Newsroom

How can the production and regulation of proteins in healthy and diseased cells be influenced by specifically targeting mRNA molecules? This question is being investigated by the new Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio (CRC/TRR) 440 smART at Goethe University and Philipps University Marburg. #RMU

A new analysis by DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Goethe University Frankfurt, and the University of Paderborn shows that social disparities in the digital skills of eighth-grade students have increased significantly over the past decade. According to the researchers, the trend is driven primarily by the cultural environment at home and the type of school students attend.

Researchers at Goethe University and Philipps University Marburg, in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, have developed a new artificial intelligence to reduce animal experiments. The AI, called genESOM, was trained to “learn” the structure of small datasets. It uses this learned information to generate new data points. These data points reproduce the properties of experimentally collected data as accurately as if they had been obtained in laboratory experiments. In the future, genESOM could reduce the number of laboratory animals needed for testing new active substances by between 30 and 50 percent.

For decades, the collection of the Psychiatric Clinic at Frankfurt University Hospital contained medical specimens with human tissue. Little attention was paid to these “human remains,” which remained hidden and largely forgotten – or perhaps deliberately repressed. Over the course of a three-year research project, Dr. Moritz Verdenhalven investigated the origins of the collection. Supported by Goethe University’s management and Frankfurt University Hospital, he set out to reconstruct the history behind the specimens and the people from whom they came. In a recent lecture, Verdenhalven offered insights into both his research process and his findings.

Literature is a miniature reflection of society – both of the fundamental upheavals that are occurring at an ever-faster pace and of the very crises that define our social, political, economic, and aesthetic present. In 1989, writers were once again thrust onto the grand stage of history. During the demonstrations on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, many looked to East German author Christa Wolf for political and moral orientation. But the years after reunification fundamentally reshaped Germany’s literary public sphere. Fierce debates erupted as part of the so-called “German-German literary dispute” (deutsch-deutscher Literaturstreit) surrounding figures such as Botho Strauß, Peter Handke, Martin Walser, and Günter Grass, reflecting broader conflicts over memory, identity, and political responsibility. By the late 1990s, Popliteratur had reduced authors to brands among many others, while Amazon quietly began testing the mechanisms of digital capitalism through the book market. Literature had entered a new era – though not the one many had once hoped for.

On April 21, 2026, the Goethe University hosted the kickoff event for the new workshop series “Rethinking Education and Training.” With nearly 50 registrations, the event for training staff received an enthusiastic response. 

Last week, Germany’s Federal Council approved the Retirement Plan Reform Act, overhauling the previously state-subsidized Riester pension scheme. Prof. Raimond Maurer from Goethe University Frankfurt’s Faculty of Economics and Business was a member of the federal government’s focus group on private retirement provisions, which developed many of the reform proposals. Maurer welcomed the government’s decision to follow the experts’ recommendations and expressed hope that this approach will continue in future reform efforts.

Religions look beyond the visible world. However, most believers also look to them for help with everyday problems. In Christian Europe, these hopes were long realized in “spiritual home remedies”: Compiled without fixed rules, they contained—well into the 20th century—religious and religion-inspired objects that were believed to provide relief from both physical and emotional suffering. 

How do students use artificial intelligence (AI) in academic writing, and how does it affect their learning processes? A nationwide study conducted by Goethe University Frankfurt’s Schreibzentrum offers new insights into the opportunities and tensions surrounding AI-assisted writing.

The job market continues to evolve: digitalization, skills shortages, and economic uncertainties are reshaping professional requirements. For students in particular, it is therefore becoming increasingly important to establish professional contacts early on, explore career prospects, and gain direct insights into companies.

Keynote by humor researcher Désirée Krüger on Thursday, May 21, 2026, from 4:00–6:00 p.m. in the Casino (Room 823) on the Westend Campus.

Artificial intelligence and digital technologies are rapidly transforming the way people learn – from schools and universities to professional training and lifelong education. They enable more personalized learning experiences, support learners and educators alike, and open up entirely new approaches to teaching and instruction. Yet their effective and responsible use requires expertise that is still rarely taught in a systematic way. This is the starting point for the new master’s program “AI and Digital Technology in Learning and Instruction” (ALI) at Goethe University Frankfurt. The interdisciplinary, research-oriented program prepares students for scientific, strategic, and applied roles at the intersection of artificial intelligence, digital technologies, and education. 

With approximately 3,000 manuscripts, including some 600 medieval manuscripts and numerous early modern manuscripts, the Frankfurt University Library’s collection is one of the largest of its kind in Germany. Now, an extraordinary object has come into focus.

Using artistic methods, American artist, design educator, and attorney Ryan Lilienthal explores multidirectional and multiperspectival approaches to remembering National Socialism. Participation lies at the heart of his work, which also involves collaborations with students in Germany. The project is funded by the German-American Fulbright Commission and the German federal government and receives academic support from the “Education After Auschwitz” teaching and research forum.

Where is the Chinese economy headed? And what are the implications for Germany and the wider world? These questions are central to the research of Philipp Böing, Professor of Empirical Innovation Research with a focus on China at Goethe University Frankfurt and the ZEW Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research in Mannheim. Recently appointed spokesperson for the Leibniz Research Network on China, the economist is one of the few German scholars conducting empirical research on the Chinese economy and innovation using large datasets.

The Faculty of Economics at Goethe University has once again achieved outstanding results in the latest ranking by the Center for Higher Education (CHE).