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The following text has been machine translated from the German with no human editing.
Around 2,800 young people are currently conducting research for their doctoral theses on the Saarbrücken and Homburg campuses. Their topics reflect the diversity of research at Saarland University. This year, the University Society is once again honouring the outstanding achievements of fourteen researchers in their doctoral theses. At the award ceremony, they will provide insights into the latest research results from all six faculties of Saarland University. Four of the research topics are presented below as examples.
Lukas Siegwardt gives products from the 3D printer the ability to change their brilliant colours like a chameleon without ever fading.
A figurine that changes colour when you pull its ear: this was one of the first prototypes that Lukas Siegwardt printed using a 3D printer. "With the new process, we can control the material like a switch so that it changes colour . This works, for example, by pulling or pressing it, as with the 3D figurine. However, we can also manufacture the particles in such a way that they react to other stimuli such as moisture, acids or other external stimuli and change colour accordingly," explains the chemist, who now holds a doctorate and is a member of Professor Markus Gallei's research group. What sounds like magic and seems so playful at first glance is the result of solid chemical research at a global level – and can lead to products with completely new properties. Saarland University holds the patent for the invention by Lukas Siegwardt and Markus Gallei.
The process makes it possible to change the colour of products without applying external dyes or paints. Dyes and pigments are not involved at all. The objects simply change colour from within. The method is non-toxic, harmless and, what's more, the colours never fade.
For more information, follow this link to the article in the University of Saarland's Campus web magazine: https://campus.uni-saarland.de/forschung/farbwechsler-aus-dem-3d-drucker
Felix Deschner discovered several new treatment options in the fight against multi-resistant germs.
When bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, these drugs lose their effectiveness. Such resistance is a major threat worldwide. Researchers are therefore searching for new antibacterial agents – a difficult and time-consuming undertaking. In his doctoral thesis under Professor Rolf Müller, Felix Deschner worked on investigating two types of very different molecules to determine whether they are suitable for treating bacteria that can cause disease in humans. In doing so, he made a decisive contribution: he deciphered new mechanisms of action and showed why these agents are promising and effective against resistant germs.
On the one hand, he was able to decipher the extremely effective and completely new mechanism of action of so-called chlorotoniles, a promising family of antibiotic candidates. This class of natural substances was discovered in a soil bacterium at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland.
Secondly, Felix Deschner made a decisive contribution to finding new applications for a well-known active ingredient called nitroxoline.
For more information, see this link to the article in the University of Saarland's Campus web magazine: https://campus.uni-saarland.de/forschung/neue-wirkmechanismen-gegen-resistente-keime-entschluesselt
Kerstin Lenhof conducted research into reliably predicting which cancer drugs work well in individual cases.
There are now a large number of active ingredients on the market for cancer. But not every active ingredient works equally well for every patient – cancer is a very individual disease. "Doctors can choose from a range of highly effective drugs. But it is often difficult to predict which one will offer the best chance of recovery for the individual patient," says Kerstin Lenhof, whose doctoral thesis addresses precisely this issue: how can we predict which cancer drugs will be effective? In her work with Professor Hans-Peter Lenhof (her doctoral supervisor happens to have the same name), the bioinformatician researched machine learning methods to optimise the treatment of cancer patients.
For more on this, see the article in the Saarland University web magazine Campus at this link: https://campus.uni-saarland.de/forschung/auf-dem-weg-zur-massgeschneiderten-krebstherapie
Claudia Franke investigated the phenomenon of virtual influencers on TikTok and other platforms.
Claudia Franke dealt with virtual influencers in her doctoral thesis in the field of consumer and behavioural research under Professor Andrea Gröppel-Klein. These computer-generated characters appear on social media such as Instagram, TikTok and the like as human influencers, posting all kinds of content, videos and stories to promote products and represent brands. As their reach grows, so does their influence in the real world. "When I started my doctoral thesis, virtual influencers were still new and tended to be ridiculed. But this type of brand ambassador has developed significantly. A few years later, people have already become accustomed to them. Today, they are often a product of artificial intelligence," says Claudia Franke, who now works for a market research agency in Munich.
She investigated the effect that virtual characters have on consumers, even though they do not actually exist. "I asked the question of how widely they are accepted and whether companies should rely on such virtual influencers." Her conclusion: although the acceptance of flesh-and-blood influencers is growing, virtual influencers can score points because of their novelty. So there are reasons for companies and agencies to work with virtual influencers, who neither need breaks nor sleep, are extremely flexible and have no airs and graces.
For more on this, follow this link to the article in the University of Saarland's Campus web magazine: https://campus.uni-saarland.de/forschung/virtuelle-influencer-punkten-mit-neuartigkeit
Eduard Martin Prize winners 2025
The award-winning doctoral candidates, their research topics and their doctoral supervisors (in brackets):
Faculty of Empirical Human Sciences and Economics
Dr Claudia Maria Franke (Prof. Dr Andrea Gröppel-Klein)
Virtual Humans in Brand Communication – An Empirical Investigation of Consumer Reactions and Marketing Effectiveness
Dr Marcel Weber (Prof. Dr Malte Friese)
Examining Major Threats to Valid Measurement of Sexual Motivation: From Basic Research to Implications for Society and Science
Faculty of Medicine
Dr Ahmad Aljohmani (Prof. Daniele Yildiz)
Cell-specific regulation and function of ADAM10 and ADAM17 during Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection
Dr. rer. nat. Selina Wrublewsky (Prof. Dr. Matthias Laschke)
Anti-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic strategies for improving revascularisation and endocrine function of transplanted islets of Langerhans
Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
Dr Kerstin Lenhof (Prof. Dr Hans-Peter Lenhof)
Machine learning-based anti-cancer drug treatment optimisation
Dr David Kaltenpoth (Prof. Dr Jilles Vreeken)
Don't confound yourself: causality from biased data
Dr Lukas Vierus (Prof. Dr Thomas Schuster)
Dynamic refractive tensor field tomography as an invert problem for a transport equation
Faculty of Science and Technology
Dr Felix Deschner (Prof. Dr Rolf Müller)
Biological Evaluation of Antibiotics overcoming Resistance - Natural Product Chlorotonil and synthetic Nitroxoline
Dr Christian Müller (Prof. Dr. Martin Müser)
Contact mechanics of thin films, viscoelastic materials, and frictional interfaces via Green's function molecular dynamics
Dr. Lukas Siegwardt (Prof. Dr. Markus Gallei)
3D printing of stimulus-responsive structural colours based on polymeric core-shell particles
Dr Julien König (Prof. Dr Johanna Jauch)
Racemic and enantioselective total synthesis of selected polycyclic, polyprenylated acylphloroglucins
Faculty of Philosophy
Dr Tim Christmann (Prof. Dr Janett Reinstädler)
"Aquel ayer que dura para siempre" – Dictatorship fiction from and about Equatorial Guinea
Dr Lisa Schäfer (Prof. Dr Ingo Reich)
The licensing and usage of topic drop in German
Faculty of Law
Dr Bianca Böhme (Prof. Dr Marc Bungenberg)
Iura Novit Curia in Investment Treaty Arbitration – The Allocation of Responsibilities over the Ascertainment of Law
The award winners receive an owl statuette and prize money. Donors from the University Society provide the prize money for twelve Eduard Martin Awards. Two further prizes are donated by faculties. The University Society organises the award ceremony in cooperation with the Graduate Programme of Saarland University (GradUS).
Background
Dr Eduard Martin Prize: This award for outstanding doctoral theses has been presented since 1963. Since 1976, the prize has borne the name of Dr Eduard Martin, honorary senator and long-standing president of the University Friends Association. https://www.unigesellschaft-saarland.de/eduard-martin-preis
The University Society of Saarland brings scientists, staff and students into close contact with alumni and sponsors. It promotes academic life in Saarland and supports students and scientists in the early stages of their careers in particular. https://www.unigesellschaft-saarland.de
The graduate programme connects doctoral students at Saarland University and offers a diverse range of further training and support programmes for their interdisciplinary qualifications. https://www.uni-saarland.de/gradus
Contact the award winners and contact person for questions:
Anna-Maria Braun: Email: anna-maria.braun(at)uni-saarland.de
