Major success: RESIST has been successful in the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments and will continue to receive funding for a further seven years after the first funding period (2019 to 2025). This was announced by the German Research Foundation (DFG) today, 22 May 2025. RESIST has applied for structural research funding of almost 50 million euros. In addition, the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony has pledged a further seven million euros in support.
“The further funding of our infection and immunity research means important long-term help for people who can be particularly harmed by infections. These include newborns and senior citizens whose immune system is not yet developed or is very susceptible, as well as people whose immune system is suppressed for therapeutic reasons, such as after a transplant. However, infections can also be dangerous for people with implants. We look forward to continuing to improve the possibilities for diagnostics and therapy in the long term,” says RESIST speaker Professor Dr. Reinhold Förster.
“We have already achieved many successes in research. Examples include new approaches to prevent blood poisoning in newborn babies, improved strategies for SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and against multi-resistant hospital germs,” explains Professor Dr. Gesine Hansen, co-spokesperson of RESIST. “As before, the patients remain at the centre of RESIST. We want to help them better by closely combining cutting-edge basic research and clinical research,” explains Professor Dr. Thomas F. Schulz, co-spokesperson of RESIST.
“For the new funding period, we have realigned and restructured the existing research topics and highlighted other key areas and future plans, such as new infection models and organoids – three-dimensional models that mimic human organs,” reports Professor Dr. Lars Dölken, designated co-spokesperson of RESIST. In addition, machine learning and artificial intelligence will be increasingly utilised for data analysis and integration. The long-term goal is for the research findings gained in RESIST to be incorporated into existing translational centres and further developed for use in patients.
The first photo shows (from left): Prof. Schulz, Prof. Hansen, Prof. Förster and Prof. Dölken.
The second photo shows members of the RESIST team who came together to celebrate on behalf of all RESIST members.
The third photo shows (from left): Prof. Förster, MHH President Prof. Hilfiker-Kleiner and Prof. Kral from the Cluster of Excellence Hearing4All at the University of Oldenburg, in which the MHH is significantly involved and which will also be funded over the next seven years.