January
+++ In the starting blocks +++
At the beginning of the year the university’s new president, Professor Enrico Schleiff, takes up office. His vision for Goethe University Frankfurt: to be an excellent, international university in the digital age. Schleiff, a molecular biologist, replaces economist Birgitta Wolff after six years in office.
+++ Film partners +++
The international collaborative project “Digital Cinema-Hub” (DiCi-Hub) brings together the RMU partners Frankfurt and Mainz with the University of Marburg. They are developing new conceptual principles and methods for film and media studies.
+++ Data storage +++
The HeFDI project – Hessian Research Data Infrastructures – within which eleven Hessian universities are working together, enters the second funding phase. At Goethe University Frankfurt, this means the start of an institutional storage system for research data (GUDe).
+++ Labour market East Asia +++
Together with partners, East Asian Studies researchers from the universities in Frankfurt are examining the competition for qualified specialists in East Asia. For this purpose, the junior research group is receiving over €2 million from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the “Small Disciplines” funding initiative.
+++ Epochs +++
Geoscientists led by Professor Jens Fiebig are exploring how conclusions can be drawn about the temperature of past epochs on Earth by analysing the carbonate composition of specific rocks. The Reinhart Koselleck project has been awarded funding of approx. €1 million.
+++ Prize for Young Researchers +++
Der mit 60 000 Euro dotierte Paul Ehrlich- und Ludwig Darmstaedter-Nachwuchspreis 2021 geht an die Entwicklungsbiologin Prof.in Elvira Mass von der Universität Bonn. Das Vermögen der Stiftung wird von der Vereinigung von Freunden und Förderern der Goethe-Universität treuhänderisch verwaltet.
+++ Optimised active ingredients +++
In cooperation with the universities of Darmstadt, Heidelberg, Oxford and Dundee, scientists at Goethe University Frankfurt have investigated how the structure of certain active ingredients can be optimised for a stronger pharmacological effect, using the example of kinase inhibitors.
+++ Focus on democracy +++
“Democratic Vistas. Reflections on the Atlantic World”: the new focus area at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften is exploring the potential and entanglements of democracy in the Atlantic World.
February
+++ Excellence Strategy +++
New cutting-edge research projects on trust in conflict, neutron stars and disease mechanisms: researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt are working on these topics in cooperation with other universities and scientific institutions. The cluster projects ENABLE, ELEMENTS and ConTrust are receiving funding of €20.7 million from the State of Hesse and the same amount from Goethe University Frankfurt and other partners involved and are supporting the university’s preparation for the next round of the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments. In addition, Goethe University Frankfurt is participating in two other cluster projects (“3AI”, TU Darmstadt, and “The Adaptive Mind”, University of Giessen).
+++ Clusters4Future +++
The PROXIDRUGS cluster coordinated by Goethe University Frankfurt is developing active substances that break down disease-relevant proteins in the body. The project has been successful in the federal government’s Clusters4Future competition and is receiving up to €15 million in funding.
+++ Elected +++
The extended Senate elects the new vice-presidents of Goethe University Frankfurt: the education scientist Professor Christiane Thompson, the physician Professor Bernard Brüne and the physicist Professor Michael Huth are voted in. They replace the previous vice-presidents Professor Manfred Schubert-Zsilavecz, Professor Roger Erb and Professor Rolf van Dick.
+++ Anniversary +++
The Master’s degree programme “Curatorial Studies – Theory – History – Criticism” celebrates its tenth anniversary. With its combination of academic research, curatorial practice and theoretical reflection in cooperation with Städelschule and five museums in Frankfurt, the degree programme is regarded as a new phenomenon in Germany’s university landscape.
+++ Against extremism +++
The MAPEX research project, in which Goethe University Frankfurt is participating together with three other universities, presents an interactive data collection in the area of Islamist extremism in Germany for preventive work in schools and youth welfare. It includes 1,533 projects and measures.
+++ Coronavirus know-how in a nutshell +++
In cooperation with the Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts, Goethe University Frankfurt invites headteachers, teaching staff and other interested parties to an online lecture series on issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.
+++ Five years of language discovery +++
The model project “Sprachentdecker”, led by educational scientists at Goethe University Frankfurt, shows how practising German in everyday life can be successful.
March
+++ Digitalised culture +++
Within the strategic alliance of the Rhine-Main Universities, the CEDITRAA research project at the universities of Frankfurt and Mainz is looking at the consequences of digitalisation for cultural production in Africa and Asia.
+++ Climate change +++
The volume of water in rivers worldwide has changed. An international research team with the participation of Goethe University Frankfurt is able to prove that climate change plays a crucial role.
+++ Black hole +++
55 million light years in view: astronomers from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration – among them researchers from Goethe University Frankfurt led by astrophysicist Professor Luciano Rezzolla – are making magnetic fields at the edge of the black hole M87* visible.
+++ Humanitarian aid +++
For the past year, the Psychotherapy Centre’s hotline has been offering help to people during the pandemic.
April
+++ Permaculture +++
For the new permaculture gardens on Westend Campus and Riedberg Campus, students have joined forces with the Goethe’s Green Office initiative, the Science Garden, the Students’ Union and the “PermaCultureIslands” working group of “Vegetable Heroes Frankfurt” and the Frankfurt Food Council.
+++ Media prize +++
The Goethe Media Prize for science and university policy journalism, initiated by Goethe University Frankfurt, goes to three outstanding teams of authors or individual authors.
+++ Honey in Africa +++
A 3,500 years old pot of honey: archaeologists at Goethe University Frankfurt, in collaboration with chemists at the University of Bristol, have produced the oldest direct evidence for the use of honey in Africa, using beeswax residues in prehistoric pottery from the West African Nok culture.
+++ Tree donations +++
On the occasion of the campaign day “One Million Trees”, nine donated apple trees are planted in the Science Garden. They replace the old trees in the orchard and should encourage more plant sponsorship.
May
+++ Coronavirus networks +++
Scientists at Goethe University Frankfurt have compiled guidance notes on numerous SARS-CoV-2 proteins in cooperation with 36 partner laboratories in 17 countries. The threads of the worldwide network come together at Goethe University Frankfurt under the auspices of Professor Harald Schwalbe.
+++ Saving without a bank +++
A project by the Frobenius Institute at Goethe University Frankfurt is looking at informal savings and insurance practices in the Ethiopian diaspora.
+++ Contact with bacteria +++
US microbiologists Bonnie Bassler and Michael Silverman are awarded the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize: their discovery of how bacteria communicate with each other has paved the way for a new class of antibiotics.
+++ University Council +++
The former Hessian State Minister for Science and the Arts, Dr Udo Corts, 66, is elected as the new chairperson of the University Council. He takes up office as successor to Professor Matthias Kleiner, President of the Leibniz Association.
+++ Diversity +++
Diversity Day on the topic of antidiscrimination takes place online.
+++ Intelligent sensors +++
The SENSORITHM Rhine-Main project coordinated by Goethe University Frankfurt is investigating how intelligent sensor technologies on wind turbines can be used to avoid collisions with birds and bats. It is funded within the “Clusters4Future” ideas competition.
+++ Collaborative research +++
The German Research Foundation awards the new CRC Transregio (TRR) 326 “Geometry and Arithmetic of Uniformised Structures” funding of €9.2 million. CRC 1039 on medical signalling pathways enters its third funding phase and receives €9.6 million. Also funded are two TRRs in which Goethe University Frankfurt is a partner: TRR 211 “Strong-Interaction Matter under Extreme Conditions” and TRR 301 “The Tropopause Region in a Changing Atmosphere”.
+++ Coronavirus inoculation +++
Ein Forschungsteam der Goethe-Universität um den Mikrobiologen Prof. Dr. Rolf Marschalek sowie der Universität Ulm erklärt eine mögliche Ursache für die selten auftretenden Sinusvenenthrombosen bei Vektorimpfstoffen. Die Nebenwirkung könnte demnach mit sogenannten Splicing- oder Spleiß-Prozessen im Zellkern zu tun haben.
+++ Innovative teaching +++
Goethe University Frankfurt is successful in the funding line “Strengthening Higher Education Teaching through Digitalisation” of the foundation “Innovation in Higher Education Teaching”. Funding amounts to €4.12 million.
+++ Two prizes +++
Die Auszeichnungen »Hochschullehrerin des Jahres« und »Studierende des Jahres« vom Deutschen Stifterverband und dem Deutschen Studentenwerk gehen beide an die Goethe-Universität: Die studentische Initiative TechAcademy erhält den Preis für Gratis-IT-Seminare für Studierende, die Virologin Prof. Sandra Ciesek für ihre exzellente Vermittlung von wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen in der Corona-Pandemie.
June
+++ Checked +++
A study by economists is awarded the “2020 Best Paper Award” by the “Journal of the Association for Information Systems”. The study describes machine learning models that test the credibility of the social profiles of brokers and investment consultants.
+++ Initial support +++
Unibator, the university’s start-up centre, has provided initial financial support, and the three new entrepreneurs are now a step closer to their goal: their start-up “WeProfit” helps companies looking for software developers.
+++ Unique +++
During a state visit, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s Federal President, presents Reuven Rivlin, President of Israel, with a document from the university’s archives: the degree certificate of his father, Yosef Yoel Rivlin, who completed his doctoral degree at the University of Frankfurt in 1927.
+++ United +++
The new “Global Affairs, Study and Teaching” department at Goethe University Frankfurt offers international services from a single source. At the initiative of the Executive Board, the following departments are incorporated in the new division: Teaching and Quality Assurance, Student Services and International Office.
July
+++ AI teaching +++
For an individual project and a collaborative project, Goethe University Frankfurt, together with three other Hessian universities, are awarded funding of €6.6 million until 2025 in the federal state programme “AI in Higher Education”.
+++ Project-based +++
The former Executive Board is now working in project-based offices. These include the Management Office, the Strategic Organisation and Quality Development Office, the Chief Information Office, the External Funding Department, PR & Communication and the Equal Opportunities Office.
+++ Study choice +++
During the pandemic too, “Global Affairs, Study and Teaching” continues to give school students initial help with choosing a degree programme – for example through online workshops and the “MainStudy Reloaded” portal.
+++ Romanticism prize +++
For the first time, Goethe University Frankfurt announces the Klaus Heyne Prize for Research on German Romanticism. It goes to Oxford-based literary scholar Dr Joanna Raisbeck. The prize is named after paediatrician and Romanticism expert Professor Klaus Heyne.
+++ Liver research +++
New LOEWE Priority Programme “ACLF-I” on severe forms of liver failure: The Hessian research funding programme is supporting the interdisciplinary research network with €4.8 million.
+++ Lego +++
In a Lego marathon, schoolchildren and students from Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg build the ALICE particle detector from over 16,000 pieces. Physicists from Goethe University Frankfurt are conducting research on the original at CERN in Geneva.
+++ COVID-19 +++
The Volkswagen Foundation awards around €1.4 million for COVID-19 research projects at Goethe University Frankfurt: with RMU partner TU Darmstadt, “Target-RNA-antiV” is investigating how to systematically disrupt gene regulation of the virus; together with RWTH Aachen University, LMU Munich and Forschungszentrum Jülich, “CoVmacro” is exploring how to block a protein important for its replication.
+++ Approved +++
The German Research Foundation approves a new Research Unit: the interdisciplinary network “Reconfiguration and Internalisation of Social Structure” (RISS) is looking at social change in the present day.
+++ Birthday +++
On the occasion of her 80th birthday, Renate von Metzler, honorary senator of Goethe University Frankfurt, extends an invitation to a charity concert for the benefit of the Association of Friends and Benefactors.
+++ Established +++
The Lore-Steubing Institute for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity is established: the universities of Frankfurt, Giessen, Marburg and Kassel, TU Darmstadt, the Senckenberg – Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research and the Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology join forces in the competence centre.
+++ Contact point +++
The new Research Support (RS) department becomes the central point of contact at Goethe University Frankfurt for questions related to research projects, academic career development and transfer, and everything to do with externally funded projects.
+++ Global South +++
Website on the study “Forgotten Worlds and Blind Spots” goes online: in a long-term study, cultural and literary studies researcher Ladislaus Ludescher has examined how the Global South is treated in the media.
+++ Financial crisis +++
In einer internationalen Studie hat das Team um den Soziologen Prof. Markus Gangl die gesellschaftlichen Folgen der Finanzkrise und das politische Krisenmanagement in mehr als 30 Ländern untersucht. Ein Ergebnis: Ökonomische Schocks haben beträchtliche Folgen für die Gesellschaft.
August
+++ Gene switch +++
Researchers at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology describe in Nature Communications the structural behaviour of a bacterial gene switch at the ribosome, the site of bacterial gene synthesis.
+++ Thesis award +++
Social scientist Dr Verena Rossow from the Institute for Economics, Labour and Culture at Goethe University Frankfurt is awarded the 2021 Thesis Award of the Körber Foundation for her doctoral thesis on working conditions in 24-hour patient care.
September
+++ Integrated +++
From 2022 onwards, the Institute for Economics, Labour and Culture at Goethe Universität Frankfurt is to be integrated in the Research Support department.
+++ Moving in +++
The new student halls of residence with 297 furnished single apartments on Ginnheimer Landstrasse open their doors for the first time.
+++ Substance classes +++
Nano spheres and diamond slivers from silicon and germanium: chemists at Goethe University Frankfurt have developed two new substance classes and are studying them together with their cooperation partners at the University of Bonn.
+++ Rhine-Main alliance +++
The Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) plan to enter the forthcoming Excellence Strategy competition of the federal and state governments together. They announce this at the third RMU Day.
+++ Carry on rowing +++
The Institute of Sports Sciences purchases another coxless four with the 2020 Christmas donation from the Friends and Benefactors of Goethe University Frankfurt.
+++ Vaccination campaign +++
Under the heading “COVID-19 affects us all. Inoculation saves lives. Do your bit!”, Goethe University Frankfurt, University Hospital Frankfurt and the university’s Association of Friends and Benefactors launch a public poster campaign.
October
+++ Good teaching +++
The ELLVIS project starts (Successful Teaching and Learning – Diversity and Internationality in Studies). It was successfully acquired in the QuiS programme line of the Federal State of Hesse and will be funded with about €16 million up until the end of 2025.
+++ Kinder-Uni +++
The topics of the (online) 18th Children’s University in Frankfurt are numbers in Ancient Egypt and the causes of climate change. About 7,000 schoolchildren take part.
+++ Top professor +++
The State of Hesse awards LOEWE top professorship, with funds of €1.4 million, to virologist Professor Sandra Ciesek.
+++ Shown around +++
23 tours of the Science Garden take place between 1 June and 15 October.
+++ In-person +++
After three semesters of primarily remote learning, Goethe University Frankfurt starts predominantly in-person teaching operations with a comprehensive hygiene concept.
+++ Sustainable +++
On Riedberg Campus, five young researchers receive the “Environment and Sustainability Award”
+++ Good advice +++
Educational psychologists launch counselling service for secondary school students. The psychologists are responding to results of their study from early summer, which diagnosed severe learning losses in children and adolescents during the pandemic.
+++ High-performance computing +++
Goethe University Frankfurt becomes part of the National High Performance Computing Alliance. €45 million euros are earmarked for the future development of high-performance computing at the university. The university’s own contribution is €30 million.
+++ Distinction +++
For the fourth time, Goethe University Frankfurt receives the TOTAL E-QUALITY distinction for its human resources and university policies, which are geared towards equal opportunities and diversity.
+++ Inaugurated +++
With the official inauguration of the Buber-Rosenzweig Institute, Goethe University Frankfurt now has a research centre on modern Judaism.
+++ School Meets University +++
With a symposium on the trial of Socrates, the project “School Meets University: Socrates revised and revisited” starts at Lessing Grammar School. Highlight is the court hearing in the form of a moot court.
November
+++ Teaching award +++
The 1822 University Award for Excellent Teaching goes to bioscientist Dr Markus Fauth (1st prize), literary studies researcher Dr Lena Schönwälder (2nd prize) and anthropologist Dr Markus Lindner (3rd prize).
+++ Jewish life +++
On the occasion of the nationwide anniversary of 1,700 years of Jewish life in Germany, University Library exhibits its Hebraica and Judaica collection.
+++ Continued +++
Success in funding decision by German Research Foundation: funding of the Research Training Group “Resolution of Inflammatory Reactions” (RTG 2336)” is continued.
+++ Gastro-intestinal research +++
Via capsule through the bloodstream: researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt, FAU and the University of California in San Francisco are documenting how intestinal bacteria communicate with the body.
+++ Free access +++
With €800,000, the Open Access Publication Fund of Goethe University Frankfurt is the second-best endowed in comparison with other German universities. The fund covers publication fees for freely accessible journal articles by Goethe University Frankfurt.
+++ Nominated +++
The Frobenius Institute for Research in Cultural Anthropology, with the world’s oldest and most comprehensive collection of copies of prehistoric rock art, is nominated for inclusion in the international register of the UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme.
+++ Most cited +++
According to the “Web of Science”, six researchers from Goethe University Frankfurt are among the 6,600 most cited scientists in the world: biochemist Professor Ivan Đikić, geographer Professor Petra Döll, pharmaceutical chemist Professor Stefan Knapp and physicians Professor Stefanie Dimmeler, Adjunct Professor Sibylle Loibl and Professor Stefan Zeuzem.
+++ Inclusive education +++
Goethe University Frankfurt will continue to receive funding, €2.7 million in total, for four collaborative projects and one meta-project in the area of inclusive education. In the first funding phase, the focus lay on training educational professionals, the second phase will concentrate on diagnostics.
+++ Approved +++
The German Research Foundation approves the new Collaborative Research Centre “Iron, upgraded!” led by TU Darmstadt, in which Goethe University is participating. CRC 1487 is also a success of the strategic alliance of the Rhine-Main Universities.
+++ Donated +++
The winners of the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship programme are welcomed in a virtual award ceremony. The sum donated by citizens, non-profit organisations and companies for 543 scholarships amounts to about €1 million.
December
+++ Exchange +++
After the end of the first funding phase, the Mercator Science Policy Fellowship Programme of the Rhine-Main Universities is extended until 2026. In the programme, leading personalities from the public sector, civil society and the media exchange ideas with researchers in personal discussions.
+++ In rhythm +++
Reading and speaking follow a similar rhythm: this is discovered by a team of researchers with the participation of Goethe University Frankfurt.
+++ Supported +++
A network is established for R3-level female scientists, i.e. female scientists following an outstanding doctoral degree with several years of research experience and newly appointed female professors.
+++ Humans and machines +++
Goethe University successfully secures funding from the Volkswagen Foundation for a project that explores developments in human-machine interaction in education.
+++ Awarded +++
Theoretical physicist Professor Hannah Elfner is acknowledged by the Alfons and Gertrud Kassel Foundation as “Scientist of the Year”. The prize is in recognition of her outstanding research on events shortly after the Big Bang and her special commitment to early career researchers.
+++ Quantum physics +++
New Research Unit on quantum physics funded by the German Research Foundation: a Research Unit at the Institute for Theoretical Physics in collaboration with scientists from Germany, Austria and Switzerland is exploring how the properties of new materials can be better predicted.
+++ Signed +++
Tel Aviv University and Goethe University Frankfurt sign the Declaration of Intent for the establishment of a joint research centre for religious studies and interreligious dynamics.
+++ Exchange +++
The “Start ins Deutsche” project celebrates its fifth birthday: since its launch, students have taught 3,000 refugees the German language.