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Contain and treat the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 as quickly as possible – the Bavarian research alliance "FOR-COVID" will contribute to this with scientific findings relating to the virus and the COVID-19 disease. The alliance will be receiving 800,000 euros in funding from the Bavarian Ministry of Science. The spokesperson is Virologist Ulrike Protzer from the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

No political event has been as keenly anticipated as the US presidential election. The next day, scientists in Munich and Washington will analyze the result and the subsequent developments in a public online discussion at the Bavarian School of Public Policy at TUM.

For a person to acquire immunity to a disease, T cells must develop into memory cells after contact with the pathogen. Until now, the number of cells that do this was believed to depend above all on the magnitude of the initial immune response. A team of researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now called this into question.

Around 14,000 new students – a new record – have enrolled for the coming winter semester at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Building on the experience gained in a successful digital summer semester, TUM offers its approximately 44,000 students in Munich, Garching, Freising, Straubing and Heilbronn the excellent conditions need to succeed, even amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The German Federal Cabinet has appointed new members to the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). The three previous members were reconfirmed. Among the six new scientists being appointed to the advisory body for the first time is Prof. Jörg Drewes of the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

They look like microscopic bottle brushes: Polymers with a backbone and tufts of side arms. This molecular design gives them unusual abilities: For example, they can bind active agents and release them again when the temperature changes. With the help of neutrons, a research team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now succeeded to unveil the changes in the internal structure in course of the process.

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) ranks among the 50 best universities in the world in engineering, computer science, and in physical and life sciences. These are among the results of the THE World University Rankings by Subject. The highest position achieved by TUM is in computer science, where it is ranked 14th.

In the Europe-wide project "FIThydro" coordinated by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), researchers worked with industrial partners to study existing hydroelectric power plants. Based on their results, they have developed new assessment methods and technologies such as a fish population hazard index, fish migration simulations and an open-access decision support tool for power plant planning.

The dynamic change in root growth of plants plays an important role in their adjustment to soil conditions. Depending on the location, nutrients or moisture can be found in higher or lower soil layers. This is why, depending on the situation, a short or a long root is advantageous. Caroline Gutjahr, Professor of Plant Genetics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and her team investigate how plant hormones influence the growth of roots.

Germany's youth feel well informed about global issues such as poverty and climate change, feel qualified to judge such topics and they also indicate respect for people from other cultures. On the other hand they show little interest in learning about other cultures, they don't think they can do much to change global problems and are less involved in such issues, according to the results of the additional "Global Competence" survey in the most recent PISA study.