News
Recent news on knowledge and technology transfer
Ocean data from commercial ships: Cooperation between SOOP and HX Hurtigruten Expeditions
May 16, 2024
The Helmholtz Innovation Platform "Shaping an Ocean Of Possibilities" (SOOP) and HX Hurtigruten Expeditions—a company specializing in sea expeditions to remote regions—have launched a cooperation to improve ocean observation. The goal is to conduct marine research not only from specialized research vessels but also from commercial ships. This project aims to help close data gaps in sparsely navigated ocean regions and enhance our understanding of the oceans. Additionally, passengers will gain unique insights into marine research and better understand its vital role in protecting our environment.
As part of this collaboration, various measuring devices have been installed on the expedition cruise ship MS FRIDTJOF NANSEN. During voyages from Hamburg to Reykjavik and across Norway, as well as the Shetland and Faroe Islands, these devices collect important data on sea temperature, oxygen content, salinity, microplastics, and CO2 levels. Furthermore, the project investigates how phytoplankton and eDNA (genetic traces in the water) can be used to assess biodiversity.
Dr. Toste Tanhua, coordinator of SOOP, emphasizes the importance of simple and standardized instruments for data collection to enable more comprehensive ocean monitoring. The cooperation with HX Hurtigruten Expeditions is a crucial step in testing and optimizing data collection on commercial ships.
Knowlege Transfer with SoftWert
April 4, 2024
The BMBF (Federal Ministry for Ecucation and Research) funded SoftWert project offers transfer agents a toolkit of methods for the commercial and non-commercial exploitation of scientific software. This toolkit addresses the tangible need of scientific organizations to establish suitable procedures for these exploitation processes.
In the project of the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in cooperation with Saarland University and Atrineo AG, a transfer consulting and support provider, the project partners share their experiences, best practices and newly tested methods in an illustrative booklet and via the website softwert.org (only GER).
DLR spin-off Lumoview receives 2.5 million euro EIC Accelerator Grant
March 11, 2024
As one of 42 funded projects from a pool of 1083 applicants, the spin-off of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) was awarded funding from the European Innovation Council. With its EIC Accelerator Grant, the young company aims to expand further and make it easier for property owners to operate their buildings more energy-efficiently.
Lumoview Building Analytics GmbH manufactures measuring devices that can be used to measure and analyze individual rooms and entire buildings quickly and cost-effectively.
TherVacB - Helmholtz Munich's therapeutic vaccine against chronic hepatitis B enters the clinical phase
February 29, 2024
The therapeutic vaccine TherVacB against chronic hepatitis B, a liver disease that can lead to tissue damage and even liver cancer, developed under the leadership of Helmholtz Munich in the framework of a Helmholtz Proof-of-Concept Project, has reached the first clinical phase. Current treatments for chronic hepatitis B can reduce the viral load, but do not provide a cure for the approximately 296 million people infected worldwide.
The newly developed vaccine now has the potential to do just that: initial safety and immunogenicity tests have already been carried out in a phase 1a study on healthy volunteers in collaboration with the LMU Klinikum München and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. In a phase 1b/2a first-in-patient study, the safety and efficacy in patients with chronic hepatitis B will soon be tested in several EU countries.
Contacts
Andreas Bergner
Head of Department Transfer and Innovation
Julian Alexandrakis
Manager Transfer und Innovation