ESF Early-Career Researcher Groups

Topic: Mobility for Saxony (MofoSa) – Establishment, development and validation of the new Saxon data corpus for AI-based data analysis and optimised mobility analysis using heterogeneous data (vehicle, passenger and sensor data)

Duration: 1 November 2025 – 30 October 2028

Project leader: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Roschke

Participating professors: Prof. Dr. Ing. Matthias Baumgart, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Marc Ritter, Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Matthias Vodel

Brief description: The ‘Mobility for Saxony’ early-career research group is working on the development of a mobility dataset for small towns and rural areas in Saxony. The dataset focuses on mobility and sensor data, which are intended for use in various aspects of the mobility transition, such as the development of infrastructure (e.g. roads, charging points for electric vehicles) and the establishment of new mobility concepts (e.g. car-sharing). In addition to identifying needs, the project also encompasses the conceptual planning and implementation of sensor networks that enable the collection of mobility and passenger data. In this context, the early-career research group is focusing on the topics of data synchronisation, aggregation, analysis and evaluation. The aim of the project is to create a Saxony-based mobility dataset and to support the early-career researchers in completing their doctoral theses.

Topic: Plastic metallisation using laser-induced activation and computer-aided process modelling (KAP)

Duration: 1 January 2024 – 31 December 2026

Project leader: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Frank Köster

Participating professors: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Steffen Weißmantel, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Klaus Dohmen, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Hahn

Brief description: This interdisciplinary group of early-career researchers aims to replace the complex and cost-intensive wet chemical pre-treatment process for plastic metallisation by introducing a new process sequence, consisting of laser beam application followed by direct electroplating, to replace the complex and cost-intensive wet chemical pre-treatment process for plastic metallisation. The new process is to be supported by the development of computer-aided modelling for laser treatment. This new process chain is intended to enable sustainable, resource-efficient, environmentally friendly and worker-friendly metallisation of plastics, whilst at the same time making it possible to utilise the full range of plastics available for metallisation.

Topic: Data Transparency in Smart Homes

Duration: 1 January 2024 – 31 December 2026

Project leader: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dirk Labudde

Participating professors: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Michael Spranger, Prof. Ronny Bodach, Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Dirl Pawlaszczyk

Brief description: The objectives include significantly expanding the researchers’ expertise in the fields of IT security, data protection and IT forensics. This is crucial for closing security gaps, detecting and mitigating attacks, and ensuring the stability of smart home devices and connected IoT systems. Furthermore, the project aims to build trust in smart home technologies in order to promote environmentally friendly and energy-efficient solutions, thereby contributing to a green and sustainable economy. The research findings are intended to facilitate a significant transfer of knowledge and technology between the university and Saxony’s business community, enabling companies to design their products in a way that is both more secure and compliant with data protection regulations. The establishment of the early-career research group also promotes networking between universities and businesses, supports the strengthening of the regional economy and facilitates the formation of new partnerships.

Topic: FioKo – Promoting women through individual and organisational skills in education and work (STEM)

Duration: 1 January 2023 – 31 December 2025

Project leader: Prof. Dr. phil. Ramona Kusche

Participating professors: TU Dresden: Prof. Dr Rolf Koerber, Prof. Dr Manuela Niethammer, Prof. Dr Petra Kemter-Hofmann, Prof. Dr Nico Link (until 31 December 2024), Prof. Dr Stephan Abele (from 1 January 2025), Henriette Greulich (ZiLL) TU Bergakademie Freiberg: Prof. Dr Karina Sopp, Prof. Dr Jutta Stumpf-Wollersheim Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences: Prof. Dr Maja Dshemuchadse, Prof. Dr Raj Kollmorgen

Brief description: Although the advancement of women is regularly called for by politicians and society at large, women remain under-represented in academia and large parts of the business world. Valuable insights into the reasons for the under-representation of women have already been gained in the past. Nevertheless, our knowledge regarding the impact of practical measures to promote women remains very limited. A comprehensive examination of the spectrum from school education through to careers in STEM fields in Saxony is therefore necessary. To achieve this, this project brings together not only two universities (TUD, TUBAF) and two Universities of Applied Sciences (Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences) are collaborating on this project; furthermore, partnerships are planned with numerous other organisations, including schools and vocational colleges, companies and start-ups in the STEM sector, as well as mentoring and coaching networks. The early-career research group comprises graduates from various disciplines such as economics, psychology, education and the social sciences. Most of them bring with them the experience and specialist knowledge gained from their previous collaboration in the early-career research group GAP – Gender Representation in Higher Education Projects (duration: 2020–2022).

Topic: Laser technologies for a forward-looking and sustainable Saxon economy – LaNa-Sax

Duration: 1 January 2023 – 31 December 2024

Project leader: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Richard Börner

Participating professors:
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Steffen Weißmantel; Prof. Dr.-Ing. André Streek

Brief description: The main objective of the project is to realise the individual educational potential of early-career researchers:against the backdrop of climate change, within the highly complex field of digital laser technologies and their applications, and specifically in the areas of laser-based Biophotonics and its focus on the resource-efficient use of high-throughput methods in medical diagnostics and the pharmaceutical industry, the production of super-hard amorphous and complex crystalline thin films using burst-mode femtosecond laser pulse ablation, the surface modification of composite materials using burst-mode ultrashort-pulse laser radiation, the development of highly efficient micro-heat exchangers and fluid systems using micro-SLM and the direct 3D Printing of ceramic battery components as a contribution to meeting the growing demand for highly qualified academic specialists in the field of digital and energy-efficient, resource-efficient laser technologies in the Free State of Saxony. In doing so, the young university graduates are to be trained in personnel and project management through the co-supervision of research interns and Bachelor’s/Master’s theses at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, whilst also developing their teaching skills. The latter skills, in particular, are essential not only for the dissemination of knowledge – that is, knowledge transfer – but also for presenting research findings to colleagues, project partners and at conferences. Through the implementation of this project, early-career academics will be empowered, within the framework of joint research activities, to facilitate knowledge and technology transfer and to build networks between Mittweida University of Applied Sciences and Saxon companies. This includes both expanding existing and establishing new collaborative relationships with Saxon industrial companies in the fields of Biophotonics and laser-based additive manufacturing for the the (further) development of energy-efficient, resource-conserving laser processes, and the preparation of early-career researchers for roles in relevant companies once the projects outlined here have been completed. Through collaboration with the Saxon partner companies, early-career researchers are also intended to acquire organisational skills and a business perspective on research and its results, as well as knowledge in the field of Business Administration through cost estimates.

Link to project outline

Topic: Digital laser technologies for the development of Saxony’s economy

Duration: 1 January 2022 – 31 December 2022

Project leader: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Richard Börner

Participating professors: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Steffen Weißmantel

Brief description: The main objective of the project is to maximise the individual educational potential of early-career researchers against the backdrop of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the highly complex field of digital laser technologies and their applications, in particular laser-based Biophotonics and its digitalisation (Topics 1 and 2), the biomimetic micro- and nanostructuring of solid-state surfaces (Topic 3) and the formation of alloys on solid-state surfaces through remelting using ultrashort laser pulses in the MHz, GHz and combined MHz/GHz burst(pulse train) mode (Topic 4), as a contribution towards meeting the growing demand for highly qualified academic specialists in the field of digital and energy-efficient laser technologies in the Free State of Saxony. In this context, the young university graduates are to be trained in personnel and project management through their involvement in supervising research interns and Bachelor’s/Master’s theses at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, whilst also developing their teaching skills. The latter skills, in particular, are essential for the dissemination of knowledge – that is, knowledge transfer – as well as for the presentation of knowledge, for example in the form of research findings, to and in front of colleagues and partners. Through the implementation of this project, these early-career academics will contribute to knowledge and technology transfer and to the development of networks between Mittweida University of Applied Sciences and Saxon companies as part of the joint research work.

Link to the project page

Topic: GAP – Gender representation in ESF projects in higher education and research

Duration: 1 October 2020 – 31 October 2022

Project leader: Prof. Dr. phil. Ramona Kusche

Participating professors:
TU Dresden: Prof. Dr Petra Kemter-Hofmann, Prof. Dr Rolf Koerber, Prof. Dr Karl Lenz, Prof. Dr Manuela Niethammer, Henriette Greulich (ZiLL)
TU Bergakademie Freiberg: Prof. Dr Karina Sopp, Prof. Dr Jutta Stumpf-Wollersheim
TU Chemnitz: Prof. Dr Leena Bröll
Zittau-Görlitz University of Applied Sciences: Prof. Dr Maja Dshemuchadse, Prof. Dr Raj Kollmorgen

Brief description: The debate surrounding the number of women in leadership positions in academia in Germany centres on the question of why, despite considerable efforts to promote women, significantly fewer women go on to pursue a career in academia. The positive developments that have already taken place have progressed more slowly in Germany than in other European countries. The ESF Early-Career Research Group GAP is therefore undertaking three tasks with regard to Saxony:

1. To identify the reasons for the gender imbalance within the ESF programmes.
2. To identify which of these causes lie within the higher education system.
3. To develop recommendations for action on how the identified causes can be eliminated or addressed within higher education institutions or the programmes themselves.

The work covers all three ESF areas (Early-Career Research Groups, doctoral scholarships and academic success schemes). The findings will help to ensure equal gender participation in future ESF measures across higher education institutions as a whole and to remove barriers within the system that prevent this.

Topic: Machine Learning and AI: Theory and Applications

Duration: 1 January 2020 – 28 February 2023

Project leader: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Thomas Villmann

Participating professors: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Röbbe Wünschiers, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander Lampe

Brief description: The aim of the project is for the young researchers participating in the Early-Career Research Group to enhance their specialist expertise in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI-ML) through collaborative research, to learn how to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and technology relating to AI from academia to industry, and to establish appropriate networking structures. The skills acquired during the project are intended to enable them, as highly motivated and exceptionally well-trained academic specialists, to act as catalysts for Saxony’s business and academic sectors, thereby boosting the Free State of Saxony’s capacity for innovation. The development of an AI infrastructure in the Free State of Saxony will thus be strengthened in the long term.

Topic: Development of innovative laser technologies for Saxony’s economy (Eila-Sax)

Duration: 1 September 2018 – 31 October 2021

Project leader: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Udo Löschner

Participating professors: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Horst Exner, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Alexander Horn, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Udo Löschner, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Steffen Weißmantel

Brief description: The main objective of the project ‘Development of Innovative Laser Technologies for the Saxon Economy (Eila-Sax)’ is to provide postgraduate, individual training for the young university graduates involved in the project in the highly complex fields of laser technology: micro- and nanostructuring of solid-state surfaces, micro-scale 3D Printing and high-performance optical measurement technology, thereby helping to meet the growing demand for highly qualified academic specialists in the field of laser technologies in the Free State of Saxony. As part of this, the young university graduates will be trained in personnel and project management through co-supervising research interns and Bachelor’s/Master’s theses at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, and will also acquire advanced teaching skills for presenting results. Through the implementation of the project, young academics will be empowered, within the framework of joint research activities, to facilitate knowledge and technology transfer and to foster networking between Mittweida University of Applied Sciences and Saxon companies. Further objectives of the project include conducting practice-oriented research in the fields of laser material processing and laser measurement technology at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, and creating the conditions for the industrial application of the innovative technologies and devices developed in regional companies.

Topic: Harnessing mobile sensor data for audience research through interactive machine learning methods (Agile Publika)

Duration: 1 September 2017 – 31 August 2020

Project leader: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Hösel

Participating professors: Prof. Klaus Liepelt, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Zimmer, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Marc Ritter, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Kristan Schneider

Brief description: The AGILE PUBLIKA early-career research group is developing a generic integrated system for: - continuous monitoring using ICT (mobile sensors, social media); - analysis using context-induced pattern recognition techniques and methods of empirical network analysis; - forecasting, based on agent-based simulation models; - visualisation of regional audience movements. The workflows within the integrated system are based on a systems theory approach: models are interactively evaluated and optimised through the injection of human knowledge and context. The aim is not purely automated exploration, but interactive exploration through hypothesis-based modelling. The fields of application are granular (stratified down to individual neighbourhoods), specific to Saxony, but also scalable beyond the regional level. The focus is on the patterns of self-organisation underlying all markets, which can be observed in near real time using similar methods. The early-career research group is part of the ‘Innovative Media Technologies’ research profile at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences (www.forschung.hs-mittweida.de) and is developing new approaches to the case-specific observation, analysis, visualisation and simulation of complex audience movements.

Topic: Security and Safety Solutions for Automation and Fabrication Environments (3-SAFE)

Duration: 1 July 2017 – 30 June 2020

Project leader: Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Dirk Pawlaszczyk

Participating professors: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dirk Labudde, Prof. Dr. Christian Hummert, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Olaf Hagenbruch

Brief description: The planned project focuses on training early-career academics in the fields of IT security, digital forensics, embedded systems and automation. Through the joint research work of the project members, the transfer of knowledge and technology between Saxon universities and companies in the Saxon economy is to be further intensified. The young university graduates involved in the project are making an active contribution to meeting the growing demand for highly qualified academic specialists in the Free State of Saxony. At the same time, the project aims to facilitate the career entry of this academic talent into the Saxon business sector. The clearly application-oriented research and the associated results make an important contribution to small and medium-sized enterprises. A further aim of the project is to further expand the body of knowledge in the field of IT security at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences. The aim of the research project is to develop concrete technical solutions and guidelines for IT security in automation and manufacturing.

Topic: Development of innovative process and equipment models, as well as training concepts for the resource-efficient manufacture of high-stress components – MoQuaRT –

Duration: 1 July 2016 – 31 August 2019

Project leader: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Leif Goldhahn

Participating professors: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Frank Köster, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Eckhard Wißuwa

Brief description: The aim of the project is to provide postgraduate training for early-career researchers within an interdisciplinary research group at the Faculty of Engineering Sciences at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences. The aim is to develop an integrated model from suitable sub-models – designed according to the areas of specialisation of the participating professorships – which accurately represents the resource stocks and consumption of a manufacturing system. This comprehensive, realistic representation will make it possible to analyse this consumption and to counteract unjustified consumption through appropriate measures. The highly complex manufacture of gravure printing plates, gravure sleeves and embossing cylinders could serve as an exemplary area of application. The surface of such rollers must offer a high level of wear resistance. They must first be machined and then electroplated. This is achieved through the use of different processes, as well as process variants and parameters, and the aim is to be able to describe these in future using (comparative) models, which will be integrated into an overall model.

Further information can be found on the project website.

Topic: Ultra-precision laser processing (UltraLas)

Duration: 1 July 2015 – 31 December 2019

Project leader: Prof. Dr rer. nat. Steffen Weißmantel

Participating professors: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Horst Exner, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Alexander Horn, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Udo Löschner

Brief description: The main objective of the project is the individual postgraduate training and further education of the young university graduates involved in the project in the fields of laser technology relating to the micro- and nanostructuring of solid-state surfaces, laser microsintering technology, surface coating technology, optical components for laser beam shaping and measurement technology. This is intended to help meet the growing demand for highly qualified academic specialists in the Free State of Saxony and thereby address the challenges of demographic change in Saxony. Furthermore, the implementation of the project is intended to enable these early-career academics, within the framework of joint research activities, to contribute to knowledge and technology transfer and to the establishment of networks between Mittweida University of Applied Sciences and Saxon companies. They are to carry out practice-oriented research in the field of ultra-precision laser processing and lay the foundations for its industrial application.

Topic: Ultra-precision laser processing (UltraLas)

Duration: 1 July 2015 – 31 December 2019

Project leader: Prof. Dr rer. nat. Steffen Weißmantel

Participating professors: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Horst Exner, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Alexander Horn, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Udo Löschner

Brief description: The main objective of the project is the individual postgraduate training and further education of the young university graduates involved in the project in the fields of laser technology relating to the micro- and nanostructuring of solid-state surfaces, laser microsintering technology, surface coating technology, optical components for laser beam shaping and measurement technology. This is intended to help meet the growing demand for highly qualified academic specialists in the Free State of Saxony and thereby address the challenges of demographic change in Saxony. Furthermore, the implementation of the project is intended to enable these early-career academics, within the framework of joint research activities, to contribute to knowledge and technology transfer and to the establishment of networks between Mittweida University of Applied Sciences and Saxon companies. They are to carry out practice-oriented research in the field of ultra-precision laser processing and lay the foundations for its industrial application.