HHU StartResearch at HHUKey research areas

Key research areas

Research, teaching and further education are mutually dependent. As the youngest and to date smallest university to be established in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Heinrich Heine University has been keen to forge links with Düsseldorf, a growth region of the future, and is committed to key fields of activity which are sustained by internal and external cooperative efforts. Internal competition drives existing innovative potential towards new key specialist areas of expertise.

The four key fields of research currently are:

  • Life sciences: Medicine (molecular and clinical hepatology, cardiovascular research, environmental medicine/gerontology, molecular and clinical neurosciences, infectiology), biotechnology, structural biology, cell biology, psychology
  • Natural sciences: plasma physics, soft matter, chemistry
  • Humanities, cultural studies and social sciences: Practical philosophy, linguistics, media science and social sciences
  • Law and economics with links to Düsseldorf
Collaborative Research Centres and Transregios
  • CRCs coordinated at HHU
    • CRC 974Kommunikation und Systemrelevanz bei Leberschädigung und Regeneration
    • CRC 991The Structure of Representations in Language, Cognition, and Science
    • CRC-TR 18Relativistic Laser Plasma Dynamics
    • CRC-TR 6Physics of Colloidal Dispersions in External Fields
  • HHU participation
    • CRC 704Molecular Mechanisms and Chemical Modulation of Local Immune Regulation
    • CRC 542Molecular Mechanisms of Cytokine–Mediated Inflammatory Processes: Signal Transduction and Pathophysiological Consequences
    • CRC-TR 12Symmetries and Universality in Mesoscopic Systems
    • CRC-TR 1Endosymbiosis : From Prokaryotes to Eukaryotic Organelles
    • CRC 680Molecular Basis of Evolutionary Innovations
Research Units
  • RUs coordinated at HHU
    • CRU 217Hepatobiliary Transport and Liver Diseases
    • RU 729Antiinfectious Effector Programs: Signals and Mediators
    • RU 1381Political Communication Online
    • RU 1585Multi-Port Bone Surgery using the Lateral Skull Base as an Example (MUKNO)
  • HHU participation
    • RU 618Understanding the Aggregation of Small Molecules Using Precise Methods - Interplay between Experiment and Theory
    • RU 790Classification of Algebraic Surfaces and Compact Complex Manifolds
    • RU 854Post-genomic strategies for new antibiotic agents and target structures
    • RU 1063Causation, Laws, Dispositions and Explanations at the Interface of Science and Metaphysics
    • RU 1186Photorespiration: Origins and Metabolic Integration in Interacting Compartments
    • RU 1328Expectation and conditioning as basic processes of the placebo and nocebo response
    • RU 1334Determinants of Polarized Growth and Development in Filamentous Fungi
Research Training Groups and Research Schools
EU Projects
  • 7. EU framework research programme
    • 3to4Converting C3 to C4 photosynthesis for sustainable agriculture
    • ABIRISKAnti-Biopharmaceutical Immunization: prediction and analysis of clinical relevance to minimize the RISK
    • ADVANCEADVANCEAdvanced Design and Verification Environment for Cyber-physical System Engineering
    • AGEDBRAINSYSBIOSystems Biology of Pathways involving Brain Ageing
    • BACTBioactive compounds from Turkish marine macro organism and associated fungi for EU industries
    • BiomedBridgesBuilding data bridges between biological and medical infrastructures in Europe
    • DRIVERSAddressing the strategic Determinants to Reduce health Inequality Via 1) Early childhood development, 2) Realising fair employment, and 3) Social protection
    • ECRIN-IAEuropean Clinical Research Infrastructures Network - Integrating Activity
    • EpiTraitsEpigenetic regulation of economically important plant traits
    • IMPACTTImmunoglobulin IgY pseudomonas A clinical trial for cystic fibrosis treatment
    • INTERCOCOSInterdisciplinary research: Connecting complex plasmas with colloidal dispersions
    • IPROCOMThe development of in silico process models for roll compaction
    • MAARSMicrobes in Allergy and Autoimmunity Related to the Skin
    • MAMBAMarine Metagenomics for New Biotechnological Applications
    • NETWORK-ORIGINSA biological network approach to the study of biochemical origins, early cellular evolution, and gene distributions across genomes
    • NUE-CROPSImproving nutrient efficiency in major European food, feed and biofuel crops to reduce the negative environmental impact of crop production
    • P-MEDICINEFrom data sharing and integration via VPH models to personalised medicine
    • PRIORITYProtecting the food chain from prions: shaping European priorities through basic and applied research
    • SOC2Towards Neutral-atom Space Optical Clocks
    • TINN2Targeted delivery of dietary flavanols for optimal human cell function: Effect on cardiovascular health
    • TRANSDOTTTranslation of domestication of thunnus thynnus into an innovative commercial application
    • TRANSFORMTranslational Medicine and Patient Safety in Europe
Projects funded by Federal Ministries
Networks
  • Neurosciences

    Neuroscience Network Düsseldorf

    The Neuroscience Network Düsseldorf is a collaborative research network in which basic and clinical neuroscientists from the Heinrich Heine University (HHU) Düsseldorf, the Research Centre Jülich, and the IUF - Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine Düsseldorf work together in multidisciplinary projects ranging from basic brain research to translational and clinical neuroscience. A particular focus is placed on the investigation of disease-associated pathomechanisms in common diseases of the central nervous system, in particular multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, brain tumours, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, and metabolic encephalopathies. more

    Neuroscience Network Düsseldorf

    The Neuroscience Network Düsseldorf is a collaborative research network in which basic and clinical neuroscientists from the Heinrich Heine University (HHU) Düsseldorf, the Research Centre Jülich, and the IUF - Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine Düsseldorf work together in multidisciplinary projects ranging from basic brain research to translational and clinical neuroscience. A particular focus is placed on the investigation of disease-associated pathomechanisms in common diseases of the central nervous system, in particular multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, brain tumours, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, and metabolic encephalopathies. more

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