Gips-Schüle Young Talent Award for Dr. Maria Kalweit

"In times when there are doubts about the future viability of our country and our society, these award winners show us how much passion, energy and expertise is available at our universities. Both doctoral theses contain important findings that contribute to making our world a little better and are therefore a benefit for society as a whole. The Gips-Schüle Prize for Young Scientists supports the young scientists in further developing this potential,” said Dr. Stefan Hofmann, Chairman of the Gips-Schüle Foundation at the ceremony.

Artificial intelligence made more flexible

Maria Kalweit was honored in the technical sciences category. In her doctoral thesis, she investigated how AI models can react optimally to variable everyday conditions – while remaining as efficient as possible. She focused on deep learning. This makes it possible to automatically filter out important features from complex data and present them in complex levels of abstraction. Ultimately, Maria Kalweit has developed a method that enables AI systems to adapt to the variability of real-world tasks that arise in everyday life – whether in medicine or in cars.

Microcontroller for epileptics

For example, she has co-developed a tiny microcontroller for epileptics that could significantly improve patients' quality of life.This implanted pacemaker in the brain could detect and avert impending seizures. “But the chip has to be efficient – after all, you can't keep changing the battery,” says Maria Kalweit. Together with doctors and microsystems engineers, she has developed a microcontroller which, thanks to her research, could be smaller than a fingernail because it can work optimally with just a few parameters and therefore consumes hardly any energy and produces very little heat.Maria Kalweit is certain that if such a chip were to come onto the market one day, it would significantly improve patients' quality of life. 

Dynamic AI for autonomous driving

Artificial intelligence also helps with autonomous driving. The AI must be able to react dynamically to different environments.“You can teach the AI how to react when a child runs into the road,” says Maria Kalweit, “but what if there are suddenly three children?Or four?"Her answer: the AI must be adaptive, i.e. able to adapt to the constantly changing environment - even in traffic. Maria Kalweit has developed a dynamic algorithm so that the AI can make the right decision, regardless of whether a vehicle is surrounded by three or a hundred cars. The results, which she helped to develop in a project with BMW, have already been patented.DeepSet-Q Learning is an innovative method for reacting optimally to a wide variety of situations in autonomous driving.

Tricking brain tumors

In the life sciences category, the prize went to Dr. Mirco Julian Friedrich (28), who currently works at the Department of Haematology, Oncology and Rheumatology at Heidelberg University Hospital. He has researched how brain tumors manipulate immune cells.

As part of his dissertation, he was able to show that the body's immune cells, which should actually reject the tumor, are reprogrammed by the aggressive brain tumor. By interfering with the messenger substances, the body's own phagocytes and killer cells in the brain are altered in such a way that they no longer perform their actual function, namely to penetrate the tumor and fight it off. Thanks to this discovery, the physician has now developed a method for “tricking” the cancer cells themselves. He is now looking for ways to genetically modify immune cells so that they can fight off the cancer cells and contribute to healing. In his search for therapeutic options, Mirco Friedrich has tried to reactivate the original immune response of the phagocytes in diseased mice. This involved the use of a drug that was actually developed for other purposes. With success: the previously discovered signaling pathways could be interrupted and the immune response reactivated. 

Info Gips-Schüle Foundation

The Gips-Schüle Foundation promotes science for people and young research with vision in Baden-Württemberg. Its focus is on the MINT subjects (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology) and on interdisciplinary projects. The Stuttgart-based foundation works closely with universities and research institutions in Baden-Württemberg and enables forward-looking research projects to be carried out. It finances endowed professorships, awards scholarships, supports study ambassadors to recruit high school graduates for STEM subjects, projects for teacher training and further education and promotes interdisciplinary political education. Further information can be found at: www.gips-schuele-stiftung.de