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.

Contact:
Professor Dr Achim Rosch, Institute for Theoretical Physics
Professor Dr Klaus Meerholz, Department of Chemistry

Coordinator:
Dr Andreas Sindermann, Institut for Theoretical Physics

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.

Contact:
Professor Dr  Stanislav Kopriva, Botanical Institute

Coordinator:
Dr Cordula Jörgens, CEPLAS

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.

Contact: Professor Dr Carien Niessen, CECAD

Coordinator:Dr Sybille Grandel, CECAD Office

The key profile area "Cancer Biology and Medicine" is based on the strategic bundling of highly complementary expertise of scientists from various areas of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Cologne and the University Hospital Cologne.

The central starting point for research in the key profile area "Cancer Biology and Medicine" is the recent realisation that the emergence and further development of cancer cannot be reduced to the transformed cells themselves, but that it depends on the successful interaction of a mutated cell clone with its surrounding tissue ecosystem. In order to uncover new, therapeutic vulnerabilities of cancer, we consequently need to understand the mechanisms of co-evolution of cancer and its individual ecosystem. In the key profile area "Cancer Biology and Medicine", we are therefore working together in interdisciplinary teams to gain a better understanding of these mechanisms, with the aim of developing innovative future therapies that are based on the deep understanding of these processes and that are more effective at treating cancer than currently available therapies.

Contact:
Professor Dr Henning Walczak, Institute for Biochemistry I, Medical Faculty

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.

Contact:
Professor Dr Michaela Pelican, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology
Professor Dr Silke Hensel, Department of History
Professor Dr Javier Revilla-Diez, Geographical Institute

Coordinator:
Dr Clemens Greiner, Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology

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.

Within the Key Profile Area, since 2019 the Cluster of Excellence ECONtribute: Markets & Public Policy together with the University of Bonn is funded within the Excellence Strategy.

Contact:
Professor Dr. Bernd Irlenbusch
Professor Dr. Anne Gast, Social Cognition Center Cologne

Coordinator:
Dr Jennifer Mayer, Department of Economics

In much of the 20^th 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".

Contact:
Professor Dr. Nikolaus P. Himmelmann, Department of Linguistics
Professor Dr Pamela Perniss, Sign language linguistics and interpreting

Coordinator:
Tobias-Alexander Herrmann, Slavic Department/ Cologne Center of Language Sciences
Lena Wolberg, Department of Linguistics

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.

Contact:
Professor Dr Susanne Crewell, Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology
Professor Dr Christian Sohler, Institute of Computer Science
Professor Dr Tony Reimann, Institute of Geography

Coordinator:
Dr Katja Sperveslage, Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology

Our universe is full of fascinating, puzzling, and often surprising phenomena. Understanding and explaining these phenomena is the task of the new key profile area, "Dynamics of the Universe," which is dedicated to exploring precisely those non-linear physical processes and interconnections that govern the complex evolution of the cosmos.

Astronomy and astrophysics have a long tradition in the Cologne-Bonn region. Strongly supported by collaborative research centers, most recently SFB 1601, and thanks to well-organised infrastructure, the research hub has thus far been able to keep pace with the rapid developments in the field. Through the coordination of research at the participating partner institutes in Bonn (University of Bonn and MPIfR) and the Forschungszentrum Jülich, and by concentrating expertise in experimental, theoretical, and laboratory astrophysics as well as in detector and instrumentation development, the network remains internationally competitive and visible.

As astronomical observatories and instrumentation are now supported by large consortia, successful participation in international collaborations is crucial. This requires an efficient, synergistic foundation that offers long-term perspectives for research and the training of early-career scientists. The key profile area creates an excellent environment for education, early engagement with current research, and the exchange within international collaborations and competitions. Furthermore, interdisciplinary collaboration between physics, computer science, and applied mathematics is now being sustainably strengthened. This is particularly important to meet the challenges posed by the unprecedented volume of observational data with innovative ideas and algorithms, and to enable and efficiently advance complex simulations on the latest hardware technologies.

Contact: Professor Dr Stefanie Walch-Gassner, Astrophysics