Actors of the Excellence Initiative I

Marsilius Kolleg – Making the Difference...

... for all who are willing and able.
He was in his mid-20s and had just earned his doctorate in expe­ri­mental virology – he had every right to feel satisfied. [More...]

Children’s Quarrel in the Milky Way – Who Flew over the Galaxy Rim?

Young Scottish astrophysicist Rowan Smith helped make an astounding discovery in Heidelberg: the first stars were not alone. [More...]

Differentiated Integration: Europe à la Carte

René Repasi wants to remain an academic to ensure his independence as a politician. In both capacities, he campaigns for the harmonisation of European legal systems. [More...]

SUMO: The Eternal Wrestling Match

Frauke Melchior discovered SUMO, a small protein with a big impact. She credits her discovery to a bit of luck, an eye for the unexpected, and a lot of solid craftsmanship. [More...]

Image Recognition:
Teaching Computers to See

Björn Ommer finds questions in many fields of research. His answers help many, including industry. [More...]

A First-Hand Look at Evolution

Joachim Wittbrodt rules over 3,500 aquariums and close to 50,000 fish. As a boy, the biologist liked to catch them, now they have “caught” him. [More...]

The Mistress of Particle Chaos

In the LHCb experiment at CERN, Stephanie Hansmann- Menzemer searches for phenomena that cannot be explained with com­mon physical models. [More...]

Greater Focus on the Other Perspective

The discipline of transcultural studies examines the meeting of cultures from the perspective of both sides - and frequently leads Claudia Brosseder and Georg Christ to cross disciplinary boundaries. [More...]

Politics in Times of Crisis

Stefanie Walter investigates the behaviour of governments in times of economic crisis. Her interest is in crises: financial distress, crashing currencies, economic downward spirals. [More...]

Creating New Worlds through Research

Jakob Stix conducts fundamental research in arithmetic geometry. He likes to get to the bottom of things. Especially if it's numbers he's dealing with. [More...]

Dance of the Chromosomes

Biologist Sylvia Erhardt examines how chromosomes can be correctly assigned to the daughter cells during cell division and how an inconspicuously small chromosomal constriction affects this process. [More...]

How Genes Control Development

Biologist Ingrid Lohmann investigates the mechanisms that let a single fertilised egg develop into a complex organism. In her research, the scientist relies on the help of a small fly. [More...]

Islam in China - a Strange Fit?

Roberta Tontini wonders at how well Islam adapted itself to Confucian teachings - and at how quickly this harmony can disappear. [More...]

Keeping It Simple

Matthias Bartelmann, member of the Board of the Heidelberg Graduate School of Fundamental Physics, and his colleague Christian Angrick, doubt the benefits of being able to compute increasingly complex models. [More...]

To Swing or Not to Swing

Sebastian Sager, head of the junior research group for mathematical optimisation at the HGS MathComp, and PhD student Anamaria Bodea talk about training scientists for leading positions. [More...]

Riding the Wave into the Professional World

Not all PhD students can or want to work in an academic environment. Industry offers exciting opportunities for young researchers - if they use their chances in time. [More...]