MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences

MARUM produces fundamental scientific knowledge about the role of the ocean and the ocean floor in the total Earth system. The dynamics of the ocean and the ocean floor significantly impact the entire Earth system through the interaction of geological, physical, biological and chemical processes. These influence both the climate and the global carbon cycle, and create unique biological systems.

MARUM is committed to fundamental and unbiased research in the interests of society and the marine environment, and in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. It publishes its quality-assured scientific data and makes it publicly available. MARUM informs the public about new discoveries in the marine environment and provides practical knowledge through its dialogue with society. MARUM cooperates with commercial and industrial partners in accordance with its goal of protecting the marine environment.

Music Technology Group (MTG)

The Music Technology Group (MTG) of the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) is an internationally recognized research group with 30 years of experience. The group is part of the Department of Information and Communications Technologies, and its research is especially active in topics such as audio signal processing, musical information retrieval, musical interfaces, and computational musicology. The group has extensive experience in research projects both nationally and internationally, and actively works in collaboration with industry. Some technology transfer success stories include Vocaloid, a singing voice synthesiser developed with Yamaha which gained great popularity around the world thanks to the virtual singer Hatsune Miku, and the commercial exploitation of the interactive instrument Reactable, developed at the MTG and used by many popular bands such as Bjork or Coldplay.

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The Music Technology Group (MTG) of the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) is an internationally recognized research group with 30 years of experience. The group is part of the Department of Information and Communications Technologies, and its research is especially active in topics such as audio signal processing, musical information retrieval, musical interfaces, and computational musicology. The group has extensive experience in research projects both nationally and internationally, and actively works in collaboration with industry. Some technology transfer success stories include Vocaloid, a singing voice synthesiser developed with Yamaha which gained great popularity around the world thanks to the virtual singer Hatsune Miku, and the commercial exploitation of the interactive instrument Reactable, developed at the MTG and used by many popular bands such as Bjork or Coldplay.
In the last years the research team has been involved in some projects related to Artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact in the processes of creating, disseminating, learning and listening to music. The MTG has recently launched a Chair on AI & Music focused on the ethical and social implications of AI in the music sector.
AI has been heralded as a transformative force within the music sector, promising unparalleled opportunities to amplify creativity, accessibility, and efficiency. However, amidst this promise, concerns have arisen from most of the established stakeholders regarding the risks it poses, particularly for artists, prompting calls for robust public regulations. This has triggered an unprecedented public debate in which ethical concerns are taking center stage, underscoring the need for creating AI technologies founded on strong ethical principles.
We should make sure that AI technologies can assist all the music sector stakeholders on their diverse tasks, while placing artists/musicians at the center. Large AI models should aim to capture the essence of music understanding and they should be able to solve specific problems by fine-tuning them. These large AI models should be trained on huge amounts of diverse multimodal music data and their outputs should capture the complex relationships that make up music. The fine-tuned models should support specific tasks related to the creation, production, distribution, access, analysis, or enjoyment of music.

State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart

The aim of SMNS research is to comprehensively understand changes in biodiversity at all levels – from genetic diversity to the diversity of species and communities to the level of ecosystems – over geological timescales. SMNS investigates how the diversity of organisms, species communities and interactions has developed in the course of evolution, discerning patterns of change over time and which biotic and abiotic environmental drivers are responsible for this. The SMNS investigates both evolutionary and anthropogenic influences on biodiversity across different temporal and spatial scales.

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Our expertise encompasses a wide variety of organisms, from charismatic Indonesian tarsiers under threat of extinction to thermophilic neophytes that have spread rapidly and conquered new habitats in the past decades in response to rising temperatures. From giant fossil marine reptiles that were dreaded top predators of the Jurassic Sea to millimeter-sized parasitoid wasps that lay their eggs in other insect larvae, preventing agricultural pests. With more than 12 million specimens in our collection and cutting-edge facilities, we investigate this diversity to unravel the uniqueness of each specimen. It is the fascinating stories behind each specimen that we convey not only in scientific articles but also to our visitors in the exhibition. Be it the first evidence of cancer from 240 million years ago, the predation among giant marine reptiles, as evidenced by bite marks or how the evolution of mouthparts contributed to the diversity we see in some hyperdiverse insect groups.
Through close collaborations, such as with the particle accelerator at KIT, we are able to use synchrotron radiation to create three-dimensional models of insects trapped in amber millions of years ago or visualize the behavior of live parasitoid wasps moving in their host.
We regularly carry out expeditions and paleontological excavations. Both in the vicinity, where many world-famous fossil deposits are easily accessible and also worldwide, with many highly important findings. They range from small, such as the oldest fossil hummingbird to the probably heaviest animal that ever lived on earth: Perucetus colossus. Our scientists describe new species from the meadows and forests in the area where most people would not expect to find the unknown. But also from remote areas such as cave systems across Europe, tropical rainforests or the islands of New Caledonia. We do this together with institutions and researchers from the area and maintain close collaborations that allow for capacity building and vice versa knowledge exchange on an eye level. We are active members in several networks, through which we are able to join forces with other natural history museums, universities and research institutions of all kinds to conduct large-scale projects, such as the German Barcode of Life.

Science and Research Centre Koper – A Hub of Mediterranean Wisdom

The Science and Research Centre Koper (ZRS Koper) works on an interdisciplinary basis, involving humanities, social and natural sciences, with special emphasis given to the research in the specific environments of the Mediterranean and the upper Adriatic region.

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The main activities are:
– basic and applied research, production of professional expertise and counseling, education, organisation of scientific meetings, publishing and editorial activities, librarianship .

ZRS Koper is actively integrating in international scientific cooperation and is connecting with many similar organisations worldwide.

Researchers are also actively involved in academic process at all three Slovene public universities, thus ensuring the transfer of research results into the educational sphere.

History of ZRS Koper
The Science and Research Centre of the Republic of Slovenia, Koper (ZRS Koper) was founded on the 1st December 1994 by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia as well as the community of coastal municipalities (as legal successor of all three coastal municipalities: Koper City Municipality, Izola Municipality and Piran Municipality) and the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
During the years 2003 to 2015 ZRS Koper acted as a member of the University of Primorska and was it’s main research hub. Nine ZRS Koper institutes carried out an enviable job, many internationally recognized researchers have enabled the transfer of knowledge to dozens of study programs.
Aiming for responsible design of its own future, the ZRS Koper researchers strive for a new form of organization. Following the decision of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, a public research institute, the Science and Research Centre Koper was established on 26 November 2016.

Institut d’Études Européennes

For over 60 years, the Institut d’études européennes at the Université libre de Bruxelles (IEE-ULB) has been a leading centre for research, debate, and collaboration on European integration, institutions, and policies. Situated in Brussels, in proximity to EU institutions and involved in different policy and research networks, the IEE-ULB provides a dynamic environment for scholars, professionals, and journalists to engage with critical European issues.

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IEE-ULB’s research agenda is structured around four key thematic axes that reflect the evolving challenges of European governance. The first explores Europe as an Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice , addressing issues such as the rule of law, migration, and security. The second focuses on Europe as an Area of Economic and Social Regulation , investigating economic governance, territories and regional policy, common market and social issues. The third crosscutting axe examines Europe as a Community of Norms and Values , analyzing questions of cooperation processes, processes of identification and conflict generated by European integration and their role in the legitimization of the EU as a political entity. Finally, the fourth theme, Europe in the World, assesses the EU’s global role, its relations with neighbouring regions, and its place in international governance.

Beyond academic research, the IEE is actively developing a multi-year programme on how Europe is narrated through different perspectives, including media and journalism. This initiative aims to strengthen the ability of students and researchers to critically assess information, data, and media sources while fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and exchange of views of the social sciences and journalism on the different ways in which facts and news on European affairs are constructed and shaped. As a host institution, the IEE-ULB is eager to support applications for residencies that explore European politics, policies, or broader societal transformations, including developments in neighbouring candidate countries.

With its strategic location, vibrant academic networks, and strong links to EU institutions and civil society, the IEE-ULB offers an ideal setting for scholars and professionals engaging with European issues. By combining cutting-edge research with real-world policy and media engagement, it continues to serve as a leading hub for those seeking to understand and shape the future of Europe.

WZB Berlin Social Science Center

The WZB Berlin Social Science Center conducts basic research on problems of modern societies in a globalized world. The research is theory-based, problem-oriented, often long-term, and mostly based on international comparisons. Around 200 scientists from various disciplines work together at the WZB, mainly from sociology, political science, economics, and law. Our research areas are dynamics of social inequalities, society, and economic dynamics, international politics and law, dynamics of political systems, migration and diversity, and political economy of development.

MIGLOBA- The network on migration and global mobility of the University of Antwerp

The Herder Institute supports a wide range of scientific activities on the historical and cultural development of East Central Europe through its research, knowledge transfer, documentation and digitalization departments. The focus of interest is on Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia as well as the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. An important concern is the joint exploration of the interrelation of this core region with its neighbors (above all Germany, Austria, Hungary, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia) in a comparative pan-European context. For several years now, the Digital Humanities have been a major focus of the institute’s work, both in the area of digital and social infrastructure development as well as in research and career development.

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The unique collections consist of a research library on the history and culture of East Central Europe, which now contains more than half a million media units, including a music collection, a samizdat collection and a press collection. Daily and weekly newspapers from East Central Europe have been archived since 1952 and have been evaluated for the period up to 1999 in a systematic collection of more than 5 million clippings. In addition, the Institute also has one of the best image archives with image carriers of all kinds, especially on the art and cultural history of East Central Europe (currently about 700,000 units), a map collection with about 45,000 map sheets, about 1,200 old maps and slightly more than 6,300 aerial photographs from the years between 1942 and 1945. Finally, the document collection focuses on the history of the Baltic
States and continuously collects estates, family archives, individual archival documents as well as photographed archival records (about 1,300 running meters of shelving). The materials held in stock are the starting point for our own research, close cooperation with the two universities in Giessen and Marburg in research and teaching, and close networking with numerous other Leibniz institutions (Leibniz Research Associations).

Current project-leading perspectives

Collecting, preserving, indexing and communicating
Visual history and art history
Reflection and design of digital change
Space – City – Environment
Political orders – conflict – security

Frontiers of the Universe: Making Sense of the Universe at Leiden Observatory

Research at Leiden Observatory spans the entire width of modern astrophysical enquiry. It is based on observation, theory, simulation, and experiment. Two broad clusters characterize the ongoing research. Within each theme, researchers carry out their personal and specialized research programme. The two clusters are: Galaxies, the structures in which they are embedded, Exoplanets, and the formation of stars and planets.

Galaxies and the structures in which they are embedded: Researchers at Leiden Observatory study the fundamental physics – the basic properties, materials and forces that create structure in the Universe. Which processes collect matter into galaxies and gas into stars? With the use of powerful telescopes advanced calculations, and computer simulations, astronomers seek to understand the origin, structure and evolution of galaxies in general and the Milky Way in particular. Through these structures, they try to uncover the unknown physics of dark matter and dark energy that takes up 95% of the Universe.

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Exoplanets and the formation of stars and planets: At Leiden Observatory, researchers investigate the origin of stars and their planetary systems. They detect and characterize planets around other stars (exoplanets) and study how stars and planets form, for instance, by following molecules from interstellar clouds to nascent planetary systems. In this way, they address questions about the origin of life and the possibilities of life existing on planets other than Earth. In other words, is Earth unique?

In the last five years Leiden Observatory hosts nine ERC researchers (list below), these researchers make big contributions to the clusters above.

ERC Reinout van Weeren, Unravelling the pysics of particle acceleration and feedback in galaxy clusters and the cosmic web (2018)
ERC Serena Viti, Molecules as Probes of the Physics of External galaxies (2019)
ERC Joe Hennawi, Quasars in a Neutral Universe: Chronicling the History of Reionization, Enrichment, and Black Hole Growth (2020)
ERC Elena Maria Rossi, Probing our Galaxy from the Center to the outskirts (2020)
ERC Ewine van Dishoeck, Linking chemistry and physics in the planet-forming zones of disks (2021)
ERC Aline Vidotto, The influence of stellar outflows on exoplanetary mass loss (2021)
ERC Henk Hoekstra, Observational Cosmology Using Large Imaging Surveys (2022)
ERC Jackie Hodge, A new View of Young galaxies with ALMA and JWST (2023)
ERC Yamila Miguel, Next-Generation of Interior models of (Exo)planets (2023)

These researchers showcase the diversity of frontier research, the diversity of research infrastructures (from space telescopes to radioastronomy) and the diversity of researchers’ careers (from starting to advance ERC grants) and backgrounds.

Complexity Science Hub

Based in Vienna, the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) is Europe’s research center for translating data into solutions for a better world. A core of CSH’s mission is to conduct independent research in complexity science, addressing key challenges facing society and the planet that cannot be solved by traditional disciplinary approaches. For example, pandemics, the economy, and human migration are all manifestations of multiple interconnected, dynamic, and co-evolving networks that complexity science is uniquely suited to describe.

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CSH researchers have expertise across a wide range of topics, from algorithms to zoonoses and many in between. CSH researchers share the common languages of physics, computation, statistics and applied mathematics and often specialize in one or more additional disciplines, such as sociology, economics, or medicine.
At CSH, researchers extract meaning from the vast amount of data representing our planet’s various dimensions: economics, migration, health, climate change, social values, urban development, and more. With this knowledge, they seek insights that are useful for both science and society, and they can make evidence-based statements about how complex systems will respond to change and propose realistic interventions to move them in a positive direction for society.

Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW)

The IZW conducts wildlife research for conservation from a multidisciplinary perspective. We aim to understand key species’ evolutionary equipment, genetics, reproduction capacity, health and interaction with humans in the context of biodiversity loss and develop effective strategies for these species to cope with the massive and rapid environmental change of our time. We focus on wildlife biology and veterinary science, but also include data modelling, biostatistics, social sciences and other disciplines into our holistic approach for evidence-based species conservation. We conduct fundamental and applied research – from the molecular to the landscape level – in close dialogue with the public and stakeholders. Additionally, we are committed to unique and high-quality services for the scientific community.