In a society where people are living longer and longer the Center of Excellence on Aging Research (CECAD) at the University of Cologne explores the causes of aging processes and aging-associated disorders. 

More than 400 international scientists from the University of Cologne, the University Hospital Cologne, the Max Planck Institutes for Metabolism Research and Biology of Ageing and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) are forming a highly dynamic research network. Their vision is to unravel the molecular mechanisms of aging and define new therapeutic approaches for the entire spectrum of aging-associated diseases.

Developing new therapies for treating aging-associated diseases requires basic scientific research. Only by identifying the molecular processes that trigger the pathogenesis of a disease, we can possibly find research approaches that will give us a new understanding of age-associated disorders. In the past, neurologists have dealt with dementia, cardiologists with heart disease, and oncologists with tumors. CECAD’s interdisciplinary approach means that scientists are now looking for shared causes of age-associated disorders. Their goal is to find a central mechanism involved in the aging process that would allow scientists and medical professionals to intervene successfully.

CECAD links basic research and the application of new findings, pioneering new approaches for clinical research. Translational research closes the loop, linking disciplines and delivering therapies to patients more rapidly. 

Matter and Light for Quantum Computing (ML4Q) is a Center within the German Excellence Strategy. ML4Q is a joint initiative by the universities of Cologne, Aachen, and Bonn, as well as the Research Center Jülich.

The aim of ML4Q is to develop new computing and networking architectures using the principles of quantum mechanics. Computing and networking power beyond anything classically imaginable would make quantum computers powerful tools in key areas such as materials design, pharmaceutics, or artificial intelligence. Quantum communication could be made effectively secure. ML4Q will build on and extend the complementary expertise in the three key research fields (solid-state physics, quantum optics, and quantum information science) at the partner institutions in order to develop the best hardware platform for quantum information technology, and provide comprehensive blueprints for a functional quantum information network.

The Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS) was established in collaboration with the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research and the Research Center Jülich to contribute new paradigms to the solution of urgent problems in plant performance and production through the exploitation of natural variation and biodiversity.

The aim of CEPLAS is to understand the mechanistic basis of four complex plant traits using an evolutionary approach combined with modern genomic technologies. This knowledge will be used to facilitate engineering of these traits in heterologous species. Thus researchers will be able to engineer a new generation of crop plants harbouring complex traits that are expected to increase yield and make more land available for agricultural purposes. As the only cluster focusing exclusively on plant science within the German Excellence Initiative, CEPLAS applies a new approach, driven by evolutionary analysis and synthetic biology, and contributes new paradigms to solve urgent problems in plant performance.