Goethe in progress 2022 – Interaction
We and the world
When Frankfurt citizens founded the university in 1914, they created a place where research could be freely and independently conducted. Until today, Goethe University Frankfurt considers itself to be a citizens' university: it engages in dialog with civil society, politics and business, and responds to impulses from society. The work of our researchers contributes to understanding problems and developing a humane vision of the future.
It is in this spirit that the university in 2022 set up a Sustainability Office to support ongoing sustainability projects, encourage new initiatives and develop an overarching sustainability strategy. Beyond that, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, a number of students and researchers who fled the country have received a variety of different types of support. This year, too, Goethe University Frankfurt has continued to build bridges between business and innovative science. Finally, the university developed a new concept for endowed professorships, which will enable the long-term financing of professorships endowed by private individuals.
Becoming more sustainable
Goethe University Frankfurt is on its way to becoming a sustainable university, with the Sustainability Office founded in 2022 acting as the central coordinating body.
Helping instead of looking on
Goethe University Frankfurt has responded to the war in Ukraine by providing short-term assistance to students and researchers, including by means of scientific cooperation and the centrally established Goethe-Ukraine Fund.
Creating innovations
In 2022, the “RNA-DRUGS” team received a second round of funding from the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND), which connects people with outstanding ideas, expertise and passion from science and industry.
Long-term endowed professorships
Goethe University Frankfurt is increasingly relying on alternative financing for endowed professorships: with the “Endowed Chair” model, private donors do not invest directly in a professorship, but in an endowment fund.
A platform for expert knowledge on Islam
The Academy for Islam in Research and Society (AIWG) takes up questions that emerge in the lives of Muslims in Germany and brings them into exchange with research. The academy will now be funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research until 2027.
Enriching research transfer
The Institute for Economics, Labour and Culture (IWAK) has been conducting research and providing advice on the labor market, professional qualification and regional development for years. In January 2022, it became part of the Research Transfer Department.
(Photo: Lilly Gothe)
Becoming more sustainable – turning knowledge into action
Goethe University Frankfurt is well on its way to becoming a sustainable university. In 2022, the Sustainability Office became the central coordinating body, supporting this change in its social, ecological and ethical dimensions, encouraging new initiatives, and developing a sustainability strategy for the entire university. What has the newly established team achieved and planned in its first few months?
One person who has been active on campus for years in the field of sustainability is Robert Anton, head of the Science Garden. The landscape gardener and passionate campaigner for deadwood, swifts and other flora and fauna is committed to a green, sustainably designed campus where there is also a place for the blue-winged grasshopper.
(Photo: Lilly Gothe)
- Sustainability
Impulses for Sustainability
Goethe University Frankfurt set up its own sustainability office in summer 2022, which will coordinate existing university initiatives, promote greater sustainability and initiate new projects. The five employees see themselves as a driving force behind this shift.
What makes a university sustainable? To answer that question, take a few examples from everyday university life, starting with the way to work: Is the campus well connected to the public transportation system, are there parking fees, do shower rooms exist for cyclists? In terms of office organization, questions of procurement and recycling play a role, amongst others: How much and what kind of paper is used, what happens to discarded technical equipment? In teaching, the question of how students can be prepared for a complex and ever faster changing world is becoming increasingly important. Are they capable of seeing sustainability issues in their context and relating them to their studies? And last but not least: How do scientists reflect on their research priorities in terms of sustainability? As a cross-cutting issue, sustainability affects all areas of the university.
Becoming a sustainable university is one of eleven strategic action areas defined by Goethe University’s Executive Board for the coming years. “Contemporary society,” says University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff, “faces far-reaching ecological, social and economic challenges on a daily basis. As research institutions, places of education and training, as well as social actors, universities have a special responsibility to not only provide decisive impetus for the future viability of societies, they should also lead by example.”
Why Goethe University Frankfurt has its own Sustainability Office
Becoming more sustainable – turning knowledge into action
The Sustainability Office seeks to combine Goethe University Frankfurt’s wide-ranging sustainability-related tasks in one central body. With a team of five employees and the support of student assistants, it connects the university’s management, its lecturers and employees from science, technology and administration, as well as its students and external partners. The office advises the Executive Board on sustainability-related issues and on holistic organizational development: adopting a “Whole Institution Approach”, the fields of governance, operations, research, teaching and transfer – in the sense of interaction with society – are gradually aligned with the principles of sustainability, with the ultimate aim of making the entire university sustainable.
The team is able to build on the preparatory work of colleagues in real estate management, the “Goethe's Green Office” student initiative and the Sustainability Working Group set up by the university’s Senate, which has connected experts at Goethe University with existing projects, enabling the exchange of ideas.
Developing an overall sustainability strategy
To become a sustainable organization requires a sustainability strategy that should be regularly updated and adjusted. To this end, the team will also develop a KPI-system that makes sustainability aspects within the university both visible and measurable. Already existing projects will be integrated into this overall concept. So far, the team at the Sustainability Office has already been involved in “Sustainability Studies”, which bundles courses on sustainability from all faculties, thereby allowing students to acquire a broad spectrum of specialist knowledge. In this connection, the team is also working on the option for students to acquire a “Sustainability” certificate as an accompanying qualification to their studies.
The topic of sustainability in teaching and studies will also be incorporated into the “Teaching Mission Statement”, which is to be developed in the coming year. To promote the integration of sustainability in teaching, there are plans to provide additional training measures for teachers. Education for sustainable development is a topic that is also being explored by the sustainability team in the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) network and the overall Hessian university environment.
The plan is to reduce the CO2 emissions generated by campus operations by a total of 10% by 2025
During the acute energy crisis in the winter of 2022, the sustainability team began developing short-term energy-saving measures: The university participated in the “Turn it down” campaign, a project designed to reduce its long-term energy consumption. Campus Operations plans to reduce CO2 emissions by a total of 10% by 2025. The Sustainability Office was also able to provide initial impetus in research: it advised the four clusters of excellence on integrating sustainability aspects into their draft proposals.
Biodiversity Frankfurt Ideas Competition
The “Ideenwettbewerb Biodiversität Frankfurt” contest of ideas for biodiversity in Frankfurt, which was launched by the employees of the Sustainability Office, had an impact beyond the university and into the city. Goethe University’s partners in implementing the competition were Palmengarten botanical gardens, Senckenberg – Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research, and the City of Frankfurt's Department for Climate, Environment and Women, with Frankfurter Sparkasse acting as sponsor. The aim of the contest was to find feasible project ideas to preserve and promote urban biodiversity in Frankfurt in an exemplary, creative and effective way, while keeping the common good of urban society in mind. In November, the jury selected ten ideas for the shortlist. These include concepts such as a tiny forest in the middle of the city, Frankfurt's first permaculture island on a roof, and deadwood for a vibrant Frankfurt. In March 2023, three ideas will be honored (1st prize: €15,000, 2nd prize: €10,000 and 3rd prize: €5,000) at the final award ceremony.
All projects and the winners of the ideas competition will be presented on the project website.
The sustainability team also represents Goethe University Frankfurt as one of 24 pilot universities in the “University Sustainability Indicator Monitoring System” (UNISIMS) project, led by TU Dresden, which is developing a catalog of indicators that can be used to systematically evaluate sustainability. This will enable future sustainability-related reforms to be measured in all areas of university activity. The indicators will also be incorporated into Goethe University's sustainability strategy.
One thing the team of the new Sustainability Office is always keen to stress is that the university relies on the active participation of all its members to become a sustainable organization. This is one of the reasons why the office issued a university-wide invitation to a kick-off event held at the end of November. The panel discussion centered on the question: “How do we shape change together?” From now on, regular workshops will be held on various issues. The core team for mobility, for example, has expressed interest in conducting a mobility survey among students and employees.
Lilly Gothe, Sustainability Office, Goethe University Frankfurt
How to get in touch with the Sustainability Office:
Nachhaltigkeitsbüro der Goethe-Universität
Nachhaltigkeit an der Goethe-Universität
Developing Goethe University Frankfurt into a sustainably operating university¹
| Energie- und Wasserverbrauch der Goethe-Universität² | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022³ | Δ% VJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Energy and water consumption² by managed property, net floor area |
|||||
|
Electricity (in kWh/m2)
|
133,8
|
125,5 |
127,5 |
126,1 |
-1,1 |
|
Cooling/heating energy (in kWh/m²) |
127,4 |
124,2 |
140,6 |
119,3 |
-15,1 |
|
Total energy consumption for electricity, heating and cooling |
261,21 |
249,64 |
268,07 |
245,36 |
-0,1 |
|
Water consumption by managed property, net floor area (in m³/m²) |
0,54 |
0,45 |
0,39 |
0,55 |
39,2 |
|
Greenhouse gas emissions according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol 1-2⁴ |
|||||
|
from electricity and heating consumption as well as the fuel consumption of fleet vehicles (in t CO₂) |
16.388 |
15.613 |
17.369 |
15.826 |
-8,9 |
¹ Goethe University is on its way to becoming a sustainable university. The data presented here will be successively expanded to include further sustainability KPIs, provided that they can be reliably verified.
² The data on energy consumption is based on Goethe University’s previous energy report. It excludes the supply of third parties (e.g. MPI and mobile phone systems, etc.) but includes the consumption of the Studierendenwerk student union. Since the 2022 energy report has not yet been published, the data should be considered preliminary.
³ The 2022 consumption and emissions data is preliminary. Minimal deviations are expected.
⁴ The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is a widely used standardized procedure to account for greenhouse gas emissions in the private and public sectors. The emissions standard divides between three types of scopes (Scopes 1-3). Scope 1 includes all direct emissions of a company/institution (e.g. emissions from its own vehicle fleet), whereas Scope 2 includes all indirect emissions from purchased energy (e.g. electricity, heating/cooling). Scope 3 also includes indirect emissions from upstream and downstream processes (e.g. procurement), which have not yet been mapped at Goethe University Frankfurt.
(Photo: Robert Anton)
- Sustainability
Giving something back to nature
Landscape architect Robert Anton has been responsible for the flora and fauna on Goethe University Frankfurt’s grounds for the past eleven years. Over time, his thinking has become more and more ecological. A conversation about sustainability on campus.
Goethe in Progress: Anyone talking to you quickly gets the impression that sustainability can be a cause of joy. You have what seems to be an endless amount of ideas...
So, nature conservation didn’t always feature in the training for landscape architects?
How are the topics of climate change and loss of biodiversity reflected on campus? Has your work evolved over the years?
My main inspiration for thinking more sustainably has been the “Science Garden” with its many natural areas and meadows. On Riedberg Campus, Professor Paul Dierkes has created a school garden that is a true nature garden. Dierkes has been researching biodiversity ever since this garden was first created. Today, 939 different species of animals and plants inhabit an area of nearly 2,000 square meters. Many of them are on Germany’s red lists of endangered species, and yet we suddenly see these animals appear and thrive in the habitat. So, it’s important that we don’t work against, but instead cultivate in a manner that works with nature. That’s why I think it’s good that the the “GemüseheldInnen” vegetable growers will get a patch on campus, and that permaculture gardeners will also receive one. There is, after all, plenty of space.
(Photo: Robert Anton)
Do you also benefit from scientific findings?
One way scientists could help landscape gardeners would be to offer us tips so we plant trees that are more closely genetically related to our local flora and therefore also benefit local wildlife. The Chinese tree of heaven, for instance, grows very well here, but it’s absolutely useless to our fauna. Mediterranean oaks, on the other hand, are very similar to our oak trees; it’s almost impossible to tell some of them apart. Professor Wolfgang Brüggemann has been researching topics like these for at least 25 years. Of course, I also rely on research results when creating the “forest of the future” in the Science Garden. I planted four chestnut-leaved oaks, for instance, in front of the PA Building [housing the Executive Board’s offices] on Westend Campus. They’re great at resisting the heat reflected from the building in the afternoons.
You’re very active in greening roofs on campus. When it comes to facade greening...
As for facade greening – what can I say? There are some things architects tend not to want, including having their buildings greened. While I can understand that, I do wish we could in future also green buildings and that architects would adjust their way of thinking. After all, plants not only prevent buildings from heating up, they also provide habitats for birds and insects. There also exists special window glass with films that birds can see, which stops them striking the windows, as frequently happens in the Biology Building on Riedberg Campus. A very simple and effective measure would be to plan openings at the top of curtain facades; this could provide a large number of potential nesting sites for wall breeders like swifts, swallows and bats. Another example is the site where I planted the chestnut-leaved oaks. We used to have bird cherries there, which grow in moist alluvial woodlands...
...that never existed here...
Robert Anton is a landscape gardener and technical manager of Goethe University’s Science Garden and outdoor facilities.
(Photo: Uwe Dettmar)
What projects are you particularly proud of?
The architects would probably protest now...
Besides sustainability, beauty is also a criterion for you, is it not?
To you, the university’s campuses are one big garden?
Do you regularly walk across the campuses peering into all the corners?
What about the blue-winged grasshopper?
Do you have any ideas or favorite projects that you still want to realize?
(Photo: Robert Anton)
All the same, the university is not an isolated island in the midst of Frankfurt. Are you also in touch with the city? Do you have joint initiatives?
So, we have you to thank for the environmental benefit of getting double the number of new trees?
Is there more widespread acceptance today for such overgrown meadows?
What might that look like?
Questions: Lilly Gothe and Katharina Forster
From the Sustainability Office as well as Pia Barth.
In the latest issue of “UniReport”, University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff welcomed all students to the summer semester – in Ukrainian (Photo: Pia Barth)
Helping instead of looking on
Goethe University Frankfurt has responded to the war in Ukraine by providing short-term assistance to students and researchers, including by means of scientific cooperation and the centrally established Goethe-Ukraine Fund.
Goethe University Frankfurt has responded to the war in Ukraine by providing short-term assistance to students and researchers – including by means of scientific cooperation and the centrally established Goethe-Ukraine Fund. From the very beginning, the worries that Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine triggered in Europe were also palpable at Goethe University, including in the form of very personal fates. Ukrainian students enrolled in Frankfurt suddenly had to fear being drafted. The sudden hardship befalling their families back home led to a halt in remittances for their studies. As a result of the embargo, Russian and Belarusian students were also cut off from remittances from their families. Beyond that, numerous new Ukrainian students fled to Germany to escape the war. At the same time, researchers learned of colleagues in Ukraine who suddenly had to fear for their lives.
Counselling centers at Goethe University Frankfurt, the Studierendenwerk student union and the university parishes reacted quickly, doing their utmost to alleviate concerns and provide emotional support. The university very quickly decided to provide proactive assistance – centrally by setting up a Goethe-Ukraine fund, as well as by means of individual initiatives, including scientific cooperation.
Ukraine Aid: An interim report at the end of 2022
Support from the municipality and the university communities
Andreas Eckel, Head of Goethe University’s Private University Funding Office
“Finding a good way for us as Goethe University Frankfurt to effectively help people from Ukraine and others affected by the war did not happen overnight: In the first few weeks especially, a series of political decisions kept changing the scope of action. It was important for us to have a clear framework in place before approaching our sponsors. Once the objective for the Goethe-Ukraine Fund was established, everything happened very quickly, also since in calling for donations, we were able to benefit from the structures previously set up for the Goethe-Corona Fund. We raised the respectable sum of a quarter of a million euros for Ukraine aid – a remarkable feat, especially considering that it was always clear to us that humanitarian aid naturally had a higher priority at first. I am always amazed by the willingness of Frankfurt’s citizenry, as well as the university community, to support such activities – all told, almost 20 percent of donations came from Goethe University employees. The Jones Day Foundation, for example, acted quickly and donated both Deutschlandstipendien and other perspective scholarships for Ukrainian students. Darmstadt-based science and technology group Merck also provided immediate and uncomplicated assistance: when the virtual final high school exams for Ukrainian students were held at Goethe University Frankfurt – we were one of six locations in Germany where this service was offered –, this was only possible thanks to Merck’s financial support. And these are just a few examples.”
Support for international students in need and the Academic Welcome Program
Sybille Blöcker, Careers, Scholarships and Awards, and Dr. Susanne Jauernig, Academic Success and Integration, both work at Goethe University Frankfurt’s Global Affairs Study and Teaching Division
“When the war broke out on February 24, it was completely unclear how this would impact the students here. There was a strong desire at Goethe University Frankfurt to do something; and not just stand by and look on as the war against Ukraine threatened people's livelihoods, including in Frankfurt. Once the framework conditions were established, it took us just a short time to put together the concept for a scholarship program financed by the Goethe-Ukraine Fund, with which we now primarily support affected students who have been at Goethe University for some time and would like to finish their studies here. The scholarship provides them with €400 per month for one semester. The first 20 scholarship holders received their first monthly stipend on October 15.
The students who applied for the scholarship have, in a sense, become ex post facto refugees or have found themselves in a difficult situation due to the war, for example as a result of being cut off from cash flows from their home country. Since this is also true for Russian and Belarusian students, they were able to apply for the program as well. Given that the program is a scholarship and no emergency aid, certain requirements like a good record during the standard period of study must be met. It should be noted here that international students must prove to the immigration authorities that they have about €10,000 in a blocked account; otherwise, their residence status will be forfeited. This regulation has meanwhile been suspended for Ukrainian students for two years, who can now also receive social benefits in Germany. However, if they change their residence status, they must also be available to the labor market – and may then not be able to complete their studies.
The accounts provided by the scholarship applicants often touched us deeply. Their personal fates make it tangible what is at stake. The students write about fathers who were called to the front; about families torn apart by flight. Unfortunately, we cannot support all applicants, which is why we also refer students who contact us to other places where they can also apply for financial support. At the same time, it is very impressive to see how committed our students are: they translate, some have started their own projects. And they have given us moving feedback, more than once did we read comments like, “Thank you Goethe University Frankfurt for making this help possible – if someone else needs the support more than I do, that's okay.”
Julia Jochim, Academic Welcome Program, Global Affairs Study and Teaching
“Since late April and especially in May, a total of 49 Ukrainian refugees have been accepted into the German courses held at Goethe University Frankfurt’s International Study Center. In October, they were joined by another 34 Ukrainian refugees. For the upcoming winter semester, we received about 150 applications from Ukrainian refugees. The Academic Welcome Program for highly qualified refugees set up additional German courses at A1 and A2 level for this target group. Thanks to DAAD’s Integra program for refugees, these will be free of charge until the end of 2023. At the start of the winter semester, the refugees will receive welcome packages to help with travel costs and German learning materials – something made possible by the Goethe-Ukraine Fund, with plans for further aid.”
Conducting joint research – safely
Prof. Dr. Birgit Emich, Institute of History, Faculty of Philosophy and History
“Ukraine is a highly interesting country for our research into the diversity of pre-modern Christianity. Following the occupation of Crimea, I visited Odessa for the first time in 2015 and have since been fascinated by the country and its history. When our DFG Center for Advanced Studies ‘Polycentricity and Plurality in Pre-Modern Christendom’, also known as the POLY program, was approved, the idea quickly arose to create a Ukraine focus. In fact, we had planned to take a study trip to Ukraine this winter semester – which for obvious reasons is no longer possible. That’s how we came up with the idea of offering research grants to enable our Ukrainian colleagues to come to Frankfurt. Our contact with a colleague from LMU Munich, Iryna Klymenko, with whom we have been in touch for quite some time and who has an excellent knowledge of the research landscape in Ukraine, proved extremely helpful in this context. And sure enough, we received many relevant applications from scholars who are working on topics that are also of interest to us. To date, three female scholars have come to Frankfurt, and we also awarded three additional fellowships to male colleagues who have not yet been able to travel here. That situation has changed, and we will hopefully be able to welcome the first two to Frankfurt in the next few days. To extend the fellowships, we applied to the Gerda Henkel Foundation for interim funding – which worked out brilliantly. We have since received additional German Research Foundation funding for five fellows, enabling us to finance their two-year stay and research in Frankfurt. We gained our first impression into what the women must have experienced when they suddenly turned up in Frankfurt in March with their children and a small suitcase.”
Read more about Ukrainian historian and fellowship recipient Svitlana Potapenko here.
Interim report of the Goethe-Ukraine Fund
The Goethe-Ukraine Fund was a temporary relief fund introduced by Goethe University Frankfurt after the outbreak of war in April 2022 and endowed with funds based on donations from existing sponsors, employees and alumni. The money made it possible to implement projects both quickly and unbureaucratically, thereby mitigating the consequences of the war. One example is a perspective scholarship for students from the countries affected by the war. Thanks to the funds, the Academic Welcome Program was also able to offer additional language courses at an academic level. In the summer of 2022, high school graduates from Ukraine were able to take their A-level exams at Goethe University, while the psychotherapeutic counseling center offered initial counseling for Ukrainian refugees. Additional projects followed in 2023, including the Summer School for Ukrainian medical students or the project “Start ins Deutsche” [Start into German], in which Goethe University students voluntarily provide German lessons to refugees. By the time the project ended in January 2024, the Goethe-Ukraine Fund had raised a total of €403,346 in donations from around 200 sponsors.
Creating innovations
Creating innovations from Germany: That is the goal of the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND), which connects people with outstanding ideas, expertise and passion from science and industry who share that goal. In 2022, SPRIND issued a second round of funding, worth €1.4 million, to the “RNA-DRUGS” team to develop antiviral agents that target the genetic material structure of COVID-19.
One possible Achilles' heel of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is the three-dimensional structure of its RNA genome. In addition to containing the blueprints for the virus proteins, this RNA also coordinates the virus lifecycle and thus ultimately the maturation of new virus particles in the human host cell. The COVID-19 NMR Consortium led by Prof. Harald Schwalbe of Goethe University Frankfurt had already discovered what these three-dimensional control structures look like. In addition to Goethe University, this international research network for the structural elucidation of SARS-CoV-2 proteins and RNA also includes Philipps University Marburg and LMU Munich as well as industrial partners.
The RNA-DRUGS team is using these findings to identify inhibitors with a low molecular weight, which are capable of stopping SARS-CoV-2 replication by binding to the viral RNA. In 2021, the scientists – who are financially backed by SPRIND – developed a multi-stage test system for this purpose. This system not only screens substance libraries, it also determines binding parameters, and investigates the substances’ efficacy and tolerability in cell culture experiments. In so doing, the RNA-DRUGS team was able to identify several molecular candidates with a good efficacy profile that could be considered as candidates for preclinical studies.
Project leader Prof. Schwalbe explains: “Having developed a good understanding of how the inhibitors bind to the viral RNA, we will soon be able to optimize the most promising of our candidates. At the same time, we continue to work on our test system, which will also be important in the future if we want to develop anti-RNA agents against variants of SARS-CoV-2 or against other RNA viruses. The three-dimensional RNA structures we are targeting are quite similar across different RNA viruses and rarely affected by mutations, making them a promising target for antiviral drug development.”
SPRIND is a German government subsidiary tasked with identifying, developing, financing and scaling breakthrough innovations. A total of 45 project teams applied to the call for proposals “Challenge: A Quantum Leap for New Antivirals.” Having been selected by an international jury of experts, nine of them will receive funding for the first year. The projects are scheduled to run for three years but are evaluated annually. In the second year, only six project teams will receive funding, whereas a maximum of four project teams will remain in the third year, when they will have to deliver a proof of concept in a relevant biological model.
Project partners of the “RNA-DRUGS” SPRIND project:
Goethe University Frankfurt
Prof. Dr. Sandra Ciesek, Institute of Medical Virology, Frankfurt University Hospital
Prof. Dr. Michael Göbel, Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Dr. Andreas Schlundt, Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Prof. Dr. Harald Schwalbe, Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology (Project lead)
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich)
Prof. Dr. Franz Bracher, Department of Pharmacy
Prof. Dr. Daniel Merk, Department of Pharmacy
Philipps-Universität Marburg
Prof. Dr. Julia Weigand, Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
INNOVECTIS, Frankfurt
Dr. Martin Raditsch, CEO
Saverna Therapeutics,Basel
Dr. Marcel Blommers, Chief Scientific Officer
Specs, Zoetermeer
Peter Maas, (B.AS)
Large devices for research on the smallest molecules: Dr. Martin Hengesbach (left) and Dr. Andreas Schlundt have used an NMR spectrometer at Goethe University Frankfurt to determine the protein structures of SARS-CoV-2 proteins, among others (Photo: Uwe Dettmar/Goethe University Frankfurt)
- Sprunginnovation
Of assembly line research and lone wolves
Chemist Harald Schwalbe led an international consortium researching SARS-CoV-2. Despite its good results, it was dissolved at the end of 2022 – so that substance candidates can become active ingredients.
Goethe in Progress: Prof. Schwalbe, during the March 2022 countrywide coronavirus lockdown in Germany, you launched a major research project on SARS-CoV-2 and set up the COVID-19 NMR Consortium. The researchers, who today number around 240 and hail from 18 different countries, wanted to use nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) to elucidate the structures of the virus and thus determine how atoms and molecules are arranged in its proteins and RNA genome. Why is this knowledge so important?
As soon as the pandemic hit, researchers worldwide started working intensively on SARS-CoV-2. However, their desire for rapid successes in drug development led most of them to focus on important proteins such as the spike protein or an enzyme called main protease, which is central to the maturation of virus particles in the cell and against which the drug Paxlovir was successfully developed. Why did you want to examine all RNAs and all proteins at once in the consortium?
We wanted to promote exchange between users, faculties, administration and the other units involved in digitalization
Has the COVID-19-NMR consortium achieved its goals?
Prof. Dr. Harald Schwalbe, Goethe University Frankfurt
(Photo: Jürgen Lecher)
When you started in 2020, tough contact restrictions were still in place. How can you conduct research under such circumstances?
Although it was very successful, the consortium has now been disbanded. Why?
There exist major societal challenges, where we as scientists have to be able to campaign for our cause, so to speak
So, we actually need small groups and “scientific lone wolves” just as much as publishing consortia in open source?
We are grateful for having had the ability to experience within the NRM consortium a previously unknown international sense of solidarity among the scientific community in the context of the corona crisis
What will happen next?
Questions: Markus Bernards
Kurz & bündig: Innovationspreis
For the first time, the Unibator Innovation Prize will be awarded to scientific projects with startup potential. At the award ceremony organized by Innovectis – the university's technology transfer company – the three winning teams receive prize money of €2,500, €1,250 and €750 respectively as well as the right to participate at the Goethe Startup School.
Unibator-Innovationspreis an drei wissenschaftliche Projekte vergeben
Top 10 startup university
Goethe University Frankfurt makes it into the top 10 startup universities for the first time, taking 10th place together with Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
Endowed professorships cover new research priorities, including the cellular bases of memory formation. Neurologist Prof. Bernd Grünewald, head of the Honeybee Research Center, has been researching this topic since 2008 using honeybees as part of Polytechnische Gesellschaft Frankfurt’s endowed professorship (Photo: Damien Tupinier / unsplash).
Making endowed professorships more sustainable
Goethe University Frankfurt is increasingly relying on alternative financing for endowed professorships: under the “endowed chair” model, rather than investing directly in a professorship, private donors place their contributions into an endowment fund.
Since becoming a foundation university under public law in 2008 – thereby continuing its tradition as the first German foundation university – the number of endowed professorships at Goethe University Frankfurt has increased: in 2022, a total of 24 professorships were not financed by the state, but by private funds, i.e. companies, private individuals and foundations. This has enormous advantages for the university: it can quickly and flexibly promote a new research area like virology, accelerate a new appointment or offer prospects for talented early career researchers. The endowed professorships also ease the pressure on faculty budgets – and often cover urgently needed research fields. The spectrum of such professorships currently ranges from Business Law and Economics, in particular Monetary Economics, to Inclusion Research and Pharmaceutical Care Research, from Apiculture to Interdisciplinary Oncology and Predictive Psychiatry. These professorships have meanwhile become an integral part of the faculties, whose teaching and research profile would be unthinkable without them. Incidentally, the 2008 foundation university guidelines guarantee these endowed professorships’ freedom of research and teaching.
One common problem shared by endowed professorships is their temporary nature, usually lasting ten years, sometimes only five. That is usually when their funding ends, unless it is extended or the university is in a position to continue financing the position from its own budget. However, in the case of positions that are filled for more than six years, the university must ensure in advance that it will continue to finance the professorship.
The new Frankfurt model of “endowed chairs” outlines long-term possibilities for financing endowed professorships: Developed along American lines, rather than having foundations, companies or private individuals finance a professorship directly, the model envisages that their funds be paid into an endowment fund. Using the income from one or more such endowment funds could ensure permanent funding for the personnel costs of such a professorship. Andreas Eckel, Head of Goethe University’s Private University Funding Office, explains: “Our university president suggested we focus more on a concept that will enable research areas to be sustainably established and financed at the university.” Following an initial period, the endowed chair model also allows the university the option of deciding more freely on the professorship's research area, which in turn allows the endowed professorships’ research priorities to be adapted to current challenges as well as the university's research profile. “This long-term funding gives us the opportunity to break new scientific ground,” emphasizes Goethe University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff.
Three professorships were set up in 2022 using the “endowed chair” model: the new Gisela and Wilfried Eckhardt fund from the estate of Goethe University alumna Dr. Gisela Eckhardt, paved the way for the “Gisela and Wilfried Eckhardt Endowed Professorship in Experimental Physics”. The “Endowed Professorship for Sociology with a Focus on Digital Transformation and Labor” will be financed by the Digital Transformation and Labor fund, financed by the SustainableLife Foundation (formerly ProLife Foundation) and Frankfurt University of Labour. In addition, four foundations joined forces to create the new Lichtenberg Endowed Professorship: Volkswagen Foundation, Johanna Quandt University Foundation, Alfons und Gertrud Kassel-Stiftung as well as Dr. Rolf M. Schwiete Stiftung.
Following the model’s successful launch, the number of these endowed professorships is set to increase in the coming years.
(pb)
(Photo: Ayse Tasci / islamimbild)
A unique platform for experts on Islam
What issues of Islamic law arise in acute intensive care medical decision-making situations? And how can mosque communities operate more sustainably? The Academy for Islam in Research and Society (AIWG) at Goethe University Frankfurt is conducting research on these and other topics – and making its results available for social debates. In 2022, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) announced its decision to extend the Academy’s funding for the second time.
AIWG will receive €6.4 million from the BMBF between now and 2027 – a commitment the Academy views as confirmation of its mission to secure Islamic theological studies (ITS) in the science system and in transfer – and to continue to do so not only within Goethe University Frankfurt, but increasingly also nationwide and as part of international networks. AIWG considers itself to be a central hub for cross-university collaborative projects: “In future, we will also work on important scientific issues ourselves and transfer this knowledge to society in an even more targeted manner,” explains AIWG Director Prof. Bekim Agai. “We address issues that arise in the everyday lives of Muslims in Germany, with an impact on both Muslims and non-Muslims, and bring them to the scientific community’s attention.” University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff emphasizes: “AIWG has successfully established itself as a unique platform in Germany for research on and networking among experts on Islam. The extended funding is both a testimony to its success to date and an incentive to consistently pursue its strategic development goals.” As a central pillar of Islam-related expertise at Goethe University Frankfurt, AIWG is also expected to make important contributions to raising the profile of Islam-related research conducted at the university.
In 2022, the Academy put out the first issue of its new publication series “Practice Perspectives”, which deals with the topic of sustainability in mosque communities. In another issue, physician Dr. Assem Aweimer and Islamic theologian Prof. Serdar Kurnaz address Islamic legal issues in acute intensive care decision-making situations. Some of the questions in this context include: In Islam, must everything possible be done to keep a sick person alive? When may Muslim patients choose to forgo life-sustaining measures? Which treatment methods are permissible for Muslims from the perspective of Islamic law? In posing these types of questions, the issue lays the first foundation for an exchange between medical practice and research as well as Islamic theological studies in German-speaking countries. Also released in 2022 was a study on the “professional field of Islam”, jointly prepared by Goethe University Frankfurt with the universities of Giessen and Mainz, whose central question was: What profession do graduates of Islamic theological studies pursue after completing their studies? The key findings of the study, which was published in the academy's “WiFo paper” series, are that almost half the graduates are employed in social work or related fields, with another 40 percent working in educational professions. By contrast, hardly any of the study participants work full-time as imams.
During the first funding phase, AIWG initiated and financed more than 20 research projects nationwide, which were implemented by Muslim theologians from various sub-disciplines at different partner universities. Numerous practical projects on social issues and a mentoring program were also realized.
At the end of 2021, six researchers from Germany and abroad began their six-month research fellowship at AIWG. The AIWG research fellows work in Islamic theological studies or related disciplines.
(asa/pb)
Kurz & bündig: Meldungen
Sports University of the Year
Goethe University Frankfurt is University of the Year 2022: The university’s athletes have been honored by the German University Sports Federation (adh) for their innovative and exemplary health and sports program, prime among it the “Active Movement Break” project. The Center for University Sports focuses on the physical, mental and social well-being of the entire Goethe University community.
Hochschulsport der Goethe-Universität ausgezeichnet
Read an interview with Martin Miecke, head of the Center for University Sports, and his team here:
Reopened
To mark its reopening and technical renovation, Museum Giersch at Goethe University is showing a comprehensive retrospective of Frankfurt photographers Nini (1884-1943) and Carry Hess (1889-1957).
Nach Sanierung: Wiedereröffnung des MGGU mit Werken der Fotografinnen Nini und Carry Hess
Welcoming an Olympic champion
Deborah Levi, Olympic bobsleigh champion and student of primary school teaching at Goethe University Frankfurt, is welcomed by the Executive Board. She is the first Olympic gold medal winner to study at Goethe University.
Mit 150 Sachen durch den Eiskanal: Goldmedaillengewinnerin Deborah Levi im Interview
Psychological support for refugees
Goethe University in 2022 took on the leading role in a nationwide project to provide psychological support for refugees, offering psychotherapy places for those affected.
Kinder-Uni
Following a pandemic-related break, more than 7,000 schoolchildren took part in the 19th Children's University, held in the Audimax lecture hall from October 4-7. The program included lectures on topics such as “How to make peace. On the difficulty of reaching out to one another,” “Into the monastery! On writing, playing and brewing beer in St. Gallen,” “Why does a computer need electricity? On energy-efficient supercomputers” and “What happens when you vaccinate.”
19. Frankfurter Kinder-Uni: Von Krieg und Frieden und dem Stromhunger elektronischer Geräte
Citizens’ University
As part of its citizens’ university (Bürger-Universität) activities, Goethe University Frankfurt is holding numerous lectures, discussion groups, exhibitions, tours and university concerts during the semester. New formats for dialog with the urban community introduced in 2022 included walks on art and democracy, supplemented by “Campus wandeln” (guided campus walks), as well as walks and site visits on sustainability. zu Kunst und Demokratie, ergänzt durch „Campus wandeln“, Spaziergänge und Ortstermine zur Nachhaltigkeit.
U3L
The University of the Third Age is celebrating its 40th anniversary semester with a wide array of events to be held in the 2022/23 winter semester.
A place for deceleration
The interreligious “House of Silence” on Goethe University Frankfurt’s Westend Campus was inaugurated on October 5, 2010. Following a corona-related delay, the anniversary is celebrated during a festive event.
A unique place for deceleration: Goethe University’s “House of Silence”
International Partnership
The Canadian University of Saskatchewan has become a partner university of Goethe University Frankfurt: The commitment to sustainability, biodiversity and planetary health brought individual researchers from the University of Saskatchewan and Goethe University together years ago. In December 2022, the two universities entered into a comprehensive international partnership.
From Frankfurt to Saskatchewan: Joint research for the health of our planet
Launched: RMU-Italy Forum
The strategic alliance of Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) launched its newly founded RMU-Italy Forum in December 2022. The forum aims to network and raise the profile of Italy-related research at the respective universities. To this end, eight researchers from the Rhine-Main universities from the areas of humanities and social sciences have joined forces.
30 years of partnership
A large delegation from Paris visited Goethe University to mark the 30th anniversary of the partnership between the Université Paris Dauphine-PSL and the Faculty of Economics and Business. The partnership has resulted in two double-degree programs, allowing participants to study for a degree of both countries.
Dr. Christin Siegfried
business education specialist, is the first winner of Goethe University Frankfurt’s new “New Horizon – President's Award”, endowed with €5,000.
Wirtschaftspädagogin erhält ersten „New Horizons – Preis des Präsidenten“ der Goethe-Universität
(Photo: Dilok Klaisartaporn / Shutterstock)
Enriching Research Transfer
The Institute for Economics, Labour and Culture [Institut für Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Kultur, IWAK] has been researching and advising on topics like the labor market, professional qualifications and regional development for many years. In January 2022, it became part of the Research Transfer department in the Research Support division.
How can the digital connections between companies and vocational schools be improved? Is there a wage gap between women and men? How is unemployment developing in Hesse? For many years, IWAK conducted research on these topics and more as a center jointly run by the Faculties of Social Sciences as well as Geosciences and Geography. At the beginning of 2022, the institute, which was founded in the early 1990s by economist and sociologist Prof. Alfons Schmid, was integrated into the superordinate Research Support division and incorporated into the Research Transfer department. Commenting on the change, Goethe University Vice President Prof. Bernhard Brüne said: “The Executive Board has recognized that IWAK’s scientific research and consulting for the relevant ministries in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and at the federal level delivers an important contribution to Goethe University’s transfer of knowledge and research to politics and the public sphere.”
Dr. Sabine Monz, head of the Research Transfer department, expects the new location will “lead to synergies and fruitful cooperation, particularly with the Mercator Science Policy Program.” Monz is confident “that the close proximity to colleagues working in the area of funding support will also help stabilize and expand the activities of IWAK, which is primarily financed by third-party funds.”
During the coronavirus pandemic, IWAK's consulting services and research findings were in high demand, and its data provided the basis for timely political decisions. While the pandemic brought advances in digitalization and mobile working that significantly changed the way people work, at the same time it also threatened the very existence of companies in sectors such as gastronomy, tourism, or the trade fair industry, which is so important for the Rhine-Main region. New business models and new forms of employee and customer retention are needed, tested, established or rejected. IWAK is capable not only of assessing new situations almost in real time, but also informing the relevant decisionmakers in politics and associations – thanks in large part to its extensive network comprised of economic development agencies, employers' associations and trade unions. The institute also is in touch with other labor market organizations and labor market researchers.
In addition to policy advice, IWAK promotes discourse on current developments between labor market actors – with a wide range of virtual formats providing the relevant framework, including the monthly “IWAK-Lunchtalk”. In 2021 alone, the institute’s virtual formats reached around 10,000 labor market actors from the relevant sectors.
How does demographic change affect labor markets, employment, and qualification? IWAK’s forecasts show that the age-related retirement of the so-called baby boomers is increasingly becoming the main driver of labor market and economic development. IWAK documents these effects at the regional level and accompanies strategy processes in many Hessian regions, including by making use of the international research results from the “European Network on Regional Labor Market Monitoring,” a network of labor market researchers that IWAK has managed for many years.
One of IWAK's specialties is the healthcare labor market: the institute monitors developments in the nursing and healthcare professions in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, prepares scientific studies and formulates recommendations for action. The data generated by the labor market monitoring systems in these two federal states are used by the respective ministries to plan training places capacities and develop strategies for securing skilled workers. In none of Germany’s other federal states is the labor market situation for nursing and healthcare occupations displayed as transparently as in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate.
Since 2021, IWAK has also been providing scientific support to the Hessian health authorities in the debate on securing the necessary personnel. Information on topics such as digitalization, securing skilled workers, equal pay for women and men, unemployment and the modernization of education and training is available on IWAK’s homepage and in its newsletter. A direct interface to the university exists when it comes to the topic of university dropouts and the question of how these former students can be recruited by companies for dual training.
An expert council made up of representatives from the Hessian economy, which is based at the office of Vice President Prof. Bernhard Brüne, supports the institute’s work. Christa Larsen, long-standing IWAK managing director, is certain the council members are “looking forward to their new colleagues, new fields of work and new opportunities to work together.”
Christa Larsen and Oliver Lauxen
Want to learn more about the Institute for Economics, Labour and Culture (IWAK)? For further information, please visit the Institute’s homepage.