Topical Programmes

Topical programmes address key topics of future research at the University of Münster and explore opportunities to engage in large-scale collaborative research projects. The University hopes these programmes will serve to strengthen ties to external researchers and other higher education institutions and non-university research organisations, as well as promote international collaboration. 'Topical Programmes' is a strategic funding measure initiated by the Rectorate and is subject to both external and internal peer review, as well as continuous evaluation.

Currently funded projects

• Chemical Biology of Membrane Transport Proteins

  This project deals with the so-called membrane transport proteins on a molecular level. The researchers work with methods from chemical biology and transfer their findings from basic research to physiological processes in animals and humans. In a workshop, various experts from the University of Münster will be brought together to discuss the topic in more detail and to further develop the concept into a collaborative research centre. A successful collaborative research centre in this field would be a pillar for a chemical-medical Cluster of Excellence in the application period after the next.

  This 'Topical Programme' builds on work of the research training group "Chemical Biology of Ion Channels (Chembion)" funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Since the end of 2019, the research training group has been investigating the development, synthesis and modification of small organic ion channel modulators and their application in the field of molecular, cellular and systemic ion channel (patho)physiology.

  Spokeperson: Prof Dr Bernhard Wünsch, Institute of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy (FB 12); the Faculty of Medicine (FB 5) is also involved.

• Sustainable Development of Potential: Transformative Talent Development in Innovative Learning Environments to Strengthen Action for the Common Good

  The current global challenges – for example, the global climate or world peace – make it clear that fundamental ecological, economic and social change is urgently needed. Actively shaping such transformation requires agents with a pronounced readiness for analytical-critical engagement and for the ethical assumption of responsibility in the sense of a transformative understanding of talent. This requires not only person-oriented expertise but also action oriented towards the common good, which is already evident in young people who are committed to shaping a sustainable future in the sense of the Sustainable Development Goals. The achievements of young people, such as Greta Thunberg and Felix Finkbeiner, retrospectively illustrate the role of the educational and social context. The basis for this are innovative learning environments that integrate the different areas of potential and address the learner in the individual, educational and social context:

  • first, to sustainably shape society's future through the potentials that have been developed (sustainable potential development from a forward-looking perspective);
  • second, to further develop and differentiate individual potentials through public welfare-oriented action in society (retrospective research perspective on sustainable potential development).

  The research network "Sustainable Development of Potential" makes this the focus of the Topical Programme in keeping with the Excellence Strategy at the University of Münster.

  Prof Dr Christian Fischer (Faculty of Educational and Social Science), Faculties of Catholic Theology (FB 2), Educational and Social Science (FB 6), Psychology/Sport and Exercise Sciences (FB 7), Mathematics and Computer Science (FB 10), Physics (FB 11) and Geosciences (FB 14)

• Reproduction – From Genes to Molecules and Function

  Sexual reproduction requires the formation, maturation, and fusion of male and female gametes, followed by embryonic development, pregnancy, and birth. Each of these steps is coordinated by complex genetic, cellular, and hormonal processes, which are not yet fully understood. The Topical Programme “Reproduction – From Genes to Molecules and Function” bundles several translational and multidisciplinary projects dedicated to the reproductive cycle. The aim is to investigate the function of sperm and oocytes, the fertilisation process, embryonic development, and the tissues and organs involved in the reproductive process during various life phases. The programme will examine how age, lifestyle, and environmental factors affect reproductive functions, and investigate the causes of infertility and the risk of disease associated with it. In the clinical research group “Male Germ Cells” (CRU326), funded since 2017, biologists, biochemists, bioinformaticists, physicists, and clinicians have been studying the genetics and function of male germ cells. Their work will form the core of this larger-scale Topical Programme. Its focus will be on the function of male and female germ cells, which involves, e.g., the analysis of how female hormones influence flagella movement of sperm cells.

  Visit the project website www.reproduction.ms

  Prof Dr Frank Tüttelmann (Institute of Reproductive Genetics), Prof Dr Timo Strünker (Centre of Reproductive Medicine and Andrology), Faculties of Medicine (FB 5), Mathematics and Computer Science (FB 10), Chemistry and Pharmacy (FB 12), Biology (FB 13)

• Competing Truths. Strategies and Reflections in the Changing Public Spheres

  In political spheres and public media, battles are raging over different truth claims, the credibility of circulating assertions, and their declaration as “fake news”. The dispute over competing truths is not new or unusual, however. Institutions such as parliaments emerged precisely to deal with thoroughly controversial claims. Medieval and modern societies adapted techniques and strategies developed in ancient rhetoric to various contemporary procedures, for example in court, but also in historiography or to justify religious norms. Propaganda throughout history has made use of evidential techniques to establish or maintain credibility and trust.

  The research partnership examines the production of evidence, as well as the political instrumentalisation of truth claims across historical periods and academic disciplines. One focus is on changes in the mediation of such claims. The problems of factuality, especially in times of crisis and upheaval, are placed in a long-term historical context.

  Prof Dr Wolfram Drews (Department of History), Faculties of Catholic Theology (FB 2), Educational and Social Science (FB 6), History and Philosophy (FB 8) and Philology (FB 9)

• Time and Artefact

  The aim of this Topical Programme is to create a platform of exchange for scholars at the University of Münster whose work touches on different forms and aspects of artefacts. Although the study of artefacts has been a long-standing concern in some disciplines within the humanities, other humanities-based and social scientific disciplines have only recently started to (re)focus attention on artefacts and their embedding in changing social and historical settings. The Topical Programme capitalises on the unique combination of empirical-descriptive and systematic-normative expertise on artefacts available at the University of Münster to propose two novel perspectives. First, it will systematically explore from various disciplinary angles the different ways temporalities and artefacts relate to and mutually affect and shape each other. Second, in contrast to a tendency in the humanities to equate artefacts with material objects or “things”, it conceives of artefacts as both material and immaterial entities.

  Prof Dr Achim Lichtenberger (archaeology), Prof Dorothea Schulz, PhD (social & cultural anthropology), Faculties of History and Philosophy (FB 8) and Philology (FB 9)

Previously funded projects

• 3T: Animal Protection, Animal Welfare, Animal Ethics

  Animals are kept as pets in homes, displayed in zoos, raised and used for food production in farms and as experimental models in research institutions. Irrespective of the diverse applications, inquiries into their ethical treatment have become a matter of concern. The Topical Programme “3T: Animal Protection, Animal Welfare and Animal Ethics” aims to develop policies that take its diversity into consideration and integrate relevant academic disciplines. Researchers with backgrounds in philosophy, biology, medicine, theology and related disciplines will collaborate. They will explore practical, organisational and institutional measures to describe adequate and appropriate means of animal protection. One primary goal is to propose measures that define animal well-being. Animal welfare should best be determined on the basis of defined contexts and depends on normative prerequisites. Animal ethics should make these principles transparent, align with our understanding of satisfaction, comfort and happiness, and promote animal well-being and ultimately put them into practice. “3T” combines basic research with research practice and serves to interconnect subject-relevant research activities at the University of Münster. Ultimately the programme intends to raise public sensitivity to animal protection via knowledge transfer.

  Prof Dr Arnulf von Scheliha (Institute for Ethics and Associated Social Sciences), PD Dr Johann S. Ach (Centre for Bioethics), Faculties of Protestant Theology (FB 1), Medicine (FB 5) and Biology (FB 13)

  Homepage: "3T: Animal Protection, Animal Welfare, Animal Ethics"

• Algorithmization and Social Interaction

  Imagine you call a company and your request is no longer answered by a human being but by an artificial assistant - how does this affect you as an individual and society at large? And does the customization of information in social media and online environments limit our horizon, or even keep us in a 'filter bubble'? These are just a few of the socially and politically relevant core questions of the interdisciplinary Topical Programme "Algorithmization and Social Interaction". Researchers in information systems, economics, social sciences, law and communication studies work together to explore, first, how (artificially intelligent) algorithms can be used to influence social interaction. Second, they aim to demonstrate how society (the public, as well as political and societal elites) reacts to this increasing algorithmic governance.

  Prof Dr Heike Trautmann (Department of Information Systems) 

• The Individual in the Focus of Life Sciences

  Individuals differ from one another. Although seemingly banal, this basic premise occupied the philosopher Aristotle almost 2,500 years ago. It not only applies to humans, but to all organisms – individuality and individualisation have become increasingly significant. The reason for this might be the transformation that our planet and society are currently experiencing: climate change, changing habitats, globalisation and the changing world of work. The Topical Programme “The Individual in the Focus of Life Sciences” addresses the question of whether change engenders increasing individualisation and whether such individualisation offers us the chance to master the effects of change. In the field of biology, rapid change increases the necessity for individuals to come up with response strategies. Individualisation offers enormous potential for adaptation when organisms face rapidly changing environmental conditions. Because this research area is of growing cross-faculty interest, this programme comprises several joint transdisciplinary projects which investigate individualisation in the context of changing environmental conditions or systems currently undergoing change.

  Prof Dr Jürgen Gadau (Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity), Faculties of Medicine (FB 5), History and Philosophy (FB 8) and Biology (FB 13)

• Cultures of Debate and Media in Transition

  The debate is a specific cultural technique based on the exchange of reasonable arguments between participants who are reciprocally recognised as equals. In democratic societies in particular, debates are held in high esteem. This applies to both politics and academia alike, as debating represents the core of the political and academic communication cultures. The debate and its cultural conditions are however increasingly contested with the significant role that has been attributed to media transformation in this respect. The Topical Programme “Cultures of Debate and Media in Transition” takes such current developments as a starting point while examining them in a larger context. As a cultural technique, the debate occurs in multiple and changing forms in different epochs and cultural contexts. Furthermore, processes of media transformation have led to changes in cultures of debate in the past with, for instance, the dissemination of print media. Only through interdisciplinary exchange that connects different approaches from various disciplines is it possible to understand such developments more precisely and to examine them from a cross-cultural perspective. The interdisciplinary orientation of the research initiative is reflected in the group of principal applicants that consists of Barbara Winckler (Arabic studies; spokesperson), Ursula Frohne (art history), Philip Hoffmann-Rehnitz (history) and Annie Waldherr (communication science). It is significantly enriched by the participation of more than 20 scholars from various branches of the humanities and social sciences – including political science, sociology, anthropology, literary and cultural studies, philosophy and theology – from the University of Münster and other universities in Germany and abroad.

  Dr Barbara Winckler (Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies), Faculties of Educational and Social Science (FB 6), History and Philosophy (FB 8) and Philology (FB 9)

• Evolutionary Protein Design

  Proteins have been the most important and diverse building blocks of all forms of life for billions of years. Evolution has produced myriads of proteins with different structures and functions, but so far science has had only limited success at designing custom-made proteins equipped with special characteristics. In the Topical Programme “Evolutionary Protein Design”, researchers aim to apply and refine innovative methods for designing proteins with desired functions. To this end, the project will use traditional laboratory methods as well as cutting-edge, high through-put technologies, aided by computer simulations and theoretical modelling. In addition to established model proteins, researchers will also study new proteins and protein functions. They will draw upon discoveries in protein evolution, based on enormous amounts of data generated from newly sequenced genomes. In this way, researchers hope to better understand the fundamental relationships between the thermal stability of proteins, their structural and functional resistance to mutation, and their multifunctionality. The project involves research groups from the Faculty of Biology and the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Münster in cooperation with colleagues from Bayreuth, Regensburg and Greifswald.

  Prof Dr Erich Bornberg-Bauer (Institute of Evolution and Biodiversity), Faculties of Chemistry and Pharmacy (FB 12) and Biology (FB 13)

• Social and Legal Impact of Artificial Decision-Making

  For centuries, people have been fascinated by the idea that machines (or artificial intelligence, AI) could one day match or even surpass the abilities of human beings. In recent decades, we have come significantly closer to reaching this goal. The Topical Programme “Social and Legal Impact of Artificial Decision-Making” closely examines the opportunities and primary risks of AI facing all societies. The participants include legal scholars, as well as researchers from the areas of the humanities, social sciences, political studies, economics and computer science. The key research questions are: What social, economic and political consequences might we expect if human decisions are partially or entirely replaced by machine-based decisions? What methods and goals can law apply to them? The objective of the project is to draft legal rules, with which recent developments in AI-based decision-making can be properly steered. Research fields such as data sovereignty, electronic communication, financial services, the administration of justice, sustainability and environmental concerns will be examined from the perspective of three aspects: “autonomy”, “responsibility” and “surveillance and control”.

  Prof Dr Matthias Casper (Institute of Corporate and Capital Markets Law), Faculty of Law (FB 3)

• M2I2 – Münster Microbe Interaction Innovation

  The Topical Programme “M2I2 – Münster Microbe Interaction Innovation” investigates the complex interaction between the host and pathogenic microbes. In a broad, interdisciplinary initiative, working groups from 16 institutes and clinics will collaboratively investigate whether and how interaction between the host and microbes can harm the host, and how this knowledge can be used for developing innovative therapeutic strategies. This thematic focus is possible thanks to the close cooperation that exists between biologically oriented basic research and biomedical research activities in Münster. By more strongly integrating researchers from the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, greater attention can be placed on therapeutic intervention and the application of preclinical models in the future. The project builds on the activities of the phi-Club, an interdisciplinary research network open to all who are interested in researching pathogen-host dynamics in Münster.

  Prof Dr Ulrich Dobrindt (Institute of Hygiene), Prof Dr Ursula Rescher (Institute of Medical Biochemistry), Faculty of Medicine (FB 5) and Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy (FB 12)

• Multiscale Green Biology Münster

  Plants are essential for preserving living environments and biological diversity, for sustainably supplying food and raw materials, and for stabilising the global climate. Protecting and cultivating them as high-yield agricultural crops are among the greatest challenges that present and future generations face. As the global population steadily grows, the demand for high-quality and healthy food is sure to increase. This trend, however, coincides with a significant reduction of arable land and an increasing loss of biodiversity. It is crucial that all of society address these alarming developments. “Multiscale Green Biology” plays a key role in this process – and the Topical Programme of the same name aims to explore this concept. It serves to analyse and evaluate past and current climate changes and their effects on the function of complex natural and agricultural ecosystems. The concept fundamentally studies molecular, cellular-biological and organism-based processes and produces resistant and beneficial high-yield organisms. It also advances the transfer of generated knowledge and tested innovations to society with the goal of influencing expectations and behaviours. The Topical Programme will organise an international workshop to further strengthen this cross-disciplinary research field.

  Prof Dr Dirk Prüfer (Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology), School of Business and Economics (FB 4), Faculties of Educational and Social Science (FB 6), Chemistry and Pharmacy (FB 12), Biology (FB 13) and Geosciences (FB 14)

• Science Communication and Knowledge Transfer in Digital Media Environments

  The coronavirus pandemic has shown that many are willing to accept measures that are based on scientific evidence. However, there is increasing public debate on the potential loss of trust in science amid the spread of misinformation. Digitalisation and new developments in the scientific system – through Open Science, for example – offer opportunities and challenges for communicating scientific findings to policymakers and society. As part of the Topical Programme “Science Communication and Knowledge Transfer in Digital Media Environments”, researchers will investigate how science communication and knowledge transfer can be presented in new media environments to bolster and maintain trust in science, and in so doing, meet the demands of various stakeholders. The project includes a workshop to lay the groundwork for collaborative research and identify relevant research fields in the area of science and knowledge communication.

  Prof Dr Julia Metag (Department of Communication (IfK)), Faculties of Educational and Social Science (FB 6), History and Philosophy (FB 8), Biology (FB 13) and Geosciences (FB 14)

• Cell Dynamics and Mathematical Modelling

  Cellular movement, cell division, cell differentiation, and communication between cells rely strongly on biochemical signalling and biomechanics. Biomechanics and biochemical signalling are fundamental to the development of all embryos. Measurements and experiments in this context are based on fundamental principles of physics, which means that mathematical thought experiments are relevant as well. The new Topical Programme “Cell Dynamics and Mathematical Modelling” aims to further strengthen this basis shared by experimental biology and mathematics. Biomechanical properties and dynamic changes in cell shape are closely tied to their specific cellular functions. Changes in cell shape are observed during the migration of cells in model organisms (e.g. Drosophila, zebrafish and mouse), processes that can be described mathematically and accordingly analysed theoretically. Importantly, this research line is relevant to cell dynamics in the context of pathological conditions such as wound healing, tumour growth and metastasis, which resemble morphogenetic events in normal embryonic development.

  Prof Dr Angela Stevens (Institute for Analysis and Numerics), Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science (FB 10)