Press releases

With the upcoming installation of its first quantum computer, Goethe University will join the list of leading German universities in the field of applied quantum computing: Based on the technology of nitrogen vacancies in a synthetic diamond, Frankfurt's first quantum computer, named "Baby Diamond", will start as a pilot system with five qubits. Ulm-based start-up XeedQ is scheduled to deliver the device in the first quarter of 2024, with initial pilot users expected to come from Goethe University Frankfurt and the National High Performance Computing NHR Alliance. 

The topic of quantum computing is a future technology that is currently on everyone's lips, promising to tackle tasks in the fields of computer simulation and AI that were previously too large or even unsolvable using digital methods. "With our new pilot quantum computer, we are taking an important step into this revolutionary field, which will soon be followed by others," says Goethe University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff. "Baby Diamond will give us a first glimpse into a future in which great computational challenges, the likes of which we cannot even imagine today, will become possible." 

Ulrich Schielein, Goethe University Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO), adds: "It is likely that, in a few years' time, we will be able to address completely new types of problems not only from the worlds of finance, logistics in rail, air and road transport, medicine and biology, weather and climate research, but also in the fields of basic sciences, like physics and chemistry, or the training of basic models of artificial intelligence. We are looking forward to working together with researchers, companies and institutions here in the Rhine-Main region." 

The quantum computer uses a small synthetic diamond, commonly found in industrial applications, in which nitrogen atoms are embedded, each of which induces a defect that can in turn be used as a central qubit. Spins of atoms can be controlled as further qubits around this defect, making practical quantum computing possible. 

"Our entry-level system is based on the idea of a compact quantum computer that can be used at room temperature, doesn't require any special cryogenic cooling, can be set up in a small laboratory and is particularly energy-efficient," says Prof. Thomas Lippert, head of the modular supercomputing and quantum computing working group, established at Goethe University's Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics in summer 2020. "As a university, by installing the quantum computer, we are consciously taking a stand against the current monopolization of large companies that hide their systems behind paywalls. It being a compact system, we can already train students today in a hands-on manner directly on the device – exactly what is needed to become fit for the future." 

The quantum computer is part of the so-called “Frankfurt Roadmap", which sets out to procure up to 16 high-quality qubits by 2025 and gradually increase this number in the future. The pilot system operated in collaboration with the NHR Alliance will help establish an infrastructure at Goethe University that will closely link quantum computing with high-performance computing. In this context, Goethe University was able to secure Forschungszentrum Jülich with its JUNIQ quantum computing infrastructure as a scientific partner –a global pioneer in modular hybrid quantum HPC computing. 

The system is being developed by XeedQ, which is based both in Leipzig and at the German Aerospace Center's innovation hub in Ulm. XeedQ is funded by the latter's Quantum Computing Initiative, with a view towards developing a scalable quantum computing technology. 

Quantum computing is often referred to as the second quantum revolution. Goethe University's quantum computer will be located on the historic Bockenheim Campus, where Stern and Gerlach's famous experiment, carried out more than 100 years ago, laid the foundation for today's quantum computing and served as an important part of the first quantum revolution. With its Baby Diamond, Goethe University is paving the way to bring new quantum revolutions back to Frankfurt. 

Further information
Prof. Thomas Lippert
Professor for Modular Supercomputing and Quantum Computing
Institute of Computer Science
Goethe University Frankfurt
E-Mail: t.lippert@em.uni-frankfurt.de

Editor: Dr. Dirk Frank, Press Officer / Deputy Head of PR and Communication, Goethe University Frankfurt, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Phone +49 (0)69 798–13753, frank@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de

Every two years, the Alfons und Gertrud Kassel-Stiftung awards the “Scientist of the Year" Award as well as the “Public Service Fellowship Prize" to researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt. In addition, each year the President of Goethe University also awards the “New Horizon Prize". For the first time, all three prizes were presented together at a public award ceremony held yesterday. And the winners are: microbiologist Inga Hänelt, law professor Indra Spiecker and educational scientist Lukas Gerhards. 

The three academics honored at Goethe University yesterday evening “conduct extraordinary scientific work, and, at the same time", in the words of University President Enrico Schleiff, "they let others share in the results of and profit from this science – in a manner that far exceeds the economic component of this term." In so doing, they stand for an essential feature of Goethe University, namely "that we do not keep the treasures of knowledge we have gathered to ourselves, but consciously share them: in the scientific world, and – as part of intelligently structured dialogs and using modern methods – with society." 

The Alfons und Gertrud Kassel-Stiftung's “Scientist of the Year" Award 2022 goes to microbiologist Prof. Inga Hänelt for her outstanding research and strong commitment to promoting young talent. The Heisenberg Professor, who works at Goethe University's Institute of Biochemistry, was honored for her contribution to understanding processes that enable bacteria to survive under various stress conditions; specifically, for her work on microbial potassium homeostasis, i.e. the processes by which bacteria adapt to salty environments, drought or extreme pH values by absorbing or releasing potassium. Hänelt's multi-award-winning work is highly regarded both nationally and internationally and has been published in the most prestigious scientific journals. As a result of her excellent accomplishments, the microbiologist is also a member of many research networks operated by the German Research Foundation. At Goethe University, she is one of the scientists in charge of the SCALE (SubCellular Architecture of LifE) cluster initiative. 

Inga Hänelt also received the “Scientist of the Year" Award, which is endowed with €25,000 and awarded every two years, for her excellent mentoring and support of young scientists. In their laudatory speech, the members of Hänelt's working group praised their mentor, whose commitment to the advancement of young scientists extends far beyond her own working group. 

This year's "Public Service Fellowship Prize", also awarded by the Alfons und Gertrud Kassel-Stiftung, went to Prof. Indra Spiecker genannt Döhmann. Spiecker has been teaching public law, information law, environmental law and administrative sciences at Goethe University Frankfurt since 2013. She heads the Data Protection Research Center and is scientific director of the Institute for European Health Policy and Social Law (ineges). She is the first lawyer ever to be a member of the National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech). Among others, she also is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina's "Digitalization and Society" steering group. Indra Spiecker is a leading and internationally renowned legal expert, whose research focuses, among others, on the digital world's regulatory conditions and possibilities, and related power shifts. As part of this, she also analyzes decisions in situations of uncertainty or the relationship between trust and conflict, which stands at the center of the ConTrust cluster initiative. Spiecker is frequently consulted as an expert by many institutions, particularly on the legal aspects of digitalization, including for the German government's Third Gender Equality Report, by data protection authorities or the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency. 

The "Public Service Fellowship Prize", endowed with €10,000, is awarded every two years by the Alfons und Gertrud Kassel-Stiftung to Goethe University researchers who play an active role in important scientific or science policy committees. The prize money is intended to enable projects that could not be continued due to the special commitment they require. Prof. Spiecker is the fourth person to be awarded the prize – following in the footsteps of educational scientist Sabine Andresen, financial scientist and former member of the German council of economic experts Prof. Volker Wieland, and medical scientist and long-standing chairman of the German government's Expert Council on Health Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Gerlach. The laudatory speech for Indra Spiecker genannt Döhmann was held by Hessian Minister of Justice Prof. Roman Poseck. 

The winner of the 2023 President's New Horizon Prize is inclusion researcher Lukas Gerhards. The prize, endowed with €5,000, supports young researchers at Goethe University who are breaking new ground in their research and thinking. Following his studies in special needs education, PhD student Lukas Gerhards has devoted himself to inclusion research. As part of his neurophilosophically-oriented doctorate, he is investigating, for example, what neurodiversity means, i.e. how different perceptions of the environment come about. As a research assistant in the team of inclusion researcher Prof. Dr. Vera Moser, Lukas Gerhards plays a leading role in the innovative research network "schAUT" (School & Autism), funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Working together with autistic people, the project aims to identify barriers for autistic pupils in schools for the first time, and explore ways of overcoming them. What factors interfere with autistic pupils' learning? Initial findings show that autistic and non-autistic schoolchildren are disturbed by the same factors – including bright light and high noise levels – which means that everyone benefits from a reduction in these barriers. At the same time, the project also promotes knowledge transfer to society: it includes a barrier questionnaire, a handout on how to use the tool, as well as a training concept for schools and information material for the interested public. 

The New Horizon Prize was awarded for the first time in 2022 to business teacher Dr. Christin Siegfried. 

The Alfons und Gertrud Kassel-Stiftung was established in 2007 with the aim of promoting science, research and teaching at Goethe University. It is based on an endowment bequeathed by its founder, Gertrud Kassel. The foundation supports numerous university projects.

Editor: Pia Barth, Science Editor, PR & Communication Office, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt, Tel. +49 (0)69 798-12481, Fax +49 (0)69 798-763-12531, p.barth@em.uni-frankfurt.de

Students wanting to apply for the Deutschlandstipendium must have good grades and display social commitment. Successful applicants receive €300 euros a month in financial support for their studies, for a maximum of two years. The award ceremony held at Goethe University Frankfurt on Wednesday brought together 600 students and sponsors. 

The principle that stands behind the Deutschlandstipendium is as simple as it is striking: every euro raised by universities each year is doubled by Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Goethe University Frankfurt raised €990,000 this year, bringing the total funding available to Deutschlandstipendium scholars to €1,980,000. This means that 550 students – about one third of whom have a migrant background – can receive €300 per month for a maximum of two years. For many among them, the funding means they have to spend less time financing their degrees, and can devote more time to their studies. 

At the social event held on November 28, 2023, many of the scholarship holders personally collected their awards – and some even met with their individual sponsor. All told, some 600 people gathered at the networking event. As part of his welcoming address, Goethe University President Enrico Schleiff extended a special thank-you to three of the 22 sponsors who have supported the program since its launch 13 years ago, pointing out that it is the commitment of local sponsors, among others, that makes the program such a success story. "This widespread acceptance among the population is illustrative of the support for meaningful work, also and especially among Frankfurt's civil society." 

Participants were treated to a performance by science slammer and archaeologist Frederic Auth, who won this year's "Antiquity Slam" in Berlin with his presentation of a surprising archaeological discovery by Goethe University scientists. 

Some 300 private sponsors and 50 non-profit organizations – who provide the bulk of the funding – donated towards a Deutschlandstipendium this year, slightly more than in previous years. In line with the general trend observed since the pandemic, the number of sponsoring companies has dropped slightly, to about 50. 

In addition to the monthly €300 stipend, the Deutschlandstipendium also comprises a non-material support program as well as a strong network and wide range of events. The "Young Leadership Program" gives scholarship holders the opportunity to develop both personally and professionally, including through individual advancement in project teams as well as study-related programs and offers, such as seminars, workshops, best-practice exchanges and networks. The scholars themselves are currently working to set up a Deutschlandstipendium alumni group at Goethe University, with the aim of staying in touch with each other and maintaining their own network even after their scholarship has ended. 

A total of 6,752 Deutschlandstipendium scholarships have been awarded since 2011, which corresponds to €12,153,600 in funding. In line with the federal government's matching principle, Goethe University students have so far benefited from around €25 million in funding for the Deutschlandstipendium. 

Images for download: https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/146364557 

Captions:
(Photo 1) Around 600 scholars and sponsors attended the get-together marking the launch of the Deutschlandstipendium to network with each other (Photo: Uwe Dettmar)
(Photo 2) Getting in touch, staying in touch: Many Deutschlandstipendium scholarship holders say they want to build up and maintain their own network (Photo: Uwe Dettmar) 

Further information
Marc Heinbücher
Advisor Deutschlandstipendium
Private University Funding
Tel.: +49 (0)69/798-12756
E-Mail: heinbuecher@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Homepage: https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/44947252/

Editor: Pia Barth, Science Editor, PR & Communication Office, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt, Tel. +49 (0)69 798-12481, Fax +49 (0)69 798-763-12531, p.barth@em.uni-frankfurt.de

How does negation work in language? And how are the relevant linguistic structures connected to perception in the brain? These are the types of questions posed within the framework of Collaborative Research Center 1629 "Negation in language and beyond" (NegLaB) at Goethe University Frankfurt, funding for which the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) approved on November 24, 2023. Meanwhile, another CRC from the field of biochemistry, which deals with selective autophagy – a natural process by means of which cells can specifically dispose of defective or superfluous components – is entering its third funding phase. Both projects will initially receive (further) funding for four years. The DFG most recently approved a total of four CRC applications from Hessian universities, three among them continuations. 

Prof. Bernhard Brüne, Vice President Research, Early Career Researchers and Transfer at Goethe University Frankfurt, congratulated the researchers involved in the successful application: "Anyone who establishes a major project like a Collaborative Research Center must have both creative and viable research ideas as well as a strong network. To discover new things about language and thinking, the new CRC 1629 not only makes use of Goethe University's structures, and the combination of philology with philosophy and didactics. It also cooperates with partner universities in Göttingen and Tübingen. Aside that, I am of course delighted that CRC 1177 on autophagy has been extended. It has been extraordinarily productive over the past few years and promises significant findings in the future that can take medicine a big step forward. Thanks to this Collaborative Research Center, Frankfurt has become a national network center for autophagy research over the past eight years." 

CRC 1629 – Negation in language and beyond
Negation is a fundamental and unique property of human language. It is firmly anchored in the grammatical system of all languages, albeit in different ways. Negation affects various areas of grammar as well as cognition as part of a complex system, which is reflected in the fact that although children produce negative utterances relatively early, it takes a much longer time to acquire all aspects of negation. Adults also find it more difficult to process negative sentences as compared to positive ones, supposedly due to the fact that the content of a positive sentence must first be elaborated before the meaning of its negation can be interpreted. CRC NegLaB sets out to explore how the expression of negation is cross-linguistically associated with grammatical and non-linguistic cognitive operations, something the researchers involved expect will lead to a better understanding of the connections between linguistic competence and general cognition. Individual projects address topics like the influences of negation on behavior, memory and attitude, the role of non-linguistic cognitive abilities in children's negation processing, and the syntactic and morphological interactions of negation in a number of languages, ranging from Germanic and Romance to Bantu and Mabia. Several institutions at Goethe University Frankfurt are involved in the new CRC, including the Institutes of English and American Studies, Linguistics, Philosophy, Psycholinguistics and Didactics of the German Language, Romance Languages and Literatures, as well as the Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics. Partners are the University of Göttingen's Seminar of English Philology and the University of Tübingen's Department of Psychology. A special feature of the project is its integrated research training group, where young academics will receive training for the academic and non-academic job market. CRC spokesperson is Prof. Dr. Cecilia Poletto. NegLaB will receive total funding of around €9.3 million for three years and nine months. Added to this is a 22 percent total lump sum for indirect costs incurred from the projects. 

CRC 1177 – Molecular and Functional Characterization of Selective Autophagy
The CRC on selective autophagy was established in 2016. Led by Goethe University Frankfurt, it is now being extended for the second time. In addition to Goethe University, the universities of Mainz, Tübingen, Freiburg, Munich and Heidelberg, the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine are involved in this third funding period. Selective autophagy is part of the cellular waste disposal system, by means of which defective or otherwise harmful cellular components are degraded and disposed of. It plays a central role in maintaining cellular homeostasis and fulfills important functions related to aging and development. If this system does not function properly, this has an impact on the onset and progression of many diseases such as cancer, neurodegeneration and infections. The research consortium is investigating autophagy at a molecular and cellular level to discover how dysfunctions could be counteracted in the future. The consortium's success is driven by the use of state-of-the-art technologies that have been consequently expanded and refined. The third funding period will focus on the role of autophagy in neurodegenerative diseases, immune defense and inflammation. Other areas of interest include processes such as membrane remodeling and the dynamic turnover of cell organelles. The promotion of early career scientists is of major importance to the consortium, and a research training group was established for this purpose in the first funding period, such that the then still young field of autophagy research could continue to grow. CRC 1177 spokesperson is Prof. Dr. Ivan Đikić. The center will receive total funding of around €13.5 million, including indirect costs. 

Further information

Prof. Dr. Cecilia Poletto
Spokesperson for CRC 1629 Negation in language and beyond
Institute for Romance Languages
Goethe University Frankfurt
Tel. +49 (0)69 798-32056
E-Mail Poletto@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Homepage: http://www2.uni-frankfurt.de/44033754/Poletto 

Prof. Dr. Ivan Đikić
Spokesperson for CRC 1177 Molecular and Functional Characterization of Selective Autophagy
Institute of Biochemistry II, University Hospital Frankfurt
Goethe University Frankfurt
Tel. +49 (0)69 6301-5964
E-Mail dikic@biochem2.uni-frankfurt.de

Editor: Dr. Anke Sauter, Science Editor, PR & Communication Office, Tel: +49 (0)69 798-13066, Fax: +49 (0) 69 798-763 12531, sauter@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de

Bees, wasps and ants belong to the Hymenoptera order and inject a whole cocktail of venomous ingredients when they sting. Despite their tremendous ecological and economic importance, little was previously known about the origins of their venom. Through extensive genomic studies, a team of researchers led by Dr. Björn von Reumont from Goethe University Frankfurt has now discovered that typical venomous components were already present in the earliest ancestors of Hymenoptera and must therefore have evolved before the stingers of bees and other insects. What's more, and contrary to previous assumptions, the gene for the venom melittin is found solely in bees. 

Venoms have developed in many animal groups independently of each other. One group that has many venomous species is Hymenoptera, an insect order that also includes aculeates (stinging insects) such as bees, wasps and ants. Hymenoptera is very species-rich, with over 6,000 species of bees alone. And yet, despite the great ecological and economic importance of hymenopterans, very little is known about the evolutionary development of their venoms.

By means of comparative genomics, researchers led by Dr. Björn von Reumont, who is currently a visiting scientist in the Applied Bioinformatics Working Group at the Institute for Cell Biology & Neuroscience of Goethe University Frankfurt, have now examined systematically and for the first time how the most important components of the venom of bees and other hymenopteran taxa developed in the course of evolution. The toxins are complex mixtures composed of small proteins (peptides) and a few large proteins and enzymes. Stinging insects actively inject this poisonous cocktail into their prey or attackers with the help of a special sting apparatus. 

In the first step, the researchers identified which of the peptides and proteins in the venom were most prevalent in hymenopterans. To do this, they drew on information from protein databases, although this was sparse. In addition, they analyzed the proteins in the venoms of two wild bee species – the violet carpenter bee (Xylocopa violacea) and the great-banded furrow-bee (Halictus scabiosae) – as well as of the honeybee (Apis mellifera). They found the same 12 “families" of peptides and proteins in all the hymenopteran venoms analyzed. These are evidently a “common ingredient" in these venom cocktails. 

In collaboration with colleagues from the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB), the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the LOEWE Center for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE TBG), the research team then searched for the genes of these 12 peptide and protein families in the genome of 32 hymenopteran taxa, including sweat bees and stingless bees, but also wasps and ants such as the notorious fire ant (Solenopsis invicta). The differences in these genes, in some cases only the exchange of single letters of the genetic code, helped the scientists to determine the relationship between the genes of different species and later – with the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning – to compile a lineage of the venom genes. 

The surprising result was that many of the venom genes analyzed are present in all hymenopterans. Evidently the common ancestor of all hymenopteran taxa already possessed these genes. “This makes it highly probable that hymenopterans are venomous as an entire group," concludes von Reumont. “For other groups, such as Toxicofera, which includes snakes, anguids (lizards) and iguania, science is still debating whether the venoms can be traced back to a common ancestor or whether they evolved separately." 

Within Hymenoptera, only the stinging insects – bees, wasps and ants – have an actual stinger to administer the venom. The evolutionary old parasitic sawflies, by contrast, use their ovipositor along with their eggs to inject substances that alter their host plant's physiology: The sirex wood wasp (Sirex noctilio), for example, not only introduces a fungus into the plant, which facilitates the colonization of the wood by its larvae, but also its own poisonous cocktail with the venom proteins examined in the study. The purpose of these proteins is to create suitable conditions in the plant for the larvae. “This means that the sirex wood wasp can also be classified as venomous," says von Reumont. 

New venom components in bees are the gene for the peptide melittin and genes for representatives of the newly described protein family anthophilin-1. The fact that melittin is encoded by just one single gene came as a surprise to the researchers, as von Reumont explains: “Not only are there many different variants of melittin, but the peptide also accounts for up to 60 percent of the dry weight of bee venom. That is why science previously assumed that there must be many gene copies. We were able to disprove this quite clearly." Because they found the melittin gene only in bees, the researchers also invalidated the hypothesis that it belongs to a group of venom genes postulated for stinging insects called aculeatoxins. Von Reumont is convinced: “This shows us once again that genome data are the only way to draw meaningful conclusions about the evolution of venom genes." 

The Frankfurt study is the first one to show for an entire insect group with around one million species where venom genes originated and how they have developed. It provides a starting point for tracing the evolution of venom genes in the ancestors of Hymenoptera as well as specializations within the group. However, to be able to perform comparative genomics on a large scale, analysis methods for the partly very large protein families must first be automated. 

Publication: Ivan Koludarov, Mariana Velasque, Tobias Senoner, Thomas Timm, Carola Greve, Alexander Ben Hamadou, Deepak Kumar Gupta, Günter Lochnit, Michael Heinzinger, Andreas Vilcinskas, Rosalyn Gloag, Brock A. Harpur, Lars Podsiadlowski, Burkhard Rost, Timothy N. W. Jackson, Sebastien Dutertre, Eckart Stolle, Björn M. von Reumont: Prevalent bee venom genes evolved before the aculeate stinger and eusociality. BMC Biology, (2023) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-023-01656-5 

Picture download:
https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/146271865 

Caption: Components of the venom cocktail used by wild bees such as the Banded Mud-Bee (Megachile ericetorum) are evolutionarily older than their sting. Photo: Björn von Reumont 

Further information
Dr. Björn M. von Reumont
Visiting Scientist in the Applied Bioinformatics Working Group/Professor Ingo Ebersberger
Goethe University Frankfurt
Tel. +49(0)151-61997924
bmvr@reumont.net
http://www.venom-evolution.de 

Twitter/X: @BReumont @goetheuni @LOEWE_TBG @Leibniz_LIB @TU_Muenchen

Editor: Dr. Markus Bernards, Science Editor, PR & Communication Office, Tel: +49 (0) 69 798-12498, Fax: +49 (0) 69 798-763 12531, bernards@em.uni-frankfurt.de.