Newsportal

A milestone has been reached in the commissioning of the FFB PreFab (first construction phase): the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Battery Cell Production FFB, in which research partners from the University of Münster are involved, has produced its first electrically functional lithium-ion battery cell.

A team led by Prof Susann Wicke from the Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity has shown that certain parasitic plants activate their haustoria independently of the host plant. This strategy increases their ability to successfully infest the host.

The University of Münster’s Clinician Scientist CareerS programme supports medical professionals who are engaged in patient care while actively pursuing research. In this dual role, they can make a key contribution to ensuring that research translates into new treatment options. The German Research Foundation is once again providing more than a million euros to fund the programme.

The University of Münster’s ‘InFlame’ programme has been awarded 1.1 million euros from the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation for a second funding period of four years. The programme is aimed at postdocs in the natural sciences working in the interdisciplinary field of inflammation research. It helps create synergies between research and clinical practice and supports candidates in setting the course for their careers.

Leading an orchestra sounds exciting, but what does being a conductor really involve? In an interview with Norbert Robers, Miloš Dopsaj from the University of Music describes how he shapes an ensemble and achieves top performance, as well as explains why self-confidence on the podium is so important.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2026 to chemist Prof. Armido Studer from the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University of Münster. Worth 2.5 million euros, the Leibniz Prize is the most valuable and the most important German research prize.

A team led by Prof Carsten Grashoff and doctoral student Srishti Rangarajan from the Institute of Integrative Cell Biology and Physiology at the University of Münster has now shown that the talin protein plays a central and evolutionarily conserved role in cell adhesion.

In mid-October, the broadcaster Deutschlandfunk reported: “German research institutes are leaders in patent applications.” This was based on a study by the European Patent Office (EPO). At the University of Münster, too, there are discoveries that lead to patents. Who is involved? What obstacles are there? What follows patenting? Answers can be found in an invention from the field of pharmacy.

At the beginning of 2026, Cyprus will be taking over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union – a role which the 27 member states each take on, in turn, every half-year. This means that the island state, with only about 1.3 million inhabitants, will be granted something which happens only seldom: it will be in the limelight.

Life at the University of Münster, including everyday working life, is just as colourful and varied as the people who work and study here. From among the countless number of highlights and events which took place in 2025, guest authors take some figures as their basis for presenting some remarkable stories.

Tobias Heindel works at the Department of Quantum Technology on communication systems of the future whose security is based on the laws of quantum physics. A portrait.

A research team led by the University of Münster has discovered new evidence of a layered structure in the Earth’s inner core. High-pressure experiments with iron alloys showed that seismic waves travel at different speeds depending on their direction. The findings could help explain long-standing seismic anomalies deep inside the Earth.