The German Research Foundation (DFG) is establishing eight new research groups, which will receive a total of approximately 30 million euros in funding. In what is a great success for Leibniz University Hannover, two of these projects are led by LUH.
A collaborative project in the area of biocatalysis led by LUH is one of the groups granted funding. The project aims to make a significant contribution to expanding the area of application for biocatalysis as a sustainable technology. Eight working groups from Germany and Austria have joined together to carry out the research project, titled “Customised deep eutectic solvents for biocatalysis – A circular approach from molecular interactions to process parameters” (Spokesperson: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Selin Kara, Institute of Technical Chemistry, Leibniz University Hannover).
The second project funded, “TransExile. Negotiations between aesthetics and community in post-revolutionary Mexico”, focuses on the connections between exiles of various origins and local artists, writers and intellectuals in Mexico from the 1920s to the 1950s (Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Anja Bandau, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, Leibniz University Hannover).
The project on biocatalysis focuses on deep eutectic solvents – multicomponent salts with a melting point near or below room temperature. This quality makes them potential alternatives to existing organic solvents which could be used in various areas, including chemical processes involving enzymes: biocatalysis. Because the chemical industry is currently facing the significant challenge of transitioning from the classical production of petroleum-based chemicals to the sustainable synthesis of bio-based products, biocatalysis is increasingly playing an important role. The methods can be used in numerous application areas, from the production of clothing and medicines to energy and fuels.
The project aims to look more closely at the interactions between enzymes and deep eutectic solvents, which could be relevant for many technical applications in future. Experts from the areas of modelling, catalysis, technical chemistry and process engineering from Hannover, Magdeburg, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Graz and Zagreb are working together within the research group, which is also funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).
The TransExile project examines the situation in Mexico from the 1920s to the 1950s. It aims to shed light on the role of exiles from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean in the particular dynamics of the country’s political and cultural reconstitution. The research group will investigate these exiles’ connections with Mexican artists, intellectuals and writers within a broader context.
Mexico at this time appears to have been a laboratory not only for social and political experiments and transfer processes, but also for aesthetic and artistic ones. TransExile thus breaks with the usual, nationally oriented approach of exile research, using new methods of investigation to look for the first time specifically at the transcultural aspects of and dynamic changes in exiles’ situations. The researchers aim to contribute to a new consensus on terms such as exile, transnationality and cultural networks. The project team includes researchers from Hannover, Hamburg, Tübingen, Berlin and Salzburg, who are working together with colleagues from Mexico.
Note to editors:
For further information, please contact Prof. Dr.-Ing. Selin Kara, Institute of Technical Chemistry (tel. +49 511 762 3167, email: selin.kara@iftc.uni-hannover.de) and Prof. Dr. Anja Bandau, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures (tel. +49 511 762 2986, email: bandau@romanistik.phil.uni-hannover.de ).
