Topics range from Computational Connectomics to Transfinite Geometry / Approximately 108 million euros for three years

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is to establish 17 new Priority Programmes (PP) for 2017. Priority Programmes are established for the purposes of research into the fundamental scientific issues of particularly topical or emerging areas. The new programmes were selected by the Senate of the DFG - Germany's largest research funding organisation and central self-governing organisation for the research community -- from a total of 76 submitted initiatives.

The newly approved Priority Programmes cover the entire spectrum of disciplines, from humanities, social sciences, life sciences and natural sciences to engineering sciences. The topics include the synthesis of nanoparticles in spray flames, new approaches to naming species, scalable data management, the diversity of extrasolar planets and mobility in the Eastern European-Ottoman-Persian region.

All the programmes are highly interdisciplinary and are notable for their application of innovative methods. Funding for early career researchers is a key element and one of the essential prerequisites for the establishment of a new PP. All programmes also have an equal opportunity concept.

The programmes that have been accepted describe the main subject of a Priority Programme. Over the coming months, the DFG will announce a separate call for proposals for the programmes. Proposals will be evaluated in a rigorous review process to determine their scientific quality and their contribution to the general topic in question.

A total of approximately €108 million will be available for the 17 new programmes in the first three-year funding period. The Priority Programmes are generally funded for a period of six years. Currently a total of 93 PPs are being funded. The 17 new initiatives will get underway in 2017.

The new Priority Programmes grouped by scientific discipline are:

Humanities and Social Sciences

• Transottomanica: Eastern European-Ottoman-Persian Mobility
• (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Stefan Rohdewald, University of Giessen)

Natural Sciences

• Exploration of the Diversity of Extrasolar Planets (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Heike Rauer, Technical University of Berlin)
• Mountain Building Processes in 4 Dimensions (4D-MB) (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Mark R. Handy, Free University of Berlin)

Transfinite Geometry

• (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Hanke, University of Augsburg)

Life Sciences

• Computational Connectomics (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Jochen Triesch, University of Frankfurt)
• Working Towards Lung Implants (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Rolf Rossaint, RWTH Aachen University)
• Taxon-OMICS: New Approaches to the Discovery and Naming of Species and Biodiversity (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Susanne Sabine Renner, University of Munich)
• Prokaryotic Small Proteins: an Unknown World (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Ruth Anne Schmitz-Streit, University of Kiel)

Engineering Sciences

• Alloys with Complex Compositions - High-Entropy Alloys (CCA-HEA) (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Uwe Glatzel, University of Bayreuth)
• Cyclical Damage in High-Performance Concretes in the Experimental Virtual Lab (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Ludger Lohaus, University of Hannover)
• Targeted Use of Internal Stress Produced by Reshaping Metallic Components (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Wolfram Volk, Technical University of Munich)
• Opus Fluidum Futurum - The Rheology of Reactive, Multiscale, Multiphase Construction Material Systems (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Viktor Mechtcherine, Technical University of Dresden)
• Scalable Data Management for Future Hardware (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Sattler, Technical University of Ilmenau)
• Hybrid and Multimodal Energy Systems: System Theoretical Methods for Transforming and Operating Complex Networks (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Christian Rehtanz, Technical University of Dortmund)
• Robust Argumentation Machines (RATIO) (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Philipp Cimiano, University of Bielefeld)
• Nanoparticle Synthesis in Spray Flames (SpraySyn): Measurement, Simulation, Processes (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Christof Schulz, University of Duisburg-Essen)
• Highly Specific Multidimensional Fractioning of Technical Ultrafine Particle Systems (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Urs Peuker, Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg)