared Range
Group head: Dennis NürnbergFunding period: 4/2020 - 3/2023
Dept. of Physics
Email: dennis.nuernberg@fu-berlin.de
Patterns of Knowledge Circulation: Tradition and Reception of Jewish Esotericism in Manuscript and Printing in Early Modern East Central Europe
Group head: Dr. Agata PaluchFunding period: 4/2019 - 3/2022
Dept. of History and Cultural Studies, Institute of Jewish Studies
Email: paluch@fu-berlin.de
Mediating (Semi-)Authoritarianism: The Power of the Internet in the post-Soviet World
Group head: Dr. Florian TöpflFunding period: 10/2014 - 3/2020
Dept. of Political and Social Sciences, Media and Communication Studies
Email: f.toepfl@fu-berlin.de
The Heisenberg Programme is directed primarily at those researchers who have qualified for professorship via the Emmy Noether Programme, DFG staff positions, private-sector research or non-faculty academic positions. The target group also includes junior professors who have received positive evaluations, those who have achieved their habilitation or equivalent, and German researchers returning from abroad, as well as appropriately qualified foreign researchers looking to pursue careers in Germany.
History and culture of China with a focus on religions
Group head: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christian MeyerFunding period: 11/2017 - 10/2022
Dept. of History and Cultural Studies, Seminar of East Adian Studies / Sinology - China Studies
Email: ch.meyer@fu-berlin.de
Heisenberg Fellows at Freie Universität Berlin:
- Dr. Evelyn Annuß, Dept. of Philisophy and Humanities, Institute of Theater Studies
since 2017 - Dr. Sophie Armitage, Dept. of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Institute of Biology
since 2017 - PD Dr. Pavel Gurevich, Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science, Institute of Mathematics
since 2015 - PD Dr. Miriam Knörnschild, Dept. of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Institute of Biology
since 2015 - Dr. Simon Koschut, Dept. of Political and Social Sciences, Otto-Suhr-Institute of Political Sciences
since 2019 - Kay Rülling, Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science, Institute of Mathematics
since 2014 - Ulrich Steiner, Dept. of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Institute of Biology
since 2020 - PD Dr. Cornelia Wild, Dept. of Philosophy and Humanities, Institute of Comparative Literatur
since 2019 - PD Dr. Gerhard Wunder, Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science, Institute of Mathematics
since 2014 - PD Dr. Cornel Zwierlein, Dept. of History and Cultural Studies, Friedrich Meinecke-Institute of History
since 2020
A 'Freigeist' fellow: for the Volkswagen Foundation this means a young researcher with a strong personality, a creative mind, an ability to identify and use freedom, dedicated to overcoming resistance. If necessary, he or she will be a free spirit, enjoying the unexpected, even unexpected difficulties. A 'Freigeist' fellow opens up new horizons and combines critical analysis with imagination and innovative solutions. By thinking ahead the 'Freigeist' fellow will act as a catalyst in overcoming existing disciplinary, institutional and even national boundaries.
Predicting Abrupt Transitions and Extreme Events in the Earth System
Group Head: Dr. Niklas BoersFunding Period: 9/2019 - 8/2025
Dept.: of Mathematics and Computer Science, Institute of Mathematics
Finding Life: Spectral Biomarkers in Planetary Atmospheres
Group head: Dr. Andreas ElsäßerFunding period: 2/2018 - 1/2023
Dept. of Physics
Navigating the social world - A cross-cultural and developmental perspective on social norms
Group head: Dr. Patricia KanngießerFunding period: 10/2015 - 9/2020
Dept. of Educational Science and Psychology, Applied Developmental Psychology
The Cold War's Clash of Civilizations: The Soviet Union, the Left, and the International Origins of Islamism
Group head: Dr. Timothy NunanFunding period: 10/2016 - 9/2021
Dept. of History and Cultural Studies, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut of History
The Populism of the Precarious: Marginalization, Mobilization, and Mediatization of South Asia's Religious Minorities
Group Head: Dr. Jürgen SchaflechnerFunding period: 9/2020 - 8/2025
Dept.: of Political and Social Sciences, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology
The Lichtenberg Professorships were conceived both as a means of attracting outstanding researchers as well as helping to establish innovative academic teaching and new lines of research at German universities. The funding initiative enables grantees to plan with greater certainty, thus creating the opportunity for independent work in their own new lines of research.
Evolution of vaccine resistant herpesviruses
Head of project: Prof. Benedikt Kaufer PhD, Dept. of Veterinary MedicineFunding period: 2/2017 - 1/2021
Political Sociology: Social Movements and Conflicts
Head of project: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Swen Hutter, Dept. of Political and Social SciencesFunding period: 1/2018 - 9/2023