Clusters of Excellence

Clusters of Excellence are innovative, world-class research projects funded under the national Excellence Initiative, that connect universities with leading German research institutes and businesses. The Physics Department of the TUM contributes to three of these clusters as a leading partner.

e-conversion

e-conversion is a new Cluster of Excellence funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) with a focus on investigating fundamental mechanisms of energy conversion processes.

Participants (TUM Physics): Aliaksandr Bandarenka, Johannes Barth, David Egger, Jonathan Finley, Alexander W. Holleitner, Reinhard Kienberger, Gregor Koblmüller, Katharina Krischer

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Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST)

The Cluster of Excellence Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST) comprises over 50 research groups from disciplines like physics, mathematics, computer science, electrical engineering, material science and chemistry, covering all areas of quantum science and technology from basic research to applications.

The core goal of MCQST is to discover and understand the novel and unifying concepts in the interdisciplinary research fields of Quantum Science and Technology (QST). The cluster aims to make QST tangible and to develop the extraordinary applications within reach by building next-generation quantum devices.

Spokesperson: Rudolf Gross
Participants (TUM Physics): Wilhelm Auwärter, Christian Back, Johannes Barth, Nora Brambilla, Martin Brandt, Ignacio Cirac, Frank Deppe, Stefan Filipp, Jonathan Finley, Rudolf Gross, Wolfgang M. Heckl, Alexander Holleitner, Reinhard Kienberger, Michael Knap, Johannes Knolle, Gregor Koblmueller, Sergej Moroz, Christian Pfleiderer, Frank Pollmann, Menno Poot, Friedemann Reinhard

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ORIGINS Excellence Cluster

“From the Origin of the Universe to the First Building Blocks of Life”

The Excellence Cluster ORIGINS investigates the development of the Universe from the Big Bang to the emergence of life. The interdisciplinary research network has been funded within the framework of the Excellence Strategy of the German Federation and the Länder since January 2019 and builds on the research achievements of the Excellence Cluster Universe (2006-2018), which has attracted worldwide attention.

ORIGINS uniquely combines the disciplines of astrophysics, biophysics and particle physics to search for the connection between planet formation and the formation of the first prebiotic molecules. Among other things, the scientists want to show that life is the product of a natural process, a logical outcome of the evolution of the Universe - which can be understood based on the laws of physics and chemistry and the initial conditions created by the Big Bang.

The Ludwigs-Maximillians-Universität (LMU), the Technical University of Munich (TUM), five Max Planck Institutes, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Leibniz Computing Centre (LRZ) are involved in the Excellence Cluster ORIGINS.

Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Stephan Paul
Participants (TUM Physics): Martin Beneke, Nora Brambilla, Laura Fabbietti, Peter Fierlinger, Jan Michael Friedrich, Mathias Garny, Ulrich Gerland, Roman Gernhäuser, Boris Grube, Alejandro Ibarra, Norbert Kaiser, Bastian Märkisch, Susanne Mertens, Lothar Oberauer, Stephan Paul, Elisa Resconi, Stefan Schönert, Sherry H. Suyu, Antonio Vairo, Danny van Dyk, Andreas Weiler

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Former German Universities Excellence Initiative (2006 - 2018)

Before the current round of funding the Physics Department was involved in these other Clusters of Excellence.