Efficiency of use in pigs - 150.000 euros for scientists at the University of Hohenheim
Paving the way for science: For the fourth time, the Gips-Schüle Foundation is awarding its “Open Spaces for Research” award to give scientists at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart the opportunity to tackle large-scale research projects. The special thing about this year: two university projects impressed the jury so much that not only the award for 2019, but also the award for 2020 was awarded. The 2019 Gips-Schüle award goes to Prof. Dr. Jana Seifert from the Institute of Livestock Sciences for the application for a DFG research group on the topic "Use efficiency in pigs" and the Gips-Schüle award 2020 to Prof. Dr. Thomas Berger from the Institute for Tropical Agricultural Sciences for the further development of HPC-capable simulation models. The Gips-Schüle-Foundation awards 150.000 euros for each of the two projects.
"We were faced with a real luxury problem," says Rector Prof. Dr. Stephan Dabbert from the University of Hohenheim welcoming the guests at the award ceremony. “Because with the applications from Prof. Dr. Jana Seifert and Prof. Dr. Thomas Berger, we had two applications that were so excellent that it seemed impossible for us to make a decision.”
Neither sharing the award nor weighing the winners against each other would have done justice to the two outstanding applications, the rector continued. "So it's all the nicer that we can have a double award this year - also thanks to the flexibility of the Gips-Schüle Foundation: Prof. Dr. Jana Seifert receives the award of the Gips-Schüle-Foundation for 2019 and Prof. Dr. Thomas Berger the award for 2020.”
“With the 'Freedom for Research' program, we want to give particularly promising scientists maximum freedom in the implementation of their research projects. The funding associated with the award is therefore not earmarked. The honorees should be free to decide how they use the money most sensibly," says the director of the Gips-Schüle Foundation, Dr. Stephen Hofmann.
A journey with great challenges
"But the Gips-Schüle award is not just a solid budget that can be used in an uncomplicated, open-topic manner to tackle the research questions targeted by the two award winners," explains Prof. Dr. Julia Fritz-Steuber, Prorector for Research at the University of Hohenheim and member of the jury. "The award winners also promise to achieve a goal: the goal of finding an attractive research topic together with other researchers and promoting it in initial studies in order to finally submit a joint project with the partners to a large research funding institution." a journey with the great challenge of putting together a team that will submit an innovative research proposal.
“Both of our award winners are internationally recognized experts in their respective disciplines. Together with other scientists, you have acquired highly endowed third-party funded projects. You have the goal of your scientific journey clearly in your mind's eye. And the University of Hohenheim will do its utmost to support them in this.”
Sustainable use of animal feed
A DFG research group investigating the efficient use of feed in pigs: Prof. Dr. Reach Jana Seifert from the Institute of Livestock Sciences. The research project also serves to prepare an independent junior research group.
"The prize money is to be used to set up a project network with partners from animal science, physiology, microbiology and bioinformatics, and thus serves as preliminary work for a collaborative research center or an excellence initiative," says the scientist about her plans.
Prof. Dr. Seifert. Experts have also been warning of a global phosphorus shortage for years. Both approaches are to be dealt with in the DFG research group.
“Reducing the protein and phosphorus components in pig feed could lead to health problems and reduced performance. That's why we want to investigate the limits to which we can reduce the protein and phosphorus supply in order to have consistent performance without endangering the animal's health."
On the one hand, the resource phosphorus should be saved more efficiently, explains the expert from the University of Hohenheim. At the same time, they also want to investigate whether there are other sources of protein for feeding that have so far remained unused. These hypotheses are to be examined with the help of the prize money, thereby promoting research on the subject of animal feed and animal welfare at the University of Hohenheim.
Transformation and Policy Analysis with High-Performance Computing
"Questions about adaptation, structural change and innovation are very important to me, and I would like to use the award money from the Gips-Schüle Foundation to further expand computer simulation in the direction of transformation and political analysis," says Prof. Dr. Thomas Berger. "The Gips-Schüle award gives me the freedom to immerse myself in this fascinating and innovative field of research. My goal is that we can use this to develop a new Hohenheim joint project, ideally a collaborative research center.”
The bioeconomic model system of the University of Hohenheim uses the high-performance computers in Karlsruhe and Stuttgart, where it generates large amounts of data that can possibly be evaluated faster and better with modern machine learning methods. For this combination of high-performance computing and machine learning, Prof. Dr. Thomas Berger, together with the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, raised the new research project "SimLearn" in October.
The Hohenheim computer model system was developed and used in the DFG research group "Regional Climate Change", in which an interdisciplinary team from agricultural and environmental sciences was involved. With this, the University of Hohenheim has already been able to make an important contribution to climate impact and adaptation research. "Our model system takes into account the interactions between atmosphere, land surface, plant growth and land use."
The model system simulates in great detail - and this is unique in the world - the economic adaptation reactions of computer agents that reflect changed land use decisions: "After the very hot and dry summers of recent years, farmers are considering, for example, how to make their crop rotations less susceptible to climate change,” says the award winner. “This may require very costly investments in machines and irrigation systems. This could further accelerate structural change in agriculture.”
It is not yet foreseeable how digitization will affect agriculture in the future and whether it will be able to fulfill the hopes for environmentally friendly, climate-neutral farming. "That's why we shouldn't just discuss bans and taxes, but also use computer simulations to calculate concrete alternatives for farming. Innovation and structural change often lead to loss of income and, in extreme cases, to social hardship, which should be offset by fair compensation. I would like to take this further with our Hohenheim model system.”
BACKGROUND: "Open spaces for research" selection process
The program was developed by the Gips-Schüle Foundation in close cooperation with the University of Hohenheim. A two-stage process was used for the selection. In the first stage, all researchers at the university with a doctorate were able to propose suitable candidates for the award. After a preselection by a jury, the nominees applied with a detailed application, which research idea they want to advance with the freedom for research. The members of the jury are the rector of the University of Hohenheim, Prof. Dr. Stephan Dabbert, Vice Rector for Research Prof. Dr. Julia Fritz-Steuber and the former Science Minister of Baden-Württemberg and member of the Board of Directors of the Gips-Schüle Foundation Prof. Dr. Peter Frankenberg.
BACKGROUND: The Gips-Schüle-Foundation
The Gips-Schüle Foundation promotes research, young people and teaching in Baden-Württemberg. Her focus is on the MINT subjects (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology) and on interdisciplinary projects. The Stuttgart Foundation works closely with the universities and research institutions and enables future-oriented research projects to be carried out. It finances endowed professorships, awards scholarships, supports study ambassadors to recruit high school graduates for MINT subjects and projects for teacher training and further education. More information at: https://www.gips-schuele-stiftung.de/
