The German Research Foundation (DFG) has officially approved funding for SHARP – CRC Transregio 419, the first-ever Collaborative Research Center in educational research.
In many professions, such as medicine and school teaching, increasingly complex analytical and communication skills are expected. Students could be better prepared for these requirements with simulation training, teaching them in practical situations with virtual patients or simulated pupils. The Collaborative Research Center, titled titled “Simulation-based Learning in Higher Education: Advancing Research on Process Diagnostics and Personalized Interventions (SHARP)”, will investigate how such simulations can be designed and applied. The researchers will use artificial intelligence to adapt simulations to the respective level of competence and different needs. They also want to investigate which skills university lecturers need to effectively implement personalized, simulation-based learning in degree courses.
Led by LMU and TUM, and also joined by the University of Augsburg and the Leibniz Supercomputing Center, SHARP is the first Collaborative Research Center in educational research and brings together the disciplines of psychology, educational science, computer science, mathematics, medicine, biology, chemistry, and physics.
The Collaborative Research Center
The DFG’s Collaborative Research Centers are among the most important research funding programs in Germany. They enable ambitious, interdisciplinary, and long-term research projects. Collaborative Research Centers whose partners cooperate on a supra-regional level are called Transregios. TUM was successful twice in the current selection round.
This year, the German Research Foundation has established a total of 13 new Collaborative Research Centers. From October 2025, they will initially be funded for three years and nine months with a total of around 177 million euros.
This year, the German Research Foundation has established a total of 13 new Collaborative Research Centers. From October 2025, they will initially be funded for three years and nine months with a total of around 177 million euros.
More information
02 June 2025
