Applications Open for the EuroTech Rising Stars Award 2026
The EuroTech Rising Stars Award 2026 honors early-career researchers whose ideas and research provide important momentum for the future. The focus is on researchers whose work has the potential to generate scientific, technological, societal, or economic impact.
TUM launches program for experienced leaders
In the coming years, many leaders in business, sports, and culture will step down from their operational roles. Yet their knowledge, judgment, and networks remain valuable – especially in times of technological upheaval and profound change. The new program of the TUM Institute for Life Long Learning combines professional experience with current science and technology as well as hands-on project work.
TUM publishes its second Sustainable Futures Report
Through its Sustainable Futures Strategy 2030, TUM aims to become a fully sustainable and climate-neutral university. Developed in collaboration with students and staff, the strategy defines six action fields and around 100 measures designed to integrate sustainability into everyday university operations. Key objectives include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanding sustainability-related research, and systematically embedding sustainability as a cross-cutting priority throughout the institution.
HappyRobot is the latest TUM unicorn
HappyRobot’s AI agents can automate time-consuming tasks: They conduct phone calls, draft emails and messages, process documents, and search websites. According to the company, the unicorn has now served more than 150 corporate customers. Founders Pablo Palafox (CEO) and Luis Paarup (CTO) met as students at TUM and received early support from TUM’s start-up advisory service. Pablo’s brother Javier Palafox (COO) is another co-founder. In 2022, the team received an EXIST start-up grant at TUM and was accepted into the TUM Incubator. They also received extensive support from the TUM Venture Labs and UnternehmerTUM. HappyRobot now supports the TUM student club TUM.ai in Munich. TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann said: “I congratulate HappyRobot and its founders on their outstanding success. Their path to success is exemplary and shows how visionary ideas, new knowledge, and the technical expertise of talented individuals can be translated into growth-oriented deep-tech companies in an environment that supports entrepreneurship. As Germany’s entrepreneurial flagship, we use our start-up activities to support the transformation of the German economy and thereby safeguard the state’s capacity to act, the education of future talent, the generation of knowledge and, ultimately, societal prosperity.”
Obesity drug significantly reduces the risk of serious cardiovascular events and infections
For their study, published in The BMJ, the researchers analyzed a large dataset from U.S. health insurance providers. They compared patients treated with tirzepatide versus patients treated with sitagliptin, a diabetes medication considered neutral with respect to cardiovascular outcomes. The results revealed clear advantages of the GLP-1 drug, which has also attracted widespread public attention in recent years as a weight-loss treatment. After one year, 4.4 percent of patients treated with the comparator drug had experienced a heart attack or stroke or had died. In the tirzepatide group, the rate was just 2.9 percent. This corresponds to a reduction in relative risk of about one-third.
The Class of 2026 Ready to Take Responsibility in the World
Perhaps the most heartwarming sight of the day was the joy on the parents' faces. Some of them had traveled a long way – from India, the Philippines, China, Indonesia, and other countries – to celebrate their children's graduation from the TUM Campus in Singapore. Many watched with tears of pride in their eyes.
Unprecedented biomass loss in Europe's forests since 2018
Unlike previous studies that focused solely on changes in tree cover, this study provides the first Europe-wide assessment of changes in forest biomass. To accomplish this, the research team combined satellite data on tree cover change with information on the amount of biomass stored in forests. Their analysis reveals a clear shift: since 2018, biomass losses have increased sharply, leading to substantially greater losses of carbon stored in forests. This increase in biomass loss coincided with a major rise in bark beetle outbreaks linked to worsening drought conditions. Since 2018, Europe has lost, on average, 46 percent more biomass per year per hectare of forest area than during the period from 1985 to 2017. While both timber harvesting and natural disturbances contribute to biomass losses, the researchers attribute the sharp increase since 2018 primarily to climate change-related events. “The changes since 2018 are difficult to explain without climate change. As droughts become more frequent and severe, trees are weakened and bark beetles benefit from increasingly favorable conditions. We expect such events to become more frequent in the future, so they need to be taken into greater account in forest management planning, especially if we intend to rely on Europe’s forests as carbon sinks,” says Katja Kowalski, a researcher at the Professorship of Earth Observation for Ecosystem Management at TUM and lead author of the study.
Elementary school children embrace the Olympic spirit
The event offered a wide range of hands-on sports activities and a joint fun run under the motto “Running in the Olympic Spirit.” Adding to the Olympic atmosphere were appearances by mono-ski athlete Anna Schaffelhuber, sprinter Alexandra Burghardt, and handball player Dominik Klein, all of whom have won major sports competitions and took part in the Olympic or Paralympic Games. The festival serves as the statewide kickoff of this year’s School Sports Week. This year’s program is dedicated to the Olympic and Paralympic Games and builds on the Olympic Declaration adopted by the German Conference of Ministers of Education on June 11, 2026. The initiative brings the Olympic and Paralympic Games – and the values they represent – to life for students.
TUM is expanding its strategic partnership with MIT
Through joint research projects, scientists from TUM MIRMI and MIT CSAIL are developing practical applications in AI-based robotics. To this end, researchers from TUM and MIT will spend three months each year at the partner institution, designing, testing and validating innovative technologies onsite. Two leading research centers in robotics and AI are joining forces MIT CSAIL Director Daniela Rus, who yesterday received the Bavarian Minister-President’s High-Tech Prize, is one of the world’s leading robotics researchers. She is regarded as a pioneer in the field of highly efficient neural networks (known as ‘liquid neural networks’) and robot collectives. She is a trailblazer in soft robotics, human-centered autonomous driving and AI modelled on the human brain. With just under 80 professors, TUM MIRMI is one of the world’s largest robotics and AI institutes. The Munich region is also regarded as one of the most important ecosystems for robotics and AI in Europe. Through its partnership with MIT, TUM is further strengthening its global expertise in robotics and AI. By bringing together renowned researchers from TUM and MIT, the partnership also enhances the region’s appeal to young talent. Research tandems: Understanding unfamiliar environments and making construction processes more efficient • In the first tandem, researchers led by Prof. Vincent Sitzmann of MIT, along with Prof. Achim Lilienthal and Dr Daniel Dücker from TUM, are working on the development of new AI models for robotic systems that learn from large amounts of unstructured sensor data. Among other approaches, generative AI based on large video models will be used for flexible path planning in complex and unfamiliar environments. The aim is to achieve better generalization to new tasks and previously unseen scenarios. • In the second tandem, the research team – led by Prof. Mina Konaković Luković of MIT and Prof. Kathrin Dörfler from TUM – is focusing on developing AI-supported methods for sustainable robotic manufacturing processes. The aim is to combine computational design, digital twins and robotic manufacturing. Dr. Daniel Dücker from TUM, the scientific coordinator of the strategic partnership, hopes the partnership will provide “a further boost to our research and an important impetus for closer collaboration”. Even before the partnership was established, the MIRMI researcher had already conducted research at MIT. Develop forward-looking solutions in AI-based robotics Markus Blume, Bavarian Minister of State for Science, said: “MIT and TUM – a perfect match! MIT CSAIL stands for scientific excellence and boldly shaping the future. This fits perfectly with TUM. Our shared vision: to improve people’s lives through high-tech innovation. Our high-tech award winner, robotics pioneer and CSAIL Director Daniela Rus is a champion of international collaboration. It’s wonderful that she embodies the connection between Boston and Bavaria, between MIT and TUM, through this partnership.” TUM President Prof. Hofmann said: “I am delighted that, through the strategic partnership between TUM MIRMI and MIT CSAIL, we have now secured one of the best and most experienced partners in the field of robotics and AI. In the first research tandems, we will now work together to develop forward-looking solutions in the field of AI-based robotics.” The Executive Director of MIRMI and TUM spokesperson for the strategic partnership, Prof. Lorenzo Masia, says: “In partnership with MIT and the associated research tandems, we have found a new form of collaboration that offers our early-career researchers, in particular, an ideal opportunity for exchange at the highest scientific level.” Daniela Rus, Director of MIT CSAIL and spokesperson for the strategic partnership on behalf of MIT, explains: “MIT and TUM share a commitment to advancing science that matters: science that is both visionary and deeply connected to real-world impact. Through this collaboration, we have an opportunity to combine MIT’s and TUM’s synergistic and complementary strengths: long-term scientific ambition, world-class research talent, close engagement with industry, and living labs where new ideas can be tested, refined, and brought to life. I have long admired the work of TUM MIRMI, and I am very much looking forward to working with Prof. Lorenzo Masia and his team to grow this partnership and help shape the future of AI, robotics, and human-centered technology.”
MCube MOSAIQ begins street redesign projects in the Schwabing-West and Moosach neighborhoods
Ideas are turning into concrete changes in public spaces: Following an extensive public participation and planning process, the MCube project MOSAIQ ("Mobility and Urban Climate in the Neighborhood of the Future") is beginning to implement a series of temporary interventions in the Munich neighborhoods of Schwabing-West and Moosach. In Schwabing-West, installation will begin at the end of July 2026. In Moosach, installation is expected to begin in mid-August 2026. The redesigns will be implemented in stages and are expected to be largely completed by mid-September 2026. They will then be tested in everyday use and scientifically evaluated for about a year. The project is scheduled to run until approximately mid-September 2027. Over the winter, the installations will be adapted and prepared for winter conditions. Starting in spring 2027, further additions may follow based on on-site experience. MCube MOSAIQ addresses three key challenges facing existing urban neighborhoods: adaptation to climate change, safe and attractive mobility, and a higher quality of life in limited public spaces. This temporary implementation makes it possible to test new solutions in real-life settings, measure their effects, and further develop them in collaboration with local residents.
Dr. Karl Wamsler Innovation Award honors Frances H. Arnold and Tao Zhang
Frances H. Arnold is Professor at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). She received the award in recognition of her groundbreaking contributions to biocatalysis and the directed evolution of enzymes. Tao Zhang is Director of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a Hans Fischer Senior Fellow at the TUM Institute for Advanced Study. He was honored in particular for his pioneering work in pioneering and establishing the concept of single-atom catalysis.
Turning solar power into protein
Viktoria Lehmann, a doctoral researcher at the TUM Chair of Chemistry of Biogenic Resources, describes one potential application for biotechnologically produced amino acids: “A dairy cow needs far more than the grass growing in its pasture. High milk yields require supplemental protein, which is typically supplied through animal feed. These feeds are enriched with amino acids, the chemical building blocks of proteins. Across livestock production systems worldwide, millions of tons of amino acids are used as feed additives. However, their production consumes large amounts of land, water, and other resources. We wanted to find a more resource-efficient way to meet this protein demand.” In a recently published study, the team demonstrated its approach. The concept behind it: solar energy is converted into electricity using photovoltaic systems. This electricity is used to generate hydrogen, which, together with carbon dioxide, is converted into methanol—an alcohol widely used in industry as a chemical precursor. Specialized enzymes then convert the methanol step by step into amino acids. Which amino acid is produced depends on the specific enzymes used. “Plants use sunlight to build biomass, but they are relatively inefficient at doing so. We are investigating an alternative pathway in which renewable energy is first converted into chemical energy carriers and then into valuable protein building blocks,” says Volker Sieber, Professor of Chemistry of Biogenic Resources and Rector of the TUM Campus Straubing. “In the long term, this approach could help make more productive use of available land and enable a more sustainable production of amino acids.”
Making the case for Munich's Olympic bid
At the TUM Campus in the Olympic Park, past and future, elite sport and world-class research come together. Fifty years after the 1972 Summer Olympics, TUM’s Department of Sport and Health Sciences moved into an award-winning new facility featuring state-of-the-art sports and diagnostic infrastructure in May 2022. Now, the Free State of Bavaria, the City of Munich, and TUM aim to use this location to help lay the groundwork for a sporting event that could leave a lasting legacy for the city: the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036, 2040, or 2044. After the Munich Olympic concept was presented to representatives of German sports federations on June 18, the focus on July 21 was on the details of how scientific innovation, athletic practice, and performance development can work together under the umbrella of the Munich Performance & Innovation Hub in close cooperation with the Bavarian Olympic Training Center. During a tour of the campus, participants gained insights into topics including prevention, training and fundamental research, sports technology, brain health, and personal development in elite sport.
Why low-skilled workers are less likely to participate in continuing education
The research team from TUM Campus Heilbronn and the ifo Institute surveyed approximately 3,700 employees aged 25 to 55 in 2024. The sample is representative of the German working population in this age group in terms of gender and age. In the twelve months prior to the survey, 67 % of higher-skilled employees had participated in further training, but only 45 percent of lower-skilled employees had done so. This finding confirms the current state of research, which indicates that less-skilled workers and older employees are less likely to take advantage of continuing education opportunities. However, little research has been conducted to date on the expectations underlying this behavior. The research team therefore asked participants, in two hypothetical scenarios, how they assess their professional situation six years from now. The questions focused on their expectations regarding income, professional success, career opportunities and job quality. In the first scenario, the participants engaged in regular further training; in the second, they did not. On average, employees expect their earnings after six years to be about nine percent higher with continuing education than without it. “This means that employees have a very realistic picture,” says study author Hanna Brosch from the Professorship of Economics at TUM Campus Heilbronn. “Research estimates the actual effects to be of a similar extent.” There is little difference between highly and less highly qualified individuals in their expectations regarding percentage income gains.
TUM Campus Heilbronn strengthens its expertise in chip design
Modern AI applications rely not only on powerful software, but increasingly on specialized hardware as well. Expertise in chip design is therefore a key foundation for energy-efficient AI applications, embedded systems, industrial automation, and connected machines and products. With this new specialization, TUM is strengthening its expertise at the intersection of information engineering, microelectronics, and AI, and educating specialists for a field of significant technological and economic importance. At the same time, TUM is linking its research to the Heilbronn region's innovation and industrial ecosystem and creating connections among academia, innovation centers, and technology-oriented companies.
Can cooking help prevent colorectal cancer?
On a stovepot, onion skins, parsley stems and other vegetable scraps that would normally end up in the compost are gently simmering. Next to them, plantains are cooking. A young man chops walnuts while, across the counter, pitted dates are spread out on a baking sheet. Crumbled tofu mixed with peanut butter sizzles in a frying pan. Between cutting boards and pots, laughter fills the room. Around 20 participants have gathered on this Saturday in the teaching kitchen at the Institute of Clinical Nutrition Medicine on TUM’s Olympiapark campus. Together with the student team behind Science Snack, they prepare plant-based dishes ranging from dips to dessert. Every ingredient has been chosen with care. The recipes are all built around a question many people rarely consider in everyday life: What role does nutrition play in gut health? “Food brings people together, and when you’re chopping, cooking and tasting side by side, it becomes much easier to talk about topics like gut health and colorectal cancer prevention,” says chef Viet Ha Dietrich Nguyen. “It doesn’t feel like a lecture – it feels like a normal conversation.”
Launching a start-up through a master’s thesis
“Creating value out of nothing – that idea fascinated me immensely.” While studying informatics, Nils Börner realized he wanted to found a start-up. But with what product? “For a long time, I didn’t have an idea. As my studies progressed, I learned that you can also systematically search for a market niche. But if the Entrepreneurial Masterclass hadn’t been there as a starting point, things would probably have turned out very differently.” Guiding entrepreneurial-minded students and putting research findings from master’s theses into practice is the idea behind the TUM Entrepreneurial Masterclass, which is unique in Germany. “We want to leverage the untapped potential that lies dormant in master’s theses and that also stemmed from the fact that academic studies and the entrepreneurship ecosystem sometimes didn’t align,” says program manager Tim Bernhard. Over the first six years of the program, more than 500 participants have contributed to the creation of a start-up – either their own or, directly or indirectly, other companies. That’s because there are three different tracks in the Masterclass. Nils Börner chose the Startup Creation Track. “The application deadline really sped up the search for a business idea,” says Börner with a smile. He focused on a problem in freight forwarding: unnecessary routes that forklifts take when handling goods. In his master’s thesis, Börner investigated how this problem could be solved using mathematical optimization. “The TUM Entrepreneurial Masterclass isn’t about writing a business plan and submitting it as a thesis,” emphasizes Prof. Anne Tryba, one of the academic directors. “The academic standards are as high as for all TUM theses. Students tackle a problem whose relevance extends beyond their own start-up project.”
TUM develops intelligent 3D twins of crime scenes
The Bavarian State Criminal Police Office already uses 3D models of crime scenes today. Hundreds or even thousands of photographs are combined to create digital reconstructions that can support investigations long after evidence has been collected. In their joint research project, however, TUM and the BLKA are taking this concept a step further: the virtual crime scene should not only be viewed, but also queried. “I am looking for a red jacket,” “How many knives are in the room?” or “Show me all sharp objects” – in the future, specialized AI software will be able to answer questions like these directly. To make this possible, the researchers are developing methods that automatically identify, classify, and catalogue objects within a digital crime scene. Objects of interest are highlighted in the model and can immediately be incorporated into investigative work.
Testing materials for fusion power plants
Inside a fusion reactor, materials are simultaneously exposed to extreme temperatures, mechanical stress, and intense particle radiation. This alters the crystal lattice, creates defects and pores, and can cause material failure. Affected materials include ferritic steels such as EUROFER97, tungsten and tungsten alloys for the reactor inner wall, as well as copper alloys for cooling components. Under neutron bombardment, rhenium also forms in tungsten - a change that affects the material properties. This is where FUMA comes in, the “Competence Center for the Optimization of Fusion Materials.” It brings together one positron research group and three neutron research groups from FRM II, as well as two IPP groups whose methods complement one another. One group is investigating additively manufactured components and welded joints, while another is analyzing pores and internal stresses under industry-relevant conditions. “With our positron spectroscopy at FRM II, we want to understand material damage at the atomic level,” explains project coordinator Prof. Christoph Hugenschmidt of TUM. “Using the antiparticles of electrons, we can trace how the smallest defects develop into larger structures that ultimately determine the service life of a material.” Prof. Christian Pfleiderer, Scientific Director at FRM II, adds: “The neutron methods used at FRM II provide unique insights into the structure of fusion materials, from the atomic scale to the millimeter scale.” Hugenschmidt explains why Garching offers ideal conditions for the project: “Here on site, IPP contributes outstanding expertise on materials and components for a future fusion reactor.” In addition, the site offers unique experimental capabilities: heat loads of up to 20 megawatts per square meter, as well as targeted material damage caused by neutron irradiation, can be studied under realistic conditions. The long-term goal is to be able to reliably predict the service life of materials in a fusion reactor. The groups are jointly developing a measurement program: IPP defines the research priorities for materials-related questions and prepares samples, while the analysis groups at FRM II continue to improve their neutron- and positron-based instruments and investigate the damage mechanisms.
Medical AI – a look ten years into the future
The digital platform is now available at https://gesund-mit-ki.de/ (German only). It presents concrete, everyday scenarios across five stages of life. How might intelligent wearables support Clara, 34, and her unborn child throughout pregnancy in 2036? How could AI help diagnose the rare condition of 16-year-old Lena? How might it save the life of Sebastian, 55, after a stroke? And how will assistive robots support older people in need of care ten years from now? Each story is based on the expertise of researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU), and Helmholtz Munich, and reflects the current state of research. In addition to these patient stories, the researchers also address broader questions such as: “Will people with serious illnesses increasingly be filtered out before birth?” and “How will drugs be developed in the years ahead?” The platform’s content will be continuously expanded in the coming weeks.
How fair does AI seem in job interviews?
Companies are increasingly using artificial intelligence in their hiring processes. It’s not just CVs that are evaluated automatically. AI tools can also conduct job interviews – usually in the form of avatars, which are animated characters – and make hiring decisions. An important reason for this, aside from saving time, is that AI is said to be less biased than humans. “What has been largely overlooked so far is that we all unconsciously react to the avatars’ appearance, even when we know we’re talking to a machine. That’s why a conversation with artificial intelligence becomes a social interaction as soon as it behaves like a human,” says Enkelejda Kasneci, professor of Human-Centered Technologies for Learning at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). A team of researchers from TUM and Lund University therefore investigated how applicants perceive AI decisions in job interviews depending on the avatar’s appearance. For the study, approximately 220 participants from Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States conducted a short simulated job interview for a fictional position in a company’s customer support department. They were interviewed by a photorealistic avatar capable of reacting to their answers and asking follow-up questions in a human-like manner. The research team had programmed four variants to embody the AI. The avatars were either female or male and had either dark or light skin. The participants’ eye movements were monitored using eye-tracking technology. After the interview, they completed a questionnaire.
Prof. Peus and Prof. Winkelmann re-elected as Vice Presidents
Management researcher Claudia Peus has been responsible for the area of Talent Management and Diversity since 2017. This also includes topics such as equal opportunity and continuing education. In addition, she heads the TUM Institute for LifeLong Learning (IL3). Physician and neurogeneticist Juliane Winkelmann has been responsible for the area of International Alliances and Alumni since 2017 and thus, in a sense, serves as TUM’s foreign minister. Seats on the Executive Board are assigned for three-year terms. In total, the Executive Board comprises 14 members. The body leads TUM and is responsible for its strategic higher education policy goals and the dynamic development of the university of excellence.
Better prediction of volcanic eruptions
The more forcefully lava rises from the Earth's interior toward the surface, the more gases are released. Carbon and sulfur compounds are good indicators of current activity in a volcanic field. In particular, the ratio of carbon dioxide to sulfur dioxide provides insight into what is happening beneath the Earth’s surface. Until now, these measurements had to be taken from ground level. The drawback is that the gases measured there do not originate solely from volcanic activity but are also emitted by surrounding vegetation and soil. To minimize these background signals, drones are now being used to fly above the gas clouds. “This is more precise and safer,” says Prof. Achim Lilienthal, deputy director of the TUM MIRMI Robotics Institute and head of the Chair of Perception for Intelligent Systems at the TUM School of Computation, Information, and Technology. Autonomous measurement of gases over a volcanic field As part of the DFG research project “Measurement Technology on Flying Platforms,” his research team has now developed a system capable of determining gas concentrations over an active volcanic field with high precision. TUM researcher Marius Schaab has now deployed the system autonomously for the first time on the Aeolian island of Vulcano, off the coast of Sicily. He has mounted a laser on a small cart that automatically locates an airborne drone and aligns itself with a reflector on the drone. The reflected beam is slightly weakened as it passes through the gas cloud because it is absorbed by the gas being measured — in this case, carbon dioxide.
