Scientific funding
The majority of our research projects are funded by public funding organisations.
- The German Research Foundation (DFG) is an interdisciplinary institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germany.
- The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is a supreme federal authority of the Federal Republic of Germany and promotes education and research with major funding programmes.
- The Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) is a supreme federal authority of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its central concern is to breathe new life into the social market economy, ensure sustainable progress and strengthen social cohesion in Germany.
- The Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MKW.NRW) is one of twelve ministries in the state administration of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Ministry shapes the framework conditions for cultural diversity and scientific excellence in North Rhine-Westphalia.
- The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MWIKE.NRW) is one of twelve ministries in the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia. The ministry's tasks range from location and structural policy, manufacturing industry, services and start-up promotion to foreign trade and general economic policy.
- The Karl Vossloh Foundation is one of around 670 foundations managed by the German Foundation Centre in the Stifterverband. The foundation has placed mobility research on its agenda and aims to provide support on a broad (and interdisciplinary) basis.
Our current DFG projects:
FOR 2863: MEtrology for TERAhertz COMmunication (Meteracom)
For the advance of THz communication systems, the capability to perform precise measurements is crucial. Metrology at THz frequencies is however still in its infancy and as of today it only covers detector calibration for characterization of ultrafast devices and measurement uncertainty analysis of different spectrometer types available at THz ...
Duration: 01/2019 - 12/2024
Funded by: DFG
Contact: apl. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Müller, Meysam Bahmanian
SPP 2111 - Ultra-Wideband Photonically Assisted Analog-to-Digital Converters (PACE) - Phase 2
Silicon-based analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), which operate at sampling rates in the double-digit GSa/s range, are state of the art today. Although these converters now operate at unprecedented sampling rates, the effective number of bits (ENOB) and analog bandwidth are improving only slowly. A major obstacle to further improvements in ...
Duration: 08/2018 - 03/2025
Funded by: DFG
Contact: Maxim Weizel, M.Sc.
SPP 2111 - PONyDAC II - Precise Optical Nyquist Pulse Synthesizer DAC
Fast digital-to-analog converters (DAC) are indispensable components for modern signal processing systems. Bandwidth and effective number of bits (ENOB) are important metrics for the performance of DACs. At the same time, those parameters constitute a trade-off in the design of a DAC: The more broadband the DAC, the less typically the ENOB. This is ...
Duration: 07/2018 - 03/2025
Funded by: DFG
Contact: Christian Kress
Our current BMBF projects:
Scale4Edge: Scalable infrastructure for edge computing
Scale4Edge is a joint project funded by the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research), which aims to significantly reduce the currently relatively long development times and high development costs of application-specific edge components (platform concept). The approach pursued in the project is based on providing a commercial ecosystem for ...
Duration: 05/2020 - 12/2025
Funded by: BMBF
Contact: apl. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Müller
Data-driven methods in control engineering
The goal of the junior research group "Data-Driven Methods in Control Engineering" is to explore the synergetic combination of model- and data-driven methods for control engineering tasks. For this purpose, model-driven methods are combined with machine learning to obtain hybrid methods and to achieve the highest possible performance in control ...
Duration: 01/2020 - 12/2024
Funded by: BMBF
Our current BMWK projects:
RadiOptics - EXIST Business Start-up Grant: RadiOptics
The goal of the RadiOptics project is to commercialize the next generation of microwave signal generators using a mode-locked laser (MLL). MLLs can generate a low-noise optical reference clock which have better precision in time unit measurement by orders of magnitude. The optical pulses of MLLs, however, cannot simply be used in a conventional ...
Duration: 06/2023 - 11/2024
Funded by: EU, BMWK, ESF
TuWAs - Transformation hub for forming value chains in the powertrain
As a result of decisive factors such as the mobility revolution, the sustainability movement, advancing digitalization and dynamic changes in the working landscape, players in the automotive industry are facing drastic transformation processes. The transition to electromobility in particular poses fundamental challenges for suppliers of forming ...
Duration: 11/2022 - 06/2025
Funded by: BMWK
Contact: Dr. Christian Koldewey
Transformation hub for improved, more sustainable use of automobiles through digital services and digital business models
Um die zukünftige Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der deutschen Automobilindustrie geht es in dem im September 2022 gestarteten Forschungsprojekt „DiSerHub“. Mit einem nachhaltigen Transformationskonzept sowie gezieltem Wissenstransfer innerhalb eines digitalen Hubs wollen fünf Projektpartner dieses Ziel erreichen und haben sich dazu in einem bundesweit ...
Duration: 08/2022 - 06/2025
Funded by: BMWK
Contact: Dr. Christoph Weskamp, M.Sc. Christopher Lüke, M.Sc. Tobias Hardes
Our current MKW.NRW projects:
SAIL: SustAInable Life-cycle of Intelligent Socio-Technical Systems
Current systems that incorporate AI technology mainly target the introduction phase, where a core component is training and adaptation of AI models based on given example data. SAIL’s focus on the full life-cycle moves the current emphasis towards sustainable long-term development in real life. The joint project SAIL addresses both basic research ...
Duration: 08/2022 - 07/2026
Funded by: MKW NRW
PhoQC: Photonic Quantum Computing
Photonic Quantum Computing (PhoQC): The aim is to research the fundamentals for the realization of photonic quantum computers. For this purpose, an internationally leading research center is to be created at the University of Paderborn in perspective, in which the fields of physics, mathematics, engineering sciences, computer science and electrical ...
Duration: 11/2021 - 12/2024
Funded by: MKW NRW, EIN Quantum NRW
Explainable Feature Importance: Interpretable machine learning through game theoretic analysis of influence variables and interaction effects
Machine learning (ML) methods support the search for patterns in data and relationships between variables, e.g. in complex bio-medical systems. In this way, they can provide new insights and improve decisions in fields of action such as medical diagnostics. In addition to the quality of the models learned from the data, the trust of human experts ...
Duration: 01/2021 - 12/2024
Funded by: MKW NRW
Our current MWIKE.NRW projects:
Vitamine 5G - Realitätsnahe Umgebung für Additive Fertigung, ermöglicht durch 5G
In the joint project, scientists from the Heinz Nixdorf Institute are working in a research consortium of university partners and IT partners on novel forms of interaction for controlling and monitoring manufacturing processes that are difficult to access by transferring them to virtual reality. The transmission of data is made possible for the ...
Duration: 07/2022 - 05/2024
Funded by: MWIKE NRW
FastGate - Autonomy on the airport apron
The aviation industry faces a challenging task in light of the pressing need for decarbonization. With increasing awareness of the impact of aviation on the environment, it has become imperative to find innovative solutions to reduce CO2 emissions and minimize noise levels. One of the key challenges lies in optimizing overall flight operations, ...
Duration: 06/2022 - 05/2025
Funded by: MWIKE NRW
Our current projects of the Karl Vossloh Foundation:
Traffic Control for MixedAutonomy Systems
Automated driving in combination with Car2X communication opens up promising possibilities for future traffic systems. The cooperative use of shared real-time information enables a significant increase in the efficiency of today's traffic infra¬structure. With this goal in mind, the project aims to use new technologies from the field of traffic ...
Duration: 01/2021 - 12/2024
Funded by: Karl-Vossloh-Stiftung