Grantees
Our Emerging Talents
FAU is proud of its talents and these excellent young researchers who have received ETI funding. Their common goal is to submit an application to an external funding provider.
Our promising young researchers in the faculties
The information about funding recipients refers to the time period during which funding was awarded.
Center for Applied Philosophy of Science and Key Qualifications
Start of ETI funding: 2020
Communicating Scientific Expertise in Deliberative Democracies. Epistemological and Ethical Perspectives
Center for Applied Philosophy of Science and Key Qualifications
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Book Studies
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Junior professorship for modern German literature with a focus on literature for children and young adults
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Forgotten literatures of the long 19th century
Chair of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Education with a focus on culture and aesthetic education
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of German Linguistics
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Institute of Sociology
Start of ETI funding: 2018
The democratic closure. The discursive construction of the migrant ‘other’.
The project investigates how liberal democracies in times of late-capitalist transnationalisation deal with ‘migrant others’ from the perspective of political theory. How does (not) belonging come about and how does the discursive construction of alterity function with respect to migration/displaced persons? The project is based on the assumption that liberal democracies trigger specific mechanisms in inclusion and exclusion (‘closure’) on a juridico-political, social-cultural and spatial-material dimension in which gendered and racialised othering and essentialised perceptions of the ‘migrant other’ are taken into account. Here, the project focuses on deriving the affective logic, the conditions for producing knowledge and the normalisation effects. This involves not only reflecting upon the way liberal democracies deal with migrants, undocumented persons and displaced persons, but also critically examining the efficacy of liberal-democratic normative assumptions – freedom and equality – in the discussion about migration.
Chair of Political Science I
Start of ETI funding: 2017
The cultural political economy of austerity in Germany and the United Kingdom in the era of neo-liberalism. A critical, realistic corpus-based multimodal analysis of discourse
Based on the work of philosophical pioneers of critical realism in general and the approach of cultural political economy (CPE) in particular, this project attempts to decipher the relationship between semiotic forms and material forces in media discourses about austerity. By incorporating the materialistic social psychology of Erich Fromm as well as investigating multimodality from a (meta) theoretical and methodological and methodical perspective, the project aims to further develop the foundations of CPE thus simultaneously gaining a deeper understanding of austerity in Germany and the United Kingdom in the era of neo-liberalism using a corpus-based multimodal analysis of discourse.
Third-party funding application: DFG, research grants
Chair of Educational Psychology and Excellence Research
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Institute for Psychology (IFP)
Start of ETI funding: 2019
The influence of maternal postpartum mental illness on parent-child attachment
Around one in ten mothers are at risk of developing psychological disorders after giving birth. Without treatment, these disorders can become chronic and have an immense effect on the relationship between mother and child and thus on the child’s development. Maternal sensitivity is an important factor that can serve to strengthen the bond between mother and child and as a protective factor for further development. Maternal sensitivity is impaired in postpartum disorders. Prof. G. Spangler, Dr. S. Gabler and I have been working with the mother and child day clinics in South Nuremberg and Dresden since 2015 to perform standardised analysis of video footage of interactions between mothers and their children.
Thanks to the ETI funding, 50 families from our sample at the day clinics and 50 healthy families are currently being invited back to participate in our study again to enable us to classify the bond between the parents and their 12-24 month old children. In addition, all participating parents will receive some questionnaires about further risk factors.
Third-party funding application: DFG, research grants
Department of Primary School Research
Start of ETI funding: 2020
Promoting professional competence of student teachers for providing feedback in written language acquisition – success factors for self-directed learning with videos
Chair of Romance Studies: Literature and Culture
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Para-societies. Parallel and alternative social formations in contemporary cultures and literatures
Forms of parallel sociality such as migrant camps, gated communities, religious special-status communities and communes are a phenomena of modernity and their numbers are growing as society becomes increasingly singular. The discourse surrounding them is often emotionally charged, whether they are perceived as a driving force for positive development of society and thus as a living example of utopia or whether they are perceived as a threat to social cohesion and cultural unity.
This interdisciplinary network, which is receiving funding from the DFG from 10 January 2018 to 9 January 2021, is based in the Interdisciplinary Centre for Modern Literature and Culture (IZG) and brings together researchers from cultural studies, literary and media studies as well as theoretical approaches from German studies, English studies, American studies, Romance studies, media studies, philosophy and art history for a comparative cultural analysis of such ‘parallel societies’ in contemporary literature and film.
Third-party funding application: DFG, academic network
Chair of Systematic Theology II
Start of ETI funding: 2020
Chair of Health Psychology
Start of ETI funding: 2020
Institute for Psychogerontology (IPG)
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of General Psychology (Motivation, Emotion and Learning)
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of English Studies, in particular Linguistics
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Language processing in artificial neural networks and the human brain
At the intersection of neuroscience, linguistics and artificial intelligence (AI) the project aims to gain a mechanistic understanding how language processing is implemented in the human brain. This will be achieved by constructing neurobiologically plausible computational and AI models that can perform different linguistic tasks, and then testing these models using behavioral and brain data (questionnaires, MEG/EEG, fMRI). The constructed models, together with the experimental results, may serve to decide between competing linguistic theories of grammar, or even to develop modified theories of grammar, respectively. Furthermore, the gained advances during the project – algorithmically inspired by neuroscience – will provide a decisive step towards a framework for robust and flexible natural language processing, being both essential for understanding fundamental principles of intelligent behavior, and of potentially great technological value.
Chair of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Art History
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Political Science II
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Institute of Sociology
Start of ETI funding: 2017
The imaginary at the boundaries of the social world
Third-party funding application: DFG, research grants
Chair of Chinese Studies
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Institute for Prehistory and Protohistory
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Sport Science (Exercise and Health)
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Aerobic exercise to enhance motor skill learning in Parkinson’s disease
The positive effects of regular cardiovascular (i.e. aerobic) exercise on cognitive function are well established. Recent evidence suggests that memory formation is enhanced even by acute bouts of aerobic exercise, and behavioural studies on motor learning in healthy adults confirm these findings. The proposed project investigates whether a single acute bout of aerobic exercise performed immediately before practice can facilitate motor skill learning in individuals with existing motor control and learning impairments. For this purpose, patients in early to mid-stages of Parkinson’s disease will be studied. The results will deliver first behavioural data to verify recently proposed models and could serve as a proof of concept for other neurodegenerative disorders. From a more practical perspective, this work evaluates a safe and inexpensive strategy to optimize learning processes, which are essential in neurorehabilitation.
Third-party funding application: DFG, research grants
Chair of Sport Science (Exercise and Health)
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Psychology I
Start of ETI funding: 2020
Chair of Technolgy Management
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Economic Theory
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Economic Theory
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Erlangen Centre of Islam and Law in Europe (EZIRE)
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Economic Theory
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Information Systems (Services, Processes, and Intelligence)
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of International Studies
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Information Systems, Innovation and Value Creation
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Public Law and International Law and Centre for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg (CHREN)
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Macroeconomics
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Public Finance
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Social Policy
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Who benefits from New Housing Supply?
This project investigates the relationship between building new housing and rents in the lower segment of rent distribution. New housing is usually built in the upper price segment. Inhabitants of new housing units move out from their old housing thus leaving a vacant unit for new tenants or owners. New homes thus trigger a series of moves that should ultimately also lead to lower rents for older homes that are of a poorer quality. However, depending on market conditions, property owners may use the opportunity to upgrade vacant units. In that case, rents at the lower end of the market remain unaffected. This relationship is investigated empirically and theoretically in this project. The ETI funding was used for important preparatory work for the empirical strategy. The project is being funded by the DFG for 2 years and began on 1 July 2019.
Third-party funding application: DFG, research grants
Chair of Economic Theory
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Professur für Gesundheitsökonomie
Start of ETI funding: 2020
Chair of Organic Chemistry II
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chemistry and Interface Control of Novel 2D Materials Beyond Graphene
Two-dimensional (2D) materials (from one up to few atomic layers in thickness) present a huge potential for technological applications. Over the past 12 years we have witnessed 3 major activity waves in this area: Graphene, 2D transition-metal dichalcogenides, and phosphorene. I anticipate the next waves to be related to two elemental materials: Antimony and Germanium. Consequently, the main goal of this proposal will be to provide the research community with the understanding of the properties and the basics to fabricate and make use of novel semiconducting 2D materials based on these two elements. Specifically, this project is devoted to the development and basic understanding of the principles of antimonene chemistry. Even more, it is intended to extrapolate the knowledge acquired to a chemically related 2D material, 2D-α-Ge.
Third-party funding application: European Research Council, ERC Starting Grant
Chair of Chemistry of Thin Film Materials
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Professorship for Microbiology
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Institute of Geography
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Chemistry of thin film materials
Start of ETI funding: 2020
Quantum Dot Empowered Advanced Photocatalysis (Q-DEAP)
I seek to harness carrier multiplication (CM) in quantum dots (QDs), a process where one high energy photon excites two electrons, to drive the energy-storing reaction of water splitting at a higher rate and with greater efficiency. Not only does this process exploit the high-energy end of the spectrum (near UV) more efficiently, the resulting charge carriers also spatially overlap, leading to increased local charge density. Exploiting it could potentially yield higher reaction rates for the multiple-electron reactions involved in solar-driven production of chemicals. For example, water splitting to 2H2 + O2 requires 4 electrons. We theorize that CM would enhance reactions as the quantum yield increases to 200% (improving the theoretical maximum efficiency) and the electrons are provided in the same reaction vicinity at the same time (improving the practical, realizable efficiency). Using the advanced photophysical properties of QDs, I aim to investigate the limits for water splitting.
GeoZentrum Nordbayern (Palaeontology)
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Developmental Biology
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Institute of Geography
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Endogenous Geodynamics
Start of ETI funding: 2019
GeoZentrum Nordbayern (Palaeontology)
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Theoretical Physics I
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Inorganic and General Chemistry
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Aroma and Smell Research
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Current methods in research on olfactory perception: psychophysiological responses to olfactory events
When olfactory stimuli reach the olfactory epithelium, they entail a range of physiological processes on a peripheral and central level, thereby leading to an olfactory percept. A change in the autonomous nervous system’s activity is generally part of the perceiving organism’s response to the odour, and is known to reflect central processing of the stimulus. As such, it can be used to study human olfactory perception, and to deduce cognitive evaluation processes and their impact on behaviour, as well as their modulation by an individual’s psychological or physiological conditions. Currently, however, the methods used in psychophysiological research dedicated to olfactory perception vary between laboratories, and it is unclear to which extent methodological details impact the outcome of such studies and may thus contribute to conflicting results. In the proposed project, different methods of odour application and data processing will be evaluated, with the aim of establishing recommendations for future research.
Third-party funding application: DFG, research grants
Chair of Genetics
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Organic Chemistry I
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Chemistry of Thin Film Materials
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Inorganic and General Chemistry
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Organic Biradicals for Optoelectronic Applications
Third-party funding application: DFG
Chair of Solid State Physics
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Organic Chemistry II
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Developmental Biology
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Medicinal Chemistry
Start of ETI funding: 2020
Chair of Genetics
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Junior Professorship for Bioinformatics
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Applied Mathematics
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Chemical Reaction Engineering (CRT)
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Materials Science (Corrosion and Surface Technology)
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Materials Science (Materials in Electronics and Energy Technology)
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Bioprocess Engineering
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Applied Mechanics
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Multiscale modelling of nervous tissue: comprehensively linking microstructure, pathology, and mechanics
The current project aims to develop microstructurally motivated mechanical models for brain tissue that facilitate early diagnostics of neurological disorders and enable the development of novel treatment strategies. We will experimentally characterize the behaviour of brain tissue across scales by using versatile mechanical testing techniques. Through an accompanying microstructural analysis, we will evaluate the complex interplay of brain structure, mechanics and function. We will further assess dynamic changes in tissue properties during development and disease, due to changes in the mechanical environment of cells (mechanosensing), or external loading. Based on these data, we will develop microstructurally motivated constitutive and evolution laws that describe the regionally and temporally varying mechanical behaviour of brain tissue. Through computational simulations, we will predict the behaviour of brain tissue under physiological and pathological conditions
Chair of Computer Science 5 (Pattern Recognition)
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Applied Mechanics
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Numerical and experimental study of the deposition of micro-sized non-spherical solid particles in the nasal cavity
The deposition of atmospheric particulate matter in the nasal cavity, typically in the micro range and non-spherical in shape, has been gaining interest in recent years. It is important to investigate the deposition fraction of particles in the nasal cavity since these particles can be easily removed via nasal wash. Remaining particles are transported to the upper and lower airways as well as the alveoli of the deep lung. Most force and torque models for non-spherical particles are only valid for limited flow conditions. However, the flow field in the nasal cavity is rather complex and it is necessary to establish an accurate numerical model for tracking the motion of non-spherical particles moving in the nasal cavity in connection with experimental validation. Moreover, many people have the problem of a deviated nasal septum and it is necessary to understand its influence on the pressure drop and the deposition fraction of particles.
Third-party funding application: Sino-German Center for Research Promotion (SGC), cooperation groups
Chair of Energy Process Engineering
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Materials Science (General Material Properties)
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Materials Science (Glass and Ceramics)
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Multimedia Communications and Signal Processing
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Computer Science 3 (Computer Architecture)
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Computer Science 4 (Distributed Systems and Operating Systems)
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Particle Technology
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Electronic Components
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Manufacturing and characterising heterostructures from 2D materials
Research into new materials plays a key role in the development of electronic components. Special attention is currently being paid in science to so-called 2D materials, which have significant differences from bulk materials in terms of their electrical, optical, and mechanical properties. The planned research project involves using various techniques for manufacturing heterostructures from 2D materials. During the further course of the project, hybrid stacks comprising 2D materials with varying properties will be manufactured and their optical characteristics will be categorised. A special method developed during preliminary work is being used to determine the number of single layers in the 2D material. This enables non-destructive and flexible optical characterisation of the 2D materials over a large surface area.
Third-party funding application: DFG, research grants
Chair of Materials Science (Glass and Ceramics)
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Computer Science 12 (Hardware/Software Co-Design)
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Materials Science (Glass and Ceramics)
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Materials Science (Corrosion and Surface Technology)
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Electronics Engineering
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Balancing the demands of medical engineering and ethics when gathering and using sensor data in wearable and implantable systems for monitoring chronic medical conditions
An increasing number of patients with chronic medical conditions are being fitted with sensors in or on the body to monitor their health and to detect any deterioration in their condition at an early stage. Which data can be collected technically using these systems is initially a medical engineering issue. However, the increasing popularity of mobile data collection in our everyday lives and the use of this data by various parties makes it clear that collecting medical data in this way is also an ethical issue in terms of data sovereignty. This project therefore aims to investigate how recommendations for the design of implantable or wearable medical sensor systems can be drawn up that allow diagnostic, technical and ethical requirements to be met in equal measure. On the one hand, this involves drawing up specific recommendations for medical engineers, and on the other, discussing how to weigh up the requirements involved.
Third-party funding application: DFG, research grants
Advanced Optical Technologies – Thermophysical Properties
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Multiscale Simulation of Particulate Systems
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Materials Science (Materials in Electronics and Energy Technology)
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chaor of Multiscale Simulation of Particulate Systems
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Thermal Process Technology
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Multiscale Simulation of Particulate Systems
Start of ETI funding: 2017
Chair of Materials Science (Biomaterials)
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Mechanism and Modeling of the static and dynamic electrical conductivity of ternary composites based on thermoplastic elastomer
In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in strain sensors, due to their wide applications in wearable electronics and movement detection. However, most studies in this field have only focused on the fancy processing methodology and the application of the results, few researchers have been able to draw on any systematic research into the mechanism or the modelling of the CPCs during stretching. The aim of this project is to shine new light on these debates through a comprehensive investigation on ternary composites comprising of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), CB and CNTs. Overall, the main purpose of this project is to develop an understanding of the mechanism and to propose advanced models for electrical conductivity of ternary composites based on the thermoplastic elastomer. The findings from this work are believed to provide general guidance for the design and analysis of CPCs for strain sensor applications in the future.
Chair of Computer Science 3 (Computer Architecture)
Start of ETI funding: 2018
Chair of Computer Science 3 (Computer Architecture)
Start of ETI funding: 2020
CHROME: Computing witH Resistive-switching memories to Overcome MEmory wall
The movement of data between processing and memory units in present day computing systems is their main performance and energy-efficiency bottleneck, often referred to as the ‘von Neumann bottleneck’ or ‘memory wall’. As technology scales down, it is evident that ‘data movement energy’ dominates the ‘computation energy’ i.e the computation in itself consumes only a small fraction of the energy. There has been an ongoing effort to combat the memory wall by bringing the processor and memory unit closer to each other. The emergence of Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) technologies like Resistive RAM (RRAM), Phase Change Memory (PCM) and Spin Transfer Torque-Magnetic RAM (STT-MRAM) has created opportunities to overcome the memory wall by enabling one to compute not just near data, but at the residence of data. The focus of this project is to investigate ways to implement arithmetic operations (e.g adders) in memory arrays so that the memory wall can be overcome.
Chair of Materials Science (Glass and Ceramics)
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Chair of Surface Science and Corrosion
Start of ETI funding: 2019
Erlangen Center for Interface Research and Catalysis (ECRC)
Start of ETI funding: 2020
Insights into interface structures and interface reactions with solid-state NMR spectroscopy
Solid-state NMR spectroscopy allows for the characterization of materials with atomic detail. In this project, new porous materials for the separation of nanoparticles will be investigated, in order to obtain a detailed picture about the pore system and the interactions with nanoparticles. Thus the separation process will be better understood, which is crucial for its further optimization. Furthermore, SILP materials will be investigated, a new, promising class of porous materials, in which a thin film of an ionic liquid with a dissolved catalyst covers the pore walls. The catalyst in SILP materials is very stable, and products can be easily separated. Using NMR spectroscopy, the structure of the ionic liquid and the catalyst will be assessed. A new setup for solid-state NMR experiments under gas flow and at elevated temperatures will be implemented, which will allow for real-time insights into catalytic reactions.
Chair of Chemical Engineering I (Reaction Engineering)
Start of ETI funding: 2020
In situ investigation of synergy effects of nitrides as carriers for catalytically active nanoparticles on the basis of transition metals
Chair of Materials Science (Biomaterials)
Start of ETI funding: 2018