Press releases
TUM professor elected unanimously
Claudia Eckert becomes President of the National Academy of Science and Engineering
On 1 July 2025, Claudia Eckert will assume the office of Scientific President of acatech - National Academy of Science and Engineering. The professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Director of Fraunhofer AISEC was unanimously elected by the acatech Executive Board.
In conversation with the founder of Sailsetters, a TUM Student Club for educational equity
“A good education can change an entire life.”
Social inequality takes root from the very first day of an educational journey. Children from families without an academic background are much less likely to go to university. Johannes Michalke wants to change that. With “Sailsetters” he founded a TUM Student Club that supports disadvantaged children and young people. In our interview, he shares what drives him – and why equal opportunities in education benefit us all.
New explanation for sex differences in age-related diseases
Silent X chromosome awakens with age
Women age differently from men when it comes to health – particularly in conditions like cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia and Parkinson’s. A team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has proposed a new explanation for this. In aging female mice, genes on the previously silenced second X chromosome become active again. This mechanism might also influence women's health later in life.
Start-up NutriSen gets the laboratory on the field
Smart fertilization with biosensor strips
Precise fertilization using data from the field and from satellites - that is the idea behind NutriSen, a spin-off from the Technical University of Munich (TUM). The start-up has developed a measuring device and an application that farmers can use to generate highly precise and specific fertilization recommendations for their crops. The aim is to reduce nitrogen input and protect the environment.
New Cluster of Excellence TransforM
“Studying socio-technical shocks in real time”
The Cluster of Excellence TransforM aims to find new ways of conducting research into how transformative technologies shape societal change. In this interview, TransforM spokesperson Prof. Sebastian Pfotenhauer explains why it is essential for social and engineering sciences to face highly speculative questions, discusses how the public can be involved, and how a cluster of this kind could have enabled a different response to the covid pandemic.
ZDF MOMA Future
Robot Jack on the streets of Munich
The ZDF Morgenmagazin program focuses on Jack, a robot developed by researchers from Prof. Angela Schoellig's department at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). What makes him special: He moves through crowds almost intuitively, as he can predict people's movements to a certain extent.
New Cluster of Excellence NUCLEATE explores RNA and DNA
“We are witnessing a revolution in nucleic acid research”
The Technical University of Munich (TUM), Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU), and the University of Würzburg are joining forces in the new Cluster of Excellence NUCLEATE to explore the functions and regulation of nucleic acids. Alongside gaining fundamental insights, the researchers also aim to develop novel therapeutics based on these nucleic acids – laying the groundwork for the medicine of tomorrow. In this interview, Stefan Engelhardt, one of the cluster's three spokespeople and Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at TUM, explains the significance of this research.
Natural sciences, medicine, and social sciences are at the forefront
TUM to receive funding for seven Clusters of Excellence
The Technical University of Munich (TUM) has once again made a successful start to the highly competitive Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments: In the future, seven Clusters of Excellence at TUM and its cooperation partners will be funded, as announced by the German Research Foundation (DFG). That is three more than before.
Fostering start-ups in the field of security and defense
TUM Venture Labs and Hensoldt enter into a strategic partnership
TUM Venture Labs and sensor specialist Hensoldt will jointly promote start-ups focusing on security and defense in the future. The partnership aims to intensify the exchange between research and industry and to open up potential for future investments in promising deep tech start-ups. To this end, Hensoldt will become a platinum partner of TUM Venture Labs and assume a central role in the area of defense in the emerging technology ecosystem.
Solar battery based on porous organic material
Sunlight in - power out, long after sunset
This material acts like a solar reservoir – storing energy and releasing it as electricity long after sunset. The captured solar energy can thus also be used to supply electricity in the dark. For the first time, it has been possible to combine solar harvesting and long-term energy storage in a single, metal-free molecular framework – effectively merging the functions of a solar cell and a battery into a single, lightweight, and sustainable system.