Press releases

Goethe University Frankfurt entered into a cooperation agreement with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Mexico to assist the Mexican government in identifying the country's more than 110,000 officially disappeared. At 55,000, the official figure of unidentified decedents is also staggering. The Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, Mexico's national human rights commission, has called the current situation as a forensic crisis and an enormous burden on civil society. 

Although the Mexican government is increasingly relying on international cooperation and assistance in recent years to help identify unidentified decedents, and significant progress has been made (including the construction of regional identification centers), identification remains a significant challenge. One partner is UNFPA, whose Mexican branch is a member of the “Identifications in Mexico" project (partially funded by Germany's Federal Foreign Office), which supports the Comisión Nacional de Búsqueda (CNB) search commission's national identification policy. One of the project's workplans comprises Goethe University Frankfurt's collaboration with Mexican institutions and universities. 

The signing ceremony was attended by Cecilia Villanueva Bracho, Mexican Consul General to the city of Frankfurt; Goethe University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff; the Deputy Head of UNFPA Mexico, Iván Castellanos; the Director of Goethe University's Institute of Forensic Medicine, Prof. Dr. Marcel Verhoff: and UNFPA Project Head Maximilian Murck. The goal of the cooperation agreement between UNFPA and the Institute of Forensic Medicine is to offer families certainty about the whereabouts of their loved ones. 

Specifically, the cooperation aims to develop pragmatic approaches to identify more deceased persons within a shorter period of time, including by means of: 

• DNA analysis of relatives and unidentified decedents
• Analysis of tattoos for identification purposes 
• Academic exchanges and research with Mexican forensic scientists and medical examiners 

Goethe University President Prof. Dr. Enrico Schleiff emphasized the humanitarian obligation to support the Mexican government in restoring the identity of unidentified decedents, adding that the relatives of the disappeared deserve to have certainty of their loved ones' fate. Schleiff welcomed the cooperation agreement, which allows the work done to date by Frankfurt's forensic experts in identifying Mexico's disappeared to be continued. He explicitly thanked UNFPA for its support of the "Identifications in Mexico" project, as well as all scientists and doctors involved. 

Iván Castellanos, deputy head of UNFPA Mexico, emphasized that every person has the right to their identity, pointing to the important measures the Mexican government has initiated in recent years to strengthen its institutions in the search for the disappeared, as well as to the reforms passed to improve the identification of unidentified decedents. The government for the first time invited the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) in 2021, he said, also expressing its compromise with the disappeared. 

For his part, Prof. Dr. Marcel Verhoff, director of Goethe University's Institute of Forensic Medicine, pointed out that the Frankfurt-based institute had already worked with the University of Guadalajara in the introduction of a master degree in forensic science, and in the analysis of genetic samples, autopsies and excavations in Mexico. The new agreement will further strengthen academic collaboration, he said, allowing both institutions to benefit from one another, adding that the knowledge exchange will be realized both in scientific projects as well as practical identification work. 

Maximilian Murck, who heads the UNFPA project, said that while identifying the dead is not an easy task, it is not an impossible one either, adding that it is important to work out common solutions and to make visible the successes of cooperation in this difficult context. One example is the introduction of fingerprint matching technology in several Mexican states – an initiative coordinated by the CNB. Murck expressed his gratitude to Goethe University as well as the Mexican institutions for their support and trust. 

Regarding the cooperation agreement signed between Goethe University and UNFPA, Cecilia Villanueva Bracho, Mexico's consul general in Frankfurt, stressed: "The Mexican government supports this project that contributes to the cooperation between Mexico and Germany in the field of forensic medicine. It also serves to strengthen institutions by enabling us to better address contemporary priorities in the fields of security, crime control and prevention. The collaboration comprises the exchange of knowledge and best practices to promote governmental and academic institutions and develop technical capacities." 

Image for download: www.uni-frankfurt.de/139269528 

Caption (from left to right): Cecilia Villanueva Bracho, Mexico's consul general in Frankfurt; Goethe University President Prof. Dr. Enrico Schleiff; Prof. Dr. Marcel Verhoff, Director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, and PD Dr. Christoph Birnhuber.

Editor: Dr. Dirk Frank, Press Officer / Deputy Head of the PR & Communication Office, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Tel: +49 (0) 69 798-13753, frank@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de

Biochemist and structural biologist Prof. Robert Tampé of Goethe University Frankfurt has received a research fellowship worth $250,000 (EUR 230,000). He was granted Columbia University's "Schaefer Scholar Award," bestowed annually on scientists for outstanding academic achievements in human physiology. One of Prof. Tampé's research projects will be supported by $200,000 during a visiting fellowship at Columbia University; he will also receive $50,000 in discretionary funding. The prize was awarded at a ceremony in New York on June 21st, 2023. 

Professor Katrina Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the university's Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences, congratulated Prof. Robert Tampé on the award: "We are pleased to offer you this opportunity to strengthen and expand your research. Dedicated researchers like you are absolutely necessary to further scientific discovery and medical innovation. Congratulations for this well-deserved honor, and best wishes for your continued success. We look forward to welcoming you to Columbia!" 

Together with his collaborative partner, Prof. Filippo Mancia of the Department of Physiology and Cellular Physics at Columbia University, Tampé will pursue a research project in New York to elucidate transport mechanisms within the cell that are essential for triggering an immune response. His research focuses on the endoplasmic reticulum, a complex membrane system within the cell, which, among others, produces membrane proteins that are transported to the cell's outer envelope, where they are presented to the immune system as antigens and can trigger an immune response. Tampé will study a protein complex central to this process, called the peptide loading complex (PLC), which is the target of many pathogens and cancer cells that subvert the immune response in this way. The research could result in new ways to boost the immune system against pathogens or cancer. 

Image download: https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/139045243 

Captions: 
PLC_c_ChristophThomas_RobertTampe.jpg : Structure and biogenesis of the antigen processing machinery, i.e. a dynamic assembly of transport, folding and receptor complexes responsible for the adaptive immune recognition of infected or malignant cells. Illustrations: Christoph Thomas, Robert Tampé
Tampe_Robert_c_UweDettmar.jpg: Prof. Dr. Robert Tampé, Goethe University Frankfurt. Photo: Uwe Dettmar 

Further Information:
Professor Robert Tampé
Institute of Biochemistry, Biocenter Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
tampe@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Tel: +49 (0)69 798-29475
https://www.biochem.uni-frankfurt.de/index.php?id=10 

Twitter-Handles: @goetheuni @Columbia @tampe_lab

Editor: Markus Bernards, PhD, Science Editor, PR & Communication Office, Tel: +49 (0) 69 798-12498, bernards@em.uni-frankfurt.de.

Whether it concerns biased Artificial Intelligence or misattributed graves of Viking women – gender, sex and diversity can have very differing and sometimes unexpected impacts on research. To integrate reflections on gender, sex and diversity even more strongly in its research activities, Goethe University has now published a ten-point paper. 

"Goethe University wants to be a pioneer when it comes to providing better science that is as fair as possible to as many people as possible," said University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff in summarizing the goal of the ten-point paper on gender, sex and diversity in science and research. The University's Executive Board first presented the paper and the concrete steps outlined therein at an event held on June 19, 2023, which brought together external experts and Goethe University's research community. The ten points aim to strengthen considerations on the importance of gender and diversity in various disciplines. For example, it states: "In its mission statement, Goethe University Frankfurt acknowledges the social responsibility of research and teaching, including the need to align science with the requirements of as many people as possible, and to integrate different perspectives." 

"Every researcher should ask themselves: to what extent do aspects related to gender, sex and diversity play a role in my research? Not just because these considerations are becoming more important for project proposals, but because we are convinced that doing so will produce more valid research results. By becoming more aware of this, and exchanging knowledge and insights on the topic, our research will become both more innovative and more creative," Schleiff said a press briefing held on June 21, 2023, during which the ten-point paper was presented. In addition to describing the status quo, the paper outlines concrete measures and goals aimed at further improving inclusion in the future. As such, the university not only plans to anchor the topic in the next university development plan, but also calls for a stronger reflection of these aspects in internal calls for proposals. In addition, they should also be more firmly integrated in training and continuing education. 

Nothing better illustrates to laypersons the importance of the topic than examples from medical research: If medications are not tested in a manner that is both equal and differentiated on women and men alike, they will be difficult to apply correctly. Dr. Lena Marie Seegers and Prof. David Leistner from Frankfurt University Hospital's Department of Cardiology see a lot of potential in better positioning medical research to account for the diversity of people. "We will soon establish a women's heart center [Women's Heart Health Center Frankfurt] at Goethe University, which will conduct gender-sensitive medical research. Gaining more expertise in this field can take medicine in Germany a big step forward," says cardiologist Seegers, who spent two years at Harvard University in Boston researching gender differences in coronary arteries. Women often ignore cardiovascular symptoms, she says, because they are used to fluctuations in their well-being, which they experience throughout their lives. However, she adds that a specific look at female health is particularly important during phases of hormonal change, such as pregnancy and menopause. The connection between rheumatic or gynecological diseases and the risk of heart attack is still relatively unexplored, she says, adding that, "Women in Germany have a significantly higher risk of dying from a heart attack than men." 

Although differentiated and sophisticated gender research has existed in the educational sciences for a long time, so far it has not constituted a cross-sectional topic. A lot still needs to be done in this regard, explained Prof. Bettina Kleiner, educationalist and director of the Cornelia Goethe Center. Although her discipline focuses on more than the pedagogical action fields represented by schools and daycare centers, the reality children encounter here constitutes a formative experience for the social gender order. Whereas, on the one hand, schools reflect a society's living conditions, on the other, it falls upon them to socialize children and young people. In so doing, schools always impart values and norms that merit further reflection. "Gender stereotypes continue to be reproduced in school lessons, resulting, among others, in the formation of different subject-related and professional preferences that tend to be disadvantageous for women in terms of their careers. With regard to queer children and young people," Kleiner continues, "their personal realities are still rarely – much less adequately – represented. That is why we need to sensitize prospective teachers to stereotypes in their own thinking." The extent to which equality among researchers can be achieved definitely plays an important role, too: "Of course, it also matters who is doing the research," she is convinced. For Kleiner, Goethe University's ten-point paper constitutes an "important commitment to strengthening gender reflexivity, diversity and equity in research." 

Goethe University's ten-point plan is available for download at https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/139066042

Editor: Dr. Anke Sauter, Science Editor, PR & Communication Office, Tel: +49 (0)69 798-13066, Fax: +49 (0) 69 798-763 12531, sauter@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de

For her outstanding achievements in the development of High Performance Computing (HPC), the organisation "Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe" (PRACE) honours Dr Sarah Neuwirth from Goethe University Frankfurt with this year's PRACE Ada Lovelace Award. Neuwirth, deputy group leader of the Modular Supercomputing and Quantum Computing Group, has shown, among other things, for the first time how combinations of main processors (CPUs) and graphics processors (GPUs) can be used to build a modular supercomputer. The award will be presented to her at the Platform for Advanced Scientific Computing Conference (PASC 2023, 26-28 June) in Davos, Switzerland. 

“Dr Sarah Neuwirth is a young outstanding computer scientist expert in high-performance communication technologies, whose contributions have a potential impact far beyond her own research fields. Her involvement in exascale European HPC initiatives is also an example of her commitment to the development of technologies at the forefront of HPC-related research and with value for a variety of research fields. Overall, Dr Neuwirth has a great impact on next-generation HPC at a global level." said Professor Nathalie Reuter, Chair of the Ada Lovelace Award Selection Committee. “The committee also acknowledges her as a role model for women beginning careers in HPC not only because of her visibility in a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) field, but also through her engagement in outreach activities and her participation in other relevant committees." adds Reuter. 

“We are very happy to present this award to Dr Neuwirth as she is precisely a role model for female scientists, and actually for everyone, to realise that we owe brilliant research outcomes to these persons." said Serge Bogaerts, PRACE Managing Director. He continued saying “PRACE is proud to have offered visibility to excellent young female scientists, since the creation of the PRACE Ada Lovelace Award, and thereby supports the positive trend of having more balanced gender representation in HPC committees, like the PRACE Scientific Steering Committee to start with." At the award ceremony at PASC 2023 in Davos Dr Neuwirth will give a keynote talk entitled “Leveraging HPC Performance Engineering to Support Exascale Scientific Discovery". 

Dr Sarah Neuwirth said: “I feel very humbled that my work is being honored with the PRACE Ada Lovelace Award, which is a great medium to raise awareness for diversity in HPC and science. Unfortunately, my own experiences during my undergraduate and doctoral years have made me clearly aware of how much women still struggle in STEM disciplines. Therefore, my greatest dream is to inspire the next generations through teaching, research, and outreach to encourage more women and underrepresented groups to pursue careers in HPC and related STEM subjects." 

Dr Sarah Neuwirth is a leading expert in HPC and networking, focusing on parallel I/O and monitoring technologies, parallel file and storage systems as well as container technologies and management for supercomputers. She boasts a highly impressive record of contributions to research and development in computer and computational science, an accomplishment to which her list of publications ably attests. In her PhD thesis entitled “Accelerating Network Communication and I/O in Scientific High Performance Computing Environments" which she defended summa cum laude - a most impressive achievement - she demonstrated for the first time in the world that it is practically possible to disaggregate CPUs and GPUs and operate both via a (smart) HPC network such that any combination of CPUs and GPUs can be mapped to each other in the spirit of modular supercomputing. 

She currently acts as Principal Investigator (PI) in the European Pilot for Exascale (EUPEX) Project co-funded by EuroHPC and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, according to its German initials). She was previously awarded research grants by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she worked as a visiting research scholar. Dr Neuwirth also played a key role in the series of EU-funded DEEP projects (DEEP and DEEP-ER) as the main expert for the communication technology, as well as in the IT and HPC research of the EC-funded Human Brain project. As a member of the German NHR initiative (National HPC), she is also active in Container and Container Management on a national level. 

Many of Dr Neuwirth's activities clearly demonstrate her growing impact in Europe and internationally. Dr Neuwirth is a consultant and active member on numerous advisory boards and program boards of international conferences, notably for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the SC conference and others, some of which she has chaired. She is a member of the IEEE and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and pertinent sub-divisions, and referee as well as editor for quite a few journals and international refereed conferences. She has also been plenary and keynote speaker for international conferences. 

Dr Neuwirth is already a highly respected and internationally recognized supercomputer system architect, an area in which only a few females are active. Dr Neuwirth has been a member of the Equal Opportunity Council at Goethe University since 2022, and is an advisory member of the appointment committees. She is often invited to participate in round tables discussing the role of women in HPC at supercomputing conferences in the US and in Europe. In particular, she chaired the SCinet Student Volunteers program at IEEE/ACM SC from 2016 to 2019, acted as the Student Mentoring Chair at IEEE CLUSTER 2022, and still acts as ISC and SC student volunteer program coordinator at German universities to encourage applications from female students and underrepresented groups. Dr Neuwirth is helping to change the pre-conception of what STEM and HPC scientists should look like by encouraging young female talents to join these fields. 

Launched in 2016, the PRACE Ada Lovelace Award is awarded annually to a female scientist who makes an outstanding contribution to and impact on HPC in Europe and the world, and who serves as a role model for women who are at the start of their scientific careers. The award is named after the Countess of Lovelace, a British mathematician who lived in the 19th century and, among other things, worked with Charles Babbage on the Machine they called the Analytical Engine — one of the first precursors of computers. Many historians regard Ada Lovelace's contribution to this mechanical calculator as the very first algorithm – and herself as the first person to be rightly called a programmer. 

The Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE) is an international non-profit association (AISBL) with its seat in Brussels. PRACE is currently shifting from providing access to Europe's largest supercomputers, to expanding, augmenting, and accelerating the representation of the interests of all HPC users in Europe. PRACE ambitions to represent the interest and identify the needs of users of HPC and related technologies (Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, Cloud Computing, Data Science) in Europe and to pursue actions to enable high-impact scientific research and innovation across all disciplines and industrial applications, thereby enhancing European scientific, technological and economic competitiveness for the benefit of society. 

PASC 2023 conference: https://pasc23.pasc-conference.org/ 

Picture download:
https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/138961641 

Caption: Dr Sarah Neuwirth, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany. Photo: private 

Further Information:
Dr Sarah Neuwirth
Modular Supercomputing and Quantum Computing Group (Professor Thomas Lippert)
Institute of Computer Science
Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
s.neuwirth@em.uni-frankfurt.de
https://www.msqc.group/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/smneuwirth/
Twitter: @NeuwirthSarah @PRACE_RI @goetheuni

Editor: Markus Bernards, PhD, Science Editor, PR & Communication Office, Tel: +49 (0) 69 798-12498, Fax: +49 (0) 69 798-763 12531, bernards@em.uni-frankfurt.de.

Goethe University's Sculpture Hall has received a prominent addition: a true-to-original copy of the monumental statue of Laocoön and his sons recently became part of the Collection of Classical Antiquities, bringing to Frankfurt one of the most important masterpieces of the Vatican Museums and certainly one of the most famous and influential ancient sculptures ever. The cast of the original artwork, kept in the Vatican, was custom-made for the Frankfurt collection. Making this unique project possible is a donation from York Thiel and Anni Heyrodt, a donor couple with close ties to classical archaeology in Frankfurt, who have generously supported the collection for years. 

The sculpture will be handed over during a ceremony held on June 25, as part of one of the regular guided tours offered at the Sculpture Hall on Sundays. The event will also feature a lecture by Prof. Dr. Anja Klöckner and Dr. Matthias Recke (of Goethe University's Institute for Archaeological Sciences), which will focus on the complexity of the work, its mass appeal and its reception up to the present day. The theme of the multi-figure group is taken from the popular myths surrounding the Trojan War: Apollo priest Laocoön warns the Trojans not to drag the wooden horse into the city – suspecting that doing so will seal the city's downfall. Roman poet Vergil describes how Laocoön and his sons are later attacked and killed by two enormous serpents sent by the goddess Athena.

Discovered in Rome as early as 1506, the three-figure original sculpture dating back to Roman times was completed in Michelangelo's workshop. The marble statue has had an immense influence on Renaissance art. To this day, the depiction of Laocoön, who, despite being entangled in the throes of death, also conveys tremendous dynamism, is considered one of antiquity's greatest artistic creations. 

With the Laocoön statue, the Frankfurt collection has received not only its first monumental figural group, the new acquisition also adds a new work from the period between the 1st century B.C. to the 1st century A.D., benefiting students of archaeology and art studies, among others. 

Created by professional art shapers from the German city of Leipzig, the statue consists of twelve individual parts crafted from a mold taken directly from the marble original: It is made of plaster, partly mixed with glass fiber and jute, weighs about 260 kg and is 2.42 meters high (taking into account its 35 cm pedestal, its total height comes to 2.77 meters). 

Images for download: www.uni-frankfurt.de/138896417 

Caption: Weighty addition: The true-to-original, approx. 260 kg cast of Laocoön and His Sons, pictured after its arrival at Goethe University's Sculpture Hall. Pictured here are artist Hans Effenberger (second from left), the curator of the Collection of Classical Antiquities and the Sculpture Hall Matthias Recke (right), and researchers from Goethe University's Archaeological Institute, all of whom worked together to assemble the statue from twelve individual parts. (Photos: Oliver Dziemba/Goethe University) 

Further information
Dr. Matthias Recke
Custodian of the Collection of Classical Antiquities / Sculpture Hall Classical Archaeology
Institute for Archaeological Sciences Dept. I
Phone +49 (69) 798 32301
E-mail: Recke@em.uni-frankfurt.de

Editor: Pia Barth, Public Relations Officer, PR & Communications Office, Tel. + 49 (0)69 798 12481, Fax + 49 (0)69 798 763 12531, p.barth@em.uni-frankfurt.de