Future aims of UniSysCat

UniSysCat stands for Unifying Systems in Catalysis. We are a Cluster of Excellence uniting biologists, chemists, engineers and physicists with the aim to revolutionize catalysis research. In the next fund period from (2026 - 2032), we plan to realign our research into three interconnected Units that explore catalytic systems of increasing complexity. Our overarching aim is to address urgent societal challenges by developing new catalytic strategies for sustainable chemistry, biotechnology, and medicine. These efforts will be underpinned by advanced analytical and computational technologies developed within the Cluster.

News

Six leading institutions launched an initiative for sustainable chemistry to create an innovation ecosystem that combines chemical industry transformation with the challenges of structural change in eastern Germany.

UniSysCat researcher Christian Lorent utilizes spectroscopy to provide the missing proof in the activation mechanism: The evolutionary lnk between two fundamental biological processes.

An article in Tagesspiegel published on April 26 highlights how a team around UniSysCat speaker Juri Rappsilber is developing medical compounds that only become active in the tumor without attacking healthy cells.

UniSysCat congratulates Bonnie Murphy on receiving the Clara Immerwahr Award 2025. We had the pleasure of celebrating this occasion together at TU Berlin on April 11. The preceding Symposium was also a truly inspiring day.

The “innovate! lab gGmbH”, which is funded by the Joachim Herz Foundation with 5 million euros, gives a new boost to the transfer of cutting-edge research into practice.

Thanks to the DAAD Hilde-Domin program, Najiba Azemi from Afghanistan can do her doctorate in the UniSysCat working group of Juri Rappsilber where she works on anti-cancer medication.

The two scientists Rhea Machado and Javier Silva have had a stellar career at UniSysCat and have now been interviewed by CHEManager magazine about their startup Porelio.

UniSysCat speaker Juri Rappsilber calls for the renewal of university teaching in a recent blog post. His credo: “University means shaping”. Excellence clusters could lead the way.

Helmut Schwarz, emeritus professor of TU Berlin and former UniCat member, was honored with the 17th "BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award" in the basic sciences. UniSysCat congratulates very warmly.

This year's Clara Immerwahr Award Ceremony will be complemented by a festive symposium for the first time. The events take place on April 10 and 11, guests are very welcome to join!

Video: What's UniSysCat all about?

The Synthesizer Podcast about the transformation of chemistry

Einzigartiges Ökystem für grüne Chemie in Berlin

Video: Being a researcher

Energie-Zeitenwende: Video with Youtuber Tom Bötticher

Consortium

Unifying Systems in Catalysis (UniSysCat) is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany´s Excellence Strategy – EXC 2008– 390540038