News

Three scientists from TU Darmstadt – all of whom are also researchers associated with past or ongoing LOEWE Research Clusters (Prof. Leopoldo Molina-Luna: LOEWE-FLAME; Prof. Ahmad-Reza Sadeghi: LOEWE-CASED; and Prof. Thomas Burg: LOEWE-MultiDrug-TDM) – have been awarded "Proof of Concept" grants by the European Research Council (ERC). The selected projects – covering electron microscopy, biomedical research, and security in the exchange of chip blueprints – will each receive 150,000 euros over a period of 18 months. The aim of this funding is to translate research findings into practical applications.

In the current funding round, the ERC selected all projects proposed by the TU Darmstadt researchers: "CALIBRATE" by Professor Leopoldo Molina-Luna (Department of Materials- and Geosciences), "cryo-iLM" by Professor Thomas Burg (Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology), and "MIRAGE" by Professor Ahmad-Reza Sadeghi (Department of Computer Science).

[…] "I extend my warmest congratulations to my colleagues Molina-Luna, Burg, and Sadeghi on their success. They demonstrate once again the enduring innovative strength that TU Darmstadt generates."

Project "CALIBRATE", Professor Leopoldo Molina-Luna 

"CALIBRATE" (Chip-based Accurate eLectron Intensity Beam Readout for Advanced TEM Experiments) is developing a new calibration standard for transmission electron microscopy – one of the most important tools in modern materials research. To ensure that measurement results are reliable and comparable, the intensity of the electron beam at the point of analysis must be known precisely.

Project "cryo-iLM", Professor Thomas Burg

Conventional microscopy techniques quickly reach their limits when dealing with living cells: movement, light sensitivity, and ongoing biological changes make high-resolution analysis difficult. Flash-freezing in a fraction of a second can solve this problem, yet the performance of current light microscopes is severely restricted at low temperatures. This is where the "cryo-iLM" project led by Professor Thomas Burg – a member of the Matter and Materials (M+M) research field – comes in.

Project "MIRAGE", Professor Ahmad-Reza Sadeghi

Modern computer chips are composed of numerous IP blocks that companies exchange with one another; while convenient for development, this practice carries risks, as artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly adept at recognizing and copying such designs. The project "MIRAGE" addresses this specific issue: it automatically modifies RTL code – the description language used for chip circuitry – so that the functionality remains identical while the code becomes virtually unrecognizable to AI systems. This enables companies to share their designs more securely without compromising trade secrets.