Key Profile Areas (KPAs) are thematically defined research areas of high academic and/or societal relevance. They have substantial critical mass and are characterized by research at the highest international level. Research within the KPAs is transdisciplinary and integrated into networks that create synergies – both within the university and with non-university partners (such as Max Planck Institutes).
Each Key Profile Area is further developed, represented and managed by a Research Center.
Key profile areas (KPA)
Quantum Matter and Materials
In the Key Profile Area Quantum Matter and Materials (QM2), researchers of mathematics, experimental and theoretical physics, anorganic and physical chemistry, and crystallography collaborate to study new materials and unravel the properties of quantum matter.
This research brings together mathematical structures, physical theories, and the development of new materials, allowing for a wide range of applications. For example, researchers are exploring nanostructured materials, graphene, topological states of matter, and new states of matter arising from spin-orbit interactions. They are also active in the development of organic electronics. This KPA was successful in establishing the Cluster of Excellence Matter and Light for Quantum Computing (ML4Q) together with the RWTH Aachen University, the University of Bonn and the Forschungszentrum Jülich.
At the heart of the Key Profile Area is CEPLAS, the Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences. We are a joint initiative of the Universities of Cologne and Düsseldorf, the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, as well as Forschungszentrum Jülich. The mission of CEPLAS and focus of its research is to solve fundamental problems in plant science and generate knowledge that will guide tomorrow’s breeding strategies, thereby contributing science-based solutions to sustainable food security for a growing population. Our research aims at an understanding of the genetic mechanisms that control complex plant traits, to a level that enables the prediction of trait performance in an environmental context and allows rational trait (re-)design. In addition, CEPLAS has established first-class training and study programmes for undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral researchers to train the future generation of plant scientists.
At the core of this Key Profile Area is the Cluster of Excellence on Aging Research (CECAD) which was already acquired in the 1st funding round of the Excellence Initiative and is now in its third funding period.
CECAD provides an extremely dynamic environment for research on the aging process and aging-associated diseases.
The aim of CECAD is to understand the molecular mechanisms and common causes underlying the aging process. The vision of the Cluster is to enable the development of new therapies for aging-associated diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disorders. CECAD takes an interdisciplinary and international approach. Its outstanding teams working in six main research areas have established CECAD as a leading international research institution on aging.
The Key Profile Area Global South Studies wants to promote the national and international visibility of cultural, social, and economic changes in the Global South in the context of rapidly accelerating globalization processes.
The research area sees itself as an incubator for coordinated projects, creating the necessary infrastructure for the advancement of early-stage researchers. The Key Profile Area also contributes to comparative and interdisciplinary research on the connections and interrelations within the Global South, as well as between North and South.
In this context, research particularly focuses on material and immaterial exchange processes as well as the connections between continents, regions, and the metropolitan regions and their hinterlands.
Social and economic behavior influences the success of societies, politics, markets, organizations, and individuals. An understanding of the factors that influence human behavior and how it can be “guided” is thus essential for tackling the great challenges we face in today’s world. In recent years, laboratory experiments as well as new theories in psychology and economics have made significant progress towards understanding the basic principles of human behavior.
One central task of the KPA is to bring together the various research approaches and, based on this synthesis, to try to understand how insights from behavioral research can be applied in practice to resolve pressing social and economic issues.
Complementary research areas in this KPA are socio-psychological behavioral research and market design research.
In much of the 20th century, the Language Sciences have been primarily concerned with the search for (exceptionless) rules and universal structural principles with scant consideration for much of the variability observable in linguistic behaviour. In recent years, however, the issue of variability and variation has become a central concern, not only to the Languages Sciences but also to the Cognitive Sciences more generally. There are major differences in how individuals use language and how they learn. Human brains are highly variable and more often than not there are various ways in which they process language, depending on the cognitive skills (working memory, language ability) and styles (empathy, perspective-taking etc.).
The KPA "Skills and Structures in Language and Cognition"places the tension between the behaviour of individuals and the structures resulting from their interaction at the core of its research efforts. The basic hypothesis is that differences in social and cognitive skills and styles are at the root of much of the variability observable in linguistic behaviour and knowledge. The challenge is to develop a framework that accounts for individual behaviour, its crystallisation in diverse linguistic structures across time and space, and the underlying cognitive mechanisms (e.g., attention, categorisation, foregrounding, chunking etc.).
The current focus of the KPA's work is the Cluster Development Programme "Language Challenges".
By now, we know that humanity must urgently limit climate change which requires profound changes in the way of living, let it be transforming energy systems or avoiding loss of biodiversity. At the same time a new generation of tools is becoming available: novel Earth system observation approaches, highly resolved experimental data and simulations and intelligent computational methods such as machine learning, efficient algorithms or exascale computing. These provide an unprecedented potential to better understand the past, present and especially future climate as well as the evolution of the complex coupled Earth system.
Within the key profile area “Intelligent Methods for Earth System Sciences” we aim at close ties between Earth system sciences, related natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology), and computer science and mathematics. Such an interdisciplinary approach allows to reach out to applications for example within astronomy, environmental sciences, and energy economics. With the strong regional partners, i.e. the University of Bonn as well as Forschungszentrum Jülich, the University of Cologne (UoC) already founded the Center for Earth system observation and computational analysis (CESOC) connecting the European Centre for Medium-ranged Weather Forecast (ECMWF) to the research in this interdisciplinary field. Furthermore, the development of strong infrastructures, like the world-wide unique platform for geochronology at the UoC, is intended. Also, it is planned to further strengthen the competence centers within the Geoverbund ABC/J such as the Isotope GeoScience Centre (IGSC4i) and the Cloud and Precipitation Exploration Laboratory (CPEX-LAB).
With the KPA funding of the UoC, interdisciplinary collaboration in research will be extended, innovative teaching concepts developed, approaches to sustainability supported and outreach activities facilitated.
Key Profile Areas are established by the Rectorate on the basis of external expert opinions and the recommendation of the Scientific Advisory Board. They are established for a period of seven years with the possibility of renewal. Existing Key Profile Areas are evaluated on a regular basis.