Selected press releases

The University of Freiburg is strengthening its European collaboration in the field of Artificial Intelligence by having been accepted into the Virtual Centre of Excellence of the European AI initiative ELIAS. The Freiburg researchers contribute their expertise to the European network in areas including machine learning, computer vision, robot learning, automated reasoning, intelligent systems and neurotechnologies, as well as responsible AI.

Robots that can learn and adapt require not only data, AI tools, and algorithms but also direct communication with their users. Jens Kober would like to improve this interaction and as the new head of a research team at Fraunhofer IPA, he is focusing in particular on construction robotics.

In people with severely compromised immune systems, the JC polyomavirus can trigger a currently untreatable, usually fatal brain disease. Now, an international research team looking at the viral capsid has identified binding sites for neutralizing antibodies; these sites could be used to halt infection with JC polyomaviruses.

Researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the HI-STEM* Stem Cell Institute, and the Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) have developed “HemaGuide,” an AI assistant that supports physicians in making difficult treatment decisions. In extensive testing, the system has shown a high degree of agreement with the recommendations of experienced experts and could significantly improve access to specialized and personalized cancer care.

A novel vaccination strategy against certain malignant brain tumors could fundamentally improve treatment for patients. Researchers from the German Cancer Research Center, Mannheim University Medical Center, Heidelberg University Hospital, and numerous partner institutions* have published encouraging long-term results from a clinical trial involving a vaccine that activates the immune system against a common genetic mutation in these tumors.

Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have identified a previously unknown key mechanism by which cancer cells suppress the immune system and thus evade the effects of immunotherapies. At the same time, the new study in mouse models and human tumor samples points to a promising way to prevent resistance to immunotherapy.

Primary CNS lymphomas in immunocompromised patients are among the rarest and at the same time most aggressive cancers – yet evidence-based recommendations for their diagnosis and treatment have been lacking. An international research team led by the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University and the German Cancer Research Center has now identified characteristic imaging features of these tumors and developed a prognostic model.

An environmental bacterium could protect against the effects of stress right through to the next generation. Evidence of this emerged in a study using a mouse model carried out by researchers from Ulm and Frankfurt, the results of which were published in the journal `Molecular Psychiatry´. According to the study, the offspring of treated mothers were better protected against the effects of stress in adulthood than control animals.

The European Union is funding the PALACROS project with nearly €10 million under its “Horizon Europe” research programme. Researchers from Heidelberg University Hospital and Heidelberg University are helping shape the European PALACROS consortium, developing new standards for the treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

Effective July 1, the Hahn-Schickard Association for Applied Research e.V. will spin off its operational business and transfer it to the newly founded Hahn-Schickard gGmbH. This nonprofit company has assumed the universal legal succession of the association and has been entered in the commercial register of the Stuttgart District Court. It is legally represented by its managing director, Dr. Karl-Peter Fritz.

Through its “Proof of Concept” (PoC) grants, the European Research Council (ERC) supports scientists in further developing the economic potential of their research findings. In 2026, two scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) were once again selected to receive this prestigious funding: Moritz Mall and Chong Sun.

A team led by researchers from the German Cancer Research Center and the HI-STEM* Stem Cell Institute has discovered a new approach to treating advanced colorectal cancer. The study identifies a key marker of particularly aggressive and treatment-resistant colorectal cancer cells. At the same time, the researchers demonstrate using models that already approved drugs targeting this marker can specifically attack the metastasis-initiating cells.