Current energy shortages and the objective to drastically reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, require innovative solutions in the chemical industry, exploiting the full potential of process intensification (PI). Considering that separation processes are responsible for the majority of the energy requirement of the chemical industry, which requires one third of the energy demand of the manufacturing industry in Germany and even one sixth of the overall energy consumption in the U.S., it is especially important to identify intensified separation processes for individual applications, exploiting the various means for PI developed in recent years and innovative options beyond that level. Yet, existing methods for process synthesis are unable to develop truly novel processes and exclude many PI configurations, either relying on simplified models or restricted search space. The aim of this project is to develop an advanced optimization-based synthesis method for the automatic synthesis of intensified separation processes with rigorous thermodynamic and kinetic models, on the basis of abstract phenomena building blocks (PBB). This is accomplished by a combination of automatic code generation, successive model refinement, and superstructure optimization in order to overcome the common trade-offs between generality, fidelity, and tractability. Synthesis problems are posed as generic state-space superstructures that connect several PBB in the platform-independent meta-language MathML/XML as logic-algebraic equation systems, enabling automatic generation and export of model code for different versions of the sub-layers (generality). Different implementations of the individual PBB allow for a polylithic modeling approach that enables the design of multistage processes based on rigorous thermodynamic and kinetic models (fidelity). Individual optimization problems are solved in a reduced space, making use of external/implicit functions, while further reducing problem size through the exploitation of paradigms from generalized disjunctive programming (tractability), following either a direct logic-based deterministic or hybrid optimization approach. This innovative approach will first be developed and demonstrated for the separation of non-ideal and azeotropic mixtures, by means of an energy-efficient separation process. Thereby, the overall approach will for the first time provide a transferable and automated solution to the general process synthesis problem for relevant separation tasks, which synthesizes highly integrated process designs on the basis of rigorous thermodynamic models matching the accuracy of industrially applied process simulators. This enables the direct application of optimization-based process synthesis to practical problems without requiring in-depth knowledge and experience in formulating and solving optimization problems and extensive model simplification.

When validating technical systems in dynamic tests, the coupling of the technical system to the test environment can influence the test results. This influence is relevant in different dynamic systems. One possible objective is to positively influence the dynamic behavior of vibrationally loaded systems by means of adjusted interface properties, so that, for example, critical vibration amplitude increases can be reduced or completely avoided. In the field of realistic testing, it is necessary to simulate the interface properties of the real environment to obtain a meaningful behavior of the test object. The proposed project focuses on the investigation of dynamically adaptive impedance elements. These serve as interface elements in test engineering to be able to reproduce time varying mechanical boundary conditions. The applicability and transferability in the very different areas of power tool and aircraft cabin validation will be determined as an example. In the area of power tools, dynamically adaptive impedance elements can be used as a substitute model to represent the human-machine interaction. This interaction is transient in time and therefore requires an adaptability of the substitute model to be able to represent different operating conditions. With dynamically adaptive impedance elements, it is possible in the field of aircraft cabin element investigation to accelerate the test activities by multi-stationary representation of different connection properties of the test object to the test bench and to enable large experimental parameter studies. Research into dynamically adaptive impedance elements involves first identifying the requirements in dynamic testing of systems. Through a systematic development of adaptive stiffness and damping elements and their combination to dynamically adaptive impedance elements, it will be possible to represent the determined operating states and operating state transitions in testing. In a methodical approach with the help of a selection catalog and accompanying guidelines, transferability will be ensured to support further research in this field.

Electrically conductive substrates, such as surfaces of nanoporous metals and semiconductors allow one to control the wetting energies of electrolytes by electrical potentials. Thereby, it is possible to tune droplet shape and liquid spreading dynamics at surfaces, however also the imbibition into the porous surface is under external control via electrical potential-dependent curvatures of the liquid menisci within the nanopores. Moreover, the enormous Laplace pressures and fluid-solid interfacial stresses, typical of nanopore-confined liquids, induce noticeable deformations of the porous solids, and thus result in the case of electrowetting in a potential-dependent coupling of liquid capillarity with solid elasticity, i.e. electrically switchable elastocapillarity. The complex interplay of these phenomenologies (droplet shape dynamics, imbibition and deformation behaviour) have been barely explored to date. Here, it is proposed to explore experimentally the wetting dynamics of aqueous electrolytes at tailored, single-crystalline silicon surfaces traversed by a parallel array of tubular nanopores along with the intimately related elastic deformation of the solids under electrical potential control of the solid-liquid interfacial tension. Both direct and electrowetting with dielectric oxide layers at the nanopore surfaces shall be studied. The existence of precursor films, droplet spreading and imbibition dynamics as well as the deformation on the microscopic (atomic silicon lattice) and macroscopic (substrate) scale will be scrutinized by time-dependent droplet shape analysis, opto-fluidic interferometry, dilatometry and synchrotron-based in-situ x-ray diffraction under variation of the mean pore diameter and porosity of the surface. The experiments shall be analysed in close cooperation with projects in this priority program focusing on computational modelling and mesoscopic phenomenological theories for liquid spreading, imbibition and elastocapillarity at planar and porous surfaces. The overarching objective of this project is a fundamental, predictive understanding of electrically switchable static and dynamic wetting at nanoporous surfaces.

In this project, enzyme systems for the cost-effective regeneration of ATP in technical reaction systems will be developed. The project is planned as a joint project of the working groups of Prof. Thomas Walther (Professorship of Bioprocess Engineering, TU Dresden) and of Prof. Andreas Liese (Chair of Technical Biocatalysis, TU Hamburg), where AG Walther is responsible for the design and construction of the ATP regenerating enzyme cascades as well as for the optimization of individual enzyme activities, and the AG Liese will work on the reaction engineering and optimization of the reaction systems as well as transfer to larger scales.ATP regenerating reaction systems have a variety of industrial applications. Examples include the synthesis of phosphorylated fine chemicals, syntheses with phosphorylation as an intermediate step and cell-free protein expression. A major obstacle to the commercialization of ATP-dependent, cell-free, product syntheses is the sometimes very high price of the substrates and cofactors used for ATP regeneration.To solve this technical problem, the development of reaction systems is proposed, which allow an ATP regeneration of the low-cost and potentially "green" bulk chemical ethylene glycol. The implementation of the designed enzyme cascades requires the enhancement of enzyme activity on a non-natural substrate. This increase in activity is to be achieved through a combination of rational and evolutionary protein design. In addition, a reaction-technical analysis and optimization of the transfer of the various systems on a technical scale is examined.The enzyme cascades for the regeneration of ATP will be constructed from isolated enzymes as well as be implemented in whole-cell biocatalysts. In each case, the ATP-regenerating systems are coupled to the synthesis of an ATP-consuming reaction for the synthesis of a phosphorylated or non-phosphorylated end product in order to determine advantages and limits of both design variants.The reaction cascades described have the potential to be developed into a new universal ATP regeneration system, which can also be used on an industrial scale.

In order to remain competitive, it is necessary for companies to transform creative ideas into innovative products in the shortest possible time. At the same time, they are increasingly confronted with the need to react quickly and flexibly to changing conditions in development and to utilise development resources as effectively as possible. Against this background, agile methods are also attracting more and more attention for the development of mechatronic systems, as they increase the ability to react in dynamic development environments and offer potential for exploring solution spaces for development. Studies show that the benefits of agile working lie primarily in the effects of self-organisation, the ability to learn and transparency in the development process. This technical management is particularly necessary due to the division of labour in the development of complex mechatronic systems in order to consolidate work results and provide the development teams with the relevant information to solve their specific tasks. Methods that support synthesis and analysis in terms of finding solutions are used in parallel, as they address technical-physical development. While development methodological relationships and the associated cause-and-effect relationships have been widely researched and are very well understood, the mechanisms of action for the successful use of agile methods to support technical management have not yet been sufficiently investigated or understood. The aim of this research project is therefore to develop explanatory approaches for the mechanisms of action of agile methods. This is based on the assumption that agile methods certainly provide benefits for development methodological considerations, but that additional approaches from project management and organisational sciences are necessary for a better understanding of the mode of action, as aspects of coordination and collaboration contribute significantly to the benefits of agile methods.

The rising demand in process engineering for aeration with high mass transfer performance with low pressure drop, low shear stress and avoidance of foaming opens an interesting field for new technologies. One possibility to achieve these goals is the aeration with fine bubbles whose diameter is less than 100 micrometers. In Japan, many applications of fine bubbles can be found and several companies have been established that are offering fine bubble generators (FBG) and analyzing devices for fine bubbles. In 2013, the technical committee for Fine Bubble Technologies (FBT) was established and approved by the Organization for Standardization (ISO). In Germany fine bubbles are known at the most in connection with flotation processes but their potential for mass transfer in two phase flows has not been addressed so far. Especially the question of physical properties and effectiveness has not been answered satisfactorily. Several authors are reporting a lifetime of fine bubbles in the range of several weeks and months, which is much longer than the predicted one. This effect is discussed very contradictorily and attributed to contaminations or surface charging. Nevertheless, the introduction of small-sized bubbles leads to large volume-specific interfacial areas and therefore to high mass transfer rates. The strong collaboration between Germany and Japan in the field of Multiscale Multiphase Process Engineering (MMPE joint conferences 2011 and 2014, supported by the DFG) provides a unique possibility to intensively exchange knowledge about fine bubbles and its applications between Germany and Japan and enables efficient research in this emerging field of technology. This project is intended to investigate the potential of fine bubbles for biocatalytic processes. High mass transfer performance, negligible two-phase pressure drop and shear stress as well as the avoidance of foaming and reactant evaporation are the most promising advantages of fine bubble aeration in comparison to conventional systems. While the measurement methods of the Institute of Multiphase Flows will provide a deep insight into hydrodynamics and mass transfer processes in fine bubble two-phase flows with high temporal and spatial resolution, the reaction engineering expertise and knowledge in biocatalysis of the Institute of Technical Biocatalysis will enable the detailed investigation of the effect of fine bubbles on biocatalytic reactions in stirred tanks as well as packed bed reactors. For the transfer of knowledge, Prof. Koichi Terasaka from Keio University, Japan is intended to join the project as Mercator Fellow. Furthermore, an intensive scientific exchange of students, PhD students and professors between Keio University and TUHH will foster research between the Universities and the presentation of results at the next International Symposium of MMPE 2017 in Toyama, Japan, is intended to motivate further initiatives related to research on fine bubbles.

Two forces are shaping the design of new digital systems: variability and approximation. As technology scales, the variability of devices and interconnects increases dramatically due to intrinsic (e.g., unequal dopant concentrations) and extrinsic (e.g., temperature variations) factors. Furthermore, devices degrade over time -the so-called aging- which exacerbates the variability problem. To palliate these issues, new design methodologies proposed to accept an "imprecise" functionality at some parts of the design and during some periods of time. Thus, errors are becoming an integral part of the design flow. The "imprecise" functionality appears in two fundamentally different flavors: either it is due to the unavoidable variability of the technology which is addressed with additional logic -the so-called stochastic processing- or it is created by design to reduce area or energy consumption of the system -the so-called approximate processing. These two characteristics will play an essential role when considering future systems, e.g., enhancing the infrastructure for the Internet of Things (IoT) and creating multiprocessor systems for high-performance computing.Currently, it is not possible to quantify the accuracy-warranties of an imprecise processing system reliably at run time when it includes imprecise hardware subject to aging and environmental changes. Consequently, safely deploying adaptable systems that use functional approximation and that are implemented in new variability-prone technologies is difficult. Our main goal is to overcome this problem by developing new concepts for the first run-time diagnostic infrastructure for imprecise circuits that provides functional guarantees. We want to achieve this by combining new algorithms for generation and synthesis of stimuli-based testing tightly joined with new hardware building blocks for monitoring functionality of a system at run time. We will validate our design tools and methodology on a Vision-System-on-Chip.

Das Forschungsprojekt will die Wirksamkeit von Pull- und Push-Maßnahmen in der Verkehrspolitik und -planung erforschen. Den Ausgangspunkt bildet die Einsicht in die Notwendigkeit der proaktiven Gestaltung einer Verkehrswende. Dazu ist es wichtig, sowohl mehr über die Wirkungsweise von Pull- und Push-Maßnahmen wie auch deren Akzeptanz bei der Bevölkerung zu wissen. Der Forschungsansatz beinhaltet zum einen die Erfassung der verschiedenen Wirkungsebenen von Pull- und Push-Maßnahmen. Zum anderen wird die Wahrnehmung von Pull- und Push-Maßnahmen durch unterschiedliche gesellschaftliche Akteure erforscht. Das Ziel des Forschungsprojekts besteht in der Entwicklung von theoretisch-konzeptionellen Ansätzen zur wissenschaftlichen Begründung wirkungsvoller Pull- und Push-Strategien. Abschließend werden auf dieser Grundlage Planungsempfehlungen und konkrete Handlungsansätze formuliert. Die Erforschung erfolgt in enger Zusammenarbeit mit dem Fachgebiet Integrierte Verkehrsplanung der TU Berlin.

This project aims at developing bio-inspired nacre-like ceramic composites with functional integrated optical and mechanical properties. The work hypothesis is that the nano-engineered surface modification of platelets (“bricks”) via molecular layer deposition (MLD) will allow to precisely tailor the interphase (“mortar”) thickness, chemical composition and refractive index in an unprecedent way, enabling the fabrication of composites with integrated high toughness and high transparency. The MLD-engineered platelets are then assembled and 3D printed into bulk nacre-like (brick-and-mortar) structures, generating bulk transparent composites. Natural nacre has an interphase thickness of 10 to 50 nm, which is uniformly distributed around the platelets. Such uniformity and lower thickness are hardly reproduced by currently developed techniques. In addition, the interface between platelets and mortar is often produced by deposition or infiltration without any chemical reaction between mortar and platelets, which reduces the interfacial strength. The best "state of the art" results regarding platelet systems are based on the functionalization of platelet surfaces by chemical methods, but such methods cannot yet fully mimic the mortar thickness as in natural nacre. o address this issue, the current project aims to improve the mortar by nano-surface modification of platelets and bottom-up construction of mortar using molecular layer deposition (MLD). The proposed methodology offers the potential to optimize both the optical and the mechanical properties, leading to “tougher glasses”. The main advantage is the controlled and precise definition of interfaces and interphases, achieved by the engineering of the building blocks (platelets) with MLD coatings that are chemically bonded to the platelets (strong interface) with well-defined thickness (10-50 nm), mimicking the features of natural nacre. Such nacre-like composites find applications as gas-barrier films, fire-retardant films, high-conductivity, impact-resistant and structural materials. In addition, MLD-coated particles can be used for catalysis, pharmaceuticals, pigments, tissue engineering, and in energy storage. Here we focus on optical applications, targeting high transparency and low haze factor. The materials here developed could be an alternative to replace traditional smartphone screens, which are mainly brittle and prone to catastrophic failure.

Ionic liquid crystals (ILC) bridge the gap between conventional liquid crystalline and ionic matter. Discotic columnar phases along with very high 1-D ion mobility in columnar phases have been found and studied with regard to potential functionalities. These functionalities depend strongly on the type of orientation and translation order. In principle, these orders can be optimized by embedding ILCs in nanostructured solid templates. However, very sparse knowledge is available about the effect of nanoconfinement on ILCs, even though it provides entirely novel self-assembly paths and thus electro-optical functionalities. Here we propose the exploration of the phase behavior of ionic liquid crystals in nanoporous solids and to relate it to the corresponding bulk phenomenology. It shall be scrutinized how the behavior changes as a function of pore-size and pore-surface chemistry, in particular with regard to hydrophilic and hydrophobic pore walls. To this end synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction, dielectric spectroscopy, calorimetry on ILCs confined in monolithic nanoporous silica, silicon and alumina membranes shall be performed. This will allow detailed insights in the structure and dynamics of the confined mesogens. The project particularly profits from the complementary expertise of the research groups involved, i.e. microscopic translational and orientational order (Huber), thermodynamics and molecular dynamics (Schoenhals) and tailored synthesis of ILCs (Laschat). Moreover, the functionalities with regard to optical anisotropy, optical activity, dielectric properties and electrical conductivity will be systematically explored and the mesogen interactions tailored with respect to mesophase formation and mesogen-pore wall interaction in order to optimize these functionalities. Specifically, we intend to explore ILCs forming discotic hexagonal phases with high charge carrier mobilities along the columnar axis. In addition, interactions of chiral ILCs with the pores will be studied regarding confinement-induced formation of chiral mesophases, absent in the bulk state. It is expected that by proper pore surface-grafting and pore-size selection optical and electrical functionalities can be tuned. The study is aimed at a fundamental understanding of the physical chemistry of confined ILCs, but also at the functionalities of the resulting hybrid materials, consisting of soft functional ILC fillings in monolithic solids providing mechanical stability.The successful realization of the project requires an intense cooperation between the three research groups because the chemical molecular structure (synthesis) determines the supermolecular structures and the molecular dynamics as well as the interaction with the confining walls in nanoporous solids. Besides the expected synergistic benefit on the scientific results the PhD students will significantly profit in their scientific education and from the cooperative spirit of this research project.

Conversational natural language is subject to noise, incompletions and grammatically ambiguous phrasing. To increase the robustness of communication, human conversation partners typically build on conversational repair (CR) to iteratively and interactively resolve misunderstandings. In the context of human-robot interaction, CR provides the possibility to interrupt and to repair a misunderstood instruction that is already being executed. However, current approaches do not consider the conversational repair of misunderstandings in human-robot dialog, even though this would significantly increase the robustness of human-robot interaction. The goal of this project is to fill this gap by addressing two core problems that have hindered existing approaches to successfully address conversational action repair for human-robot interaction. The first problem is the realization of an adaptive context-specific state model that integrates language with action. Most dialog systems consider only verbal communication, and they ignore that human communication is an embodied multi-modal process that is grounded in physical interaction. So how can we realize a scalable model that considers situated conceptual state representations for mixed verbal-physical interaction? To address this first problem, this project builds on a neuro-symbolic approach that integrates our previous work on embodied semantic parsing with our expertise in deep reinforcement learning. Herein, we will research a hybrid data- and knowledge-driven model for compositional interaction states that link the physical world state with semantics in language and dialog.The second problem pertains to the noise, disfluency, and polysemy of spoken natural language. Existing learning-based parsers are robust enough to parse noisy spoken language but they require large amounts of training data. So how can we realize a robust semantic parser that is data efficient while considering the mixed verbal-physical interaction? To address this second problem, this project complements our previous semantic parsing methods with a neural machine-translation approach. To this end, we will exploit the reward signal of the reinforcement learning as an additional data source to improve the data efficiency of the neural parser. The data required for this project will be generated using crowdsourcing, and the evaluation will be conducted on a humanoid robot. We expect the project to generate impact as a new approach for human-robot interaction, and to contribute novel methods for representation learning to the scientific communities in the fields of natural language understanding, machine learning, and intelligent robotics.

The insertion of needles represents an interesting alternative for minimally invasive and focusses diagnosis and therapy in soft tissues, e.g., including biopsies or brachytherapy. However, needle insertion often causes substantial soft tissue deformation, which can result in a misplacement of the needle relative to the tissue. In a first project phase, we realized a mechatronic setup to prove feasibility of high resolution optical navigation from within the needle. Using fiber optic components integrated into the needle, we obtain high resolution optical coherence tomography images of the tissue surrounding the needle. Particularly, it is possible to detect even small deformations of the tissue and to estimate the relative motion between needle and tissue. In a second project phase the resulting tissue model will be extended to include elastic tissue properties and even higher resolution spatial information. One objective is to estimate the information needed to model and predict the needle-tissue interaction from within the needle. In combination with the mechatronic needle driving, this will form the basis for a precise control of the needle motion accounting for tissue deformation. Another aspect regards the possible differentiation of different tissues. For example, the elastic tissue properties are also related to the type of tissue, e.g., tumor tissue is often less elastic. To also consider structural differences in the tissue, we will first integrate optical coherence microscopy into a needle probe. A longer term objective is using the morphological and mechanic tissue model for localization and treatment planning.

The main objective of this project is to elucidate the key scientific questions to enable multistep bioelectrochemical reaction cascades in continuously operated flow reactors. The transition from AiO electrode setup in a batch to a continuously operated bioelectrochemical process starts from the established one-step bioelectrochemical system in the first project phase. This will be extended to a three-step bioelectrochemical reaction cascade, the oxidative valorization of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to valuable 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) catalyzed by two different unspecific peroxygenases (UPO). This cascade setup will allow the detailed study of different steady-state conditions through different reactor configurations, operating points as well as systematic properties of enzyme/electrode interactions. The reactor cascade can be operated with immobilized UPOs on the electrode surface as a sequence of plug flow reactors (PFR) as well as circulation loop reactors in continuously operated stirred tank reactor mode (CSTR). Alternatively, homogeneously solubilized UPOs can be applied that are recycled via an additional ultrafiltration membrane unit in the recirculation stream. By these two fundamental different reactor cascade configurations, a deepened understanding on affecting key performance parameters will be generated. Furthermore, challenges pointed out in the previous project will be addressed by designing improved porous Globugraphite (GG) electrodes. Key objective is to improve H₂O₂ productivity and Faradaic efficiency (F.E.). Several approaches will be explored, such as varying the polyvinyl butyral (PVB) content to influence the porosity of the GG and implementing multiple segmented GG modules. The latter ones might be separated by isolation or connected as units of different porosity. This will allow for a gradient of the H₂O₂ generation rate needed in a PFR setup to minimize H₂O₂ accumulation and enzyme deactivation. The following key scientific questions will be addressed: • How do the flow reactor geometry and increased flow rate influence mass transfer across/through the electrode, possible diffusion limitation as well as enzyme stability? • How does the morphology of the GG need to be varied by polyvinyl butyral (PVB) content, ZnO particle size and wall thickness to affect pore size in a way to maximize / tailor H₂O₂ productivity and F.E.? • How can the durability of GG electrodes be increased by thermal treatment and/or wall thickness to withstand the internal gas pressure? • How is a segmented graphite electrode to be designed to enable a length gradient in H₂O₂ generation rate? • How do different reactor operation modes (e.g. batch, PFR, CSTR) and resulting different linear flow rates influence performance indicators such as total turnover number (TTN), turnover frequency (TOF), enzyme deactivation constants and productivity?

In this project MoReSpace, we will investigate the extent to which the transfer of learning is responsible for the development of a "self", and hypothesize that a conflict-driven attention model plays a major role. In the first part of our project, we investigate the transfer of previously learned action-effect associations to new unexpected environmental dynamics. Here, we put a strong focus on cognitive plausibility and motivate our model with psychological phenomena such as "haptic neglect". The phenomenon occurs, for example, when the computer mouse is inverted and the mouse pointer is directed in the opposite direction in each case. In such scenarios, psychologists have found reduced perception of the haptic and proprioceptive senses. Our hypothesis is that this is due to a conflict-driven attention mechanism that improves the ability to deal with such new dynamics. We will evaluate our model on a physical robot, and we will theoretically substantiate it with our collaboration partners from psychology. In the second part of the project, we will focus on imitation learning. Our hypothesis is that the attention model captures some psychological properties that are important for the human ability to change perspective and to imitate. We hypothesize that this will lead to novel methods of imitation learning for robots. We expect these methods to lead to significant improvements in the learning performance. We will evaluate this empirically and reproducibly.

The RTG aims at the holistic education of junior scientists in the mathematical fields of Modeling, Simulation, and Optimization (MSO). The mathematical focus of the RTG is on mathematical modeling, adaptive discretization & approximation algorithms, mathematical data analysis, and shape optimization with PDEs. The RTG's research activities address challenging fluid dynamic problems, where they are inspired by Hamburgspecific applied sciences, such as climate research & meteorology, aerospace & marine engineering, or medicine. Our approach to next generation MSO is based on the leitmotif of the RTG: Mathematics drives applications while being inspired by applications. With this leitmotif the RTG carries forward and improves education and research in MSO by an inherent interdisciplinary approach, i.e., to stimulate fundamental education and research in MSOmathematics by highly complex applications and at the same time transfer tailored MSO-methods developed in mathematics to applied sciences. In this way, the RTG promotes an exchange of research paradigms between the participating disciplines and provides a modern approach to training in fundamental MSO-research for scientfically and socially relevant current problems. The RTG has a clear scientific focus with a well aligned educational profile. The leitmotif is implemented through nine thematically intertwined research topics, which combine aspects of MSOmathematics with an associated fluid dynamic application. Key technologies will jointly be developed and disseminated through lab-activities. Scientific exchange is facilitated and fostered through lecture series, research seminars, colloquia, annual retreats, and summer schools. The international networking of the RTG will benefit from a distinguished guest program involving a variety of world leading experts. The RTG will be hosted by the Lothar Collatz Center for Computing in Science. In particular, the RTG will be embedded in the well-established structures of the Lothar Collatz Graduate School. The academic platform of the RTG is enhanced by joining forces with established activities of the C3S and LCGS, e.g. the Lothar Collatz Seminar, and by contributing to the annual Plön Young Researcher Meeting & Workshop, and by the comprehensive course program of the Hamburg Research Academy (HRA, see Section. The educational program is based on long-standing collaborations of the involved researchers and institutions. The qualification concept is well connected to local and international educational programs that are jointly operated by the UHH and the TUHH. It reects shared experience on best practices and also supports our ambition for a rapid initial advancement as well as leadership skill promotion. Thus, the curriculum involves innovative training modules e.g. research management or entrepreneurship courses supplementary to the scientific education. With this approach the RTG is unique and will perform interdisciplinary research

Scheduling and planning problems belong to the fundamental questions in algorithms. Many of those problems are highly unlikely to admit procedures that guarantee to deliver an optimal solution in polynomial time. Therefore, hundreds of approximation algorithms have been developed for such problems in the past decades.In this project we deal with an alternative approach for scheduling problems with high multiplicity, in which a large number of jobs must be planned which can be categorized into few categories. Such problems arise in, for instance, sequencing of landing aircraft, whose safety separation distances mainly depend on which of few aircraft type the respective planes belong to. Our goal is the development of fixed-parameter algorithms, which deliver optimal solutions in time that depends polynomially on the input size and superpolynomially only in the small number of categories. This way, we generalize polynomial-time algorithms for special cases of those problems with only constantly many job categories to more realistic models, and simultaneously improve the run times of fixed-parameter algorithms which so far require a lavish encoding of every single job.

The primary goal of the planned research project is to gain a better understanding of the micromechanical deformation behaviour of multiphase porous composite materials. For this purpose, a multi-phase composite material commonly used in civil engineering and especially in geotechnics in many problems will be investigated in detail: cement-bound sand. For example, self-hardening suspension can be used as a stabilizing fluid in the construction of diaphragm walls. Due to the manufacturing process, there are transition zones at the edges of the components between almost completely cement-filled grain structure and pure grain structure. In this area, known as stagnation zone, the load transfer depends on the position and contact points of the individual grains. In this case, the loads applied are carried by the cement matrix on the one hand and by the sand grains embedded in it on the other. The load transfer is strongly influenced by the heterogeneous arrangement and the sphericity of the individual grains, the degree of mixing and the cement content. In order to improve macroscopic FE-models relevant for practice, a bridge between the microscopic and macroscopic material behaviour of porous composite materials is to be established. Based on imaging techniques such as X-ray computed tomography three-dimensional FE models will be generated directly from the image data obtained by scanning cement-bound sand samples. Using numerical methods, deformation analyses can be carried out on the models obtained in this way. At the Institute of Geotechnical Engineering and Construction Management (Prof. Grabe) the Finite Element Method (FEM) is mainly used. In addition, the Finite Cell Method (FCM) is further developed at the Institute of Ship Structural Design and Analysis (Prof. Düster). These two numerical approaches are to be applied and optimized to microstructural problems in the course of the planned research project. The aim is to derive macroscopic material characteristics of the complex multi-phase microstructures by numerical homogenization. This allows the characterisation of the macroscopic material behaviour of such composite materials. The macroscopic material behaviour will be investigated by means of laboratory experiments. Uniaxial compression tests and triaxial tests on sand samples with different cement contents are planned. Due to the extensive planned investigations in the soil mechanics laboratory, at the CT scanner as well as the numerical investigations and developments, elastic material behaviour will be assumed in this first project phase. In a possible second project phase, non-linear material models, among others, are to be used for investigations of larger deformations or for modelling damages in the composite material.

With the funding support of the DFG through the "Open Access Publication Costs" program, the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) is further expanding the opportunities for OA publishing for its scientists and scholars. Through the TUHH Publication Fund, which has been offered since 2013, the publication of original scientific articles in quality-assured, genuine Open Access journals is supported through the assumption of publication costs in compliance with the funding conditions. DFG funding is used to optimize and expand existing administrative and technical structures. The strengthening of the culture of publishing in Open Access in technical, scientific and engineering disciplines can thus be continuously pursued and helped to shape. The topic of Open Access is accompanied by established and new supporting public relations measures in order to enable as many authors as possible to access the university's Open Access services.