28.08.2025 Talents Over 10 million euros for interdisciplinary research ideas

The Carl Zeiss Foundation is funding interdisciplinary research ideas at the interface of various STEM disciplines with over 10 million euros. Seven postdocs can set up their first own research group with funding from the CZS Nexus program.

At the Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute e.V. (FLI) in Jena, Dr. Dennis de Bakker wants to uncover the causes of brain aging in vertebrates. His findings could help to delay and prevent neurodegenerative diseases in humans.

Dr. Boris Karanov conducts research in the field of digital signal processing in optical communication systems. At the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), he will develop new, high-performance and ultra-low-complexity algorithms for machine learning, demonstrate them experimentally and implement them in hardware.

Dr. Victor Ksoll will combine astrophysical simulation with machine learning techniques for the enormous amount of data provided by modern observatories. The aim is to develop efficient evaluation tools at Heidelberg University with a focus on the observation of star formation.

Chemist Dr. Tilmann J. Neubert will investigate the selective separation of carbon dioxide directly from the air at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. An electrochemical process will be used and the electrodes required for this will be made from renewable raw materials in the interests of a sustainable circular economy.

In his project, Dr. Frank Rhein from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is conducting research at the interface of engineering, natural sciences and cryptography. He wants to develop a new type of physical consensus mechanism to reduce the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

At the University of Stuttgart, Dr. Andrea Toulouse conducts research in the field of micro-optics and fibre-based 3D printing. Her vision is that 3D printers will one day be able to build biological tissue from scratch and on site.

Dr. Michael Gerlt develops microfluidic systems for cancer research at the University of Heidelberg. He is researching extracellular vesicles (EVs), which also offer new perspectives in so-called theranostics - the combination of therapy and diagnostics.

Further information on the projects can be found here.