EFI funding

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) is one of the top research universities in Germany. With its wide range of subjects, it is a university which offers the entire spectrum of academic disciplines and ideal conditions for innovative research that often emerges at the intersection between various disciplines.

The Emerging Fields Initiative (EFI) was launched in 2010 in order to support high-risk interdisciplinary research projects from an early stage. As an internal funding option, the EFI bolsters academic exchange, encourages strategic partnerships and increases the attractiveness of FAU for outstanding researchers across the globe.

A large number of highly innovative research projects and consortia have been established at FAU since EFI was launched. As of 2021, EFI has deliberately been supporting research consortia on their journey from being formed to gaining an excellent reputation. The strategic funding and support program plays a key role in FAU gaining a reputation as a top university. The initiative is supported by the STAEDTLER Foundation on the basis of a matching funds model, while a strict selection process guarantees the quality of the funded projects.

Focus on innovative research ideas

“Ideas and knowledge are the key to the future” – this is the guiding principle of the STAEDTLER Foundation, which has been supporting the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region for over 20 years. The charitable foundation has since donated more than ten million euros for cultural and research projects.
The STAEDTLER Foundation is particularly active at FAU. The Foundation funds an annual doctoral thesis award and finances “Deutschlandstipendium” scholarships for outstanding academic achievements and commitment to social projects.

Funding for excellence in research

The STAEDTLER Foundation is now placing special emphasis on funding the most innovative research projects. The Emerging Fields Initiative (EFI) was launched at FAU in 2010, with the aim of identifying particularly promising and innovative interdisciplinary projects. Since 2018, the STAEDTLER Foundation has relied on the results of this highly competitive evaluation process to specifically support innovative research ideas that are of considerable importance to society. As a strong partner to FAU, the STAEDTLER Foundation has already invested in bold emerging projects and thus in promising “uncharted scientific territory”. Funding from 2021 onwards will focus on excellent fields of research, in other words initiatives that have proven to be sustainable, have developed quickly and are competitive on an international level.

An insight into EFI funding

Over 30 emerging innovative and interdisciplinary research projects have received funding as part of EFI.

  • EFIMoves – Diagnosing and treating motor disorders

    Gait analysis of a Parkinson’s patient using the eGaIT system (image: Kurt Fuchs)
    Gait analysis of a Parkinson’s patient. (Image: Kurt Fuchs)

    The ‘EFIMoves’ project aims to develop and validate cutting-edge multi-modal medical diagnostic techniques. Mobile and integrated sensor-based movement analysis is a simple, cost-effective and individualized method that can be used to analyze movements and develop approaches for treating motor neurone diseases. The eGAIT system the researchers developed has been awarded the Bavarian Innovation Prize in health telematics.

  • ELINAS – Erlangen Center for Literature and Natural Sciences

    An image incorporating letters
    Image: ELINAS Projekt

    Literature and the natural sciences may appear to be poles apart when it comes to interpreting our world, but when these two areas are combined they have the potential to improve our understanding of current and future problems and how to deal with them. The ELINAS project has considered this research field systematically and from the historical perspective and has brought together expertise in the fields of cultural studies and the natural sciences to develop a common systematic approach derived from the various special discourses.

  • Molecular communication systems

    Image of a researcher holding molecules
    Image: Colourbox.de

    For new applications in the fields of biology, nanotechnology and medicine, it will in future be necessary to find ways to connect objects and machines in dimensions that can be measured in nanometers and micrometers. As electromagnetic waves are not suitable for the nanoworld, molecules are to be used to carry information. Researchers at FAU have designed the first test environments in the world for molecular communication.

    Made possible thanks to co-financing from the STAEDTLER Foundation

  • Tapping the Potential of Earth Observations (TAPE)

    Glacier front detection
    Glacier front detection using U-Net architecture for various training weightings. Green: reference, red: prediction, yellow: overlap between reference and prediction. (Image: Holzmann et al. 2021, http://arxiv.org/abs/2101.03247)

    The aim of this project is to analyze the time series of Earth observation (EO) data with innovative deep learning methods in order to develop efficient algorithms for dealing with the large amounts of data involved. The value of these EO products is further increased by advanced interpolation techniques and assimilation in geophysical models.

    Made possible thanks to co-financing from the STAEDTLER Foundation

  • Novel biopolymer hydrogels

    Swell test using biopolymer hydrogel
    Swell tests confirm physical aspects of cortical folding (image: Sylvia Budday)

    This project involves manufacturing biopolymer hydrogels and cataloging their mechanical properties. They serve as replacement materials in order to understand and model the highly-complex behavior of soft biological tissue.

    This could make the process of selecting suitable materials for 3D printing of artificial organs or generating models for prognoses considerably easier in the future.

    Made possible thanks to co-financing from the STAEDTLER Foundation