The event was opened by Dean Prof. Johannes Barth, who welcomed the guests in both German and English and recalled that this was already the second time the NAT had gathered for its own New Year’s reception. The event not only marked a joint start to the new year, but it also served to introduce newly appointed members of the School. At the same time, Barth reflected on the establishment phase of the NAT, which he described as an initial phase under challenging conditions. While this period was characterized by consolidation, it also generated strong shared momentum within the School. He compared the founding of NAT to a “Big Bang,” thereby linking it to the School’s mission statement, “Discovery at all scales”, which emphasizes the close integration of the three departments within NAT and the TUM matrix structure.

With reference to current figures, he highlighted the School’s strong development: NAT currently comprises 97 professorships and 15 TUM Junior Fellows and counts more than 4,000 students, with numbers continuing to rise. NAT also makes a significant contribution to TUM’s international visibility in rankings, for example through TUM’s top position in the Nature Index as well as leading placements in THE and QS rankings. The Dean expressed special thanks to the central service teams of NAT—from secretariats and workshops to facilities management, technicians, and the Communications Team—as well as to all those involved in the five Clusters of Excellence to which NAT makes a substantial contribution.

For 2026, Barth outlined key challenges: maintaining a high academic standard, forward-looking resource management, efficient decision-making processes, further development of digital structures, and the continued strategic alignment of NAT. In this context, he introduced the newly elected School Council (results of the university elections in July 2025) as well as the NAT Executive Board. He offered a special welcome to the newly appointed Vice Dean for Studies and Teaching, Prof. Fritz Kühn, and to the newly elected Department Heads, Prof. Johannes Buchner (Biosciences) and Prof. Frank Pollmann (Physics). Another highlight was the numerous awards received by members of the NAT School, including several ERC Grants, the Heinz Maier-Leibniz Medal awarded to Prof. Friedrich Simmel and Prof. Jennifer Rupp, and the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize awarded to Prof. Frank Pollmann. Barth concluded by addressing the School’s structural and building-related challenges.

This was followed by a speech by the Vice Dean for Research and Innovation, Prof. Thomas Brück, who emphasized the importance of international cooperation and open scientific networks. A particular concern for him is the promotion of early-career researchers as well as the introduction of NAT Senior Professorships in order to continue closely integrating distinguished colleagues into the School. Further focal points of his remarks included the expansion of core facilities, support for cluster activities, and the need to pool infrastructure more effectively and use it efficiently together. Exchange with central actors, such as TUM ForTe, also plays an important role in this context, as does consideration of export controls in international collaborations.

The Vice Dean for Talent Management & Diversity, Prof. Karen Alim, presented her portfolio, which addresses all status groups within NAT. She introduced the Talent Management & Diversity (TMD) staff unit, with Dr. Robert Reich as the new contact person, and emphasized the importance of networking within the NAT as well as across TUM. In the area of talent management, she referred to progress in onboarding new professorships and announced the forthcoming Early Career Support program, intended as bridge funding from the postdoctoral phase to a TUM Junior Fellow position, with the aim of retaining young talent at TUM in the long term.

Dr. Josef Homolka, Vice Dean for Information Management, then introduced the NAT IT Office and provided an overview of its wide range of responsibilities—from software licenses and digital services to support for new research groups. Against the backdrop of the TUM Digital and AI Strategy, he outlined the challenges and opportunities of digital transformation and artificial intelligence. In 2026, the continued focus will be on simplifying administrative processes and placing greater emphasis on the people working in science. To foster better networking among NAT members working with AI, the NAT AI Circle was established in 2025.

The new Vice Dean for Studies and Teaching, Prof. Fritz Kühn, thanked his predecessor, Prof. Reinhard Kienberger, and introduced the Academic Program Directors (APDs) of NAT. He reported on the positive development of student numbers, acknowledged the Golden Chalk awards for good teaching presented by the MPIC student council, and congratulated Prof. Stephan Sieber on receiving the NAT Supervisory Award 2025. He also announced that the Vice Dean’s teaching awards will be reintroduced in 2026.

At the conclusion of the New Year’s reception, the departments presented their newly appointed professors. Prof. Ana Benítez-Mateos (Department of Bioscience) conducts research in the field of sustainable biocatalysis for the synthesis of natural products, including the biological degradation of plastics. Prof. Thomas Schlichthärle (Department of Bioscience) works on AI-guided protein design with the aim of developing new therapeutics and novel proteins. Prof. Robert Mayer (Department of Chemistry) combines automation and data science to make catalytic processes predictable. Prof. Karoline Schäffner (Department of Physics) conducts research on the search for dark matter using cryogenic detectors and is involved, among other projects, in the PIRATES project.

With thanks to all those involved and all speakers, Dean Prof. Johannes Barth concluded the New Year’s Reception 2026, which—despite the wintry conditions—was characterized by a clear sense of optimism and a shared determination to shape the future of the TUM School of Natural Sciences.

Further information and links:

• The slides from the event: https://collab.dvb.bayern/spaces/TUMnat/pages/1357022109/NAT+Neujahrsempfang+Annual+Reception
• Chemistry Graduation Ceremony in November 2025: https://www.nat.tum.de/en/nat/latest/article/the-chemistry-graduation-celebration-in-november-2025/
• Graduation Ceremony at the Department of Physics on November 10, 2025: https://www.nat.tum.de/en/nat/latest/article/graduation-ceremony-celebrated-at-the-department-of-physics-on-10-november-2025/
• NAT organizational chart: https://www.nat.tum.de/en/nat/about/orga/organizational-chart/
• NAT Executive Board: https://www.nat.tum.de/en/nat/wir/orga/executive/
• Prof. Ana Benítez-Mateos, Biosystems Chemistry of Natural Products
• Prof. Thomas Schlichthärle, AI-guided Protein Design
• Prof. Robert Mayer, Physical Organic Chemistry of Catalysis
• Prof. Karoline Schäffner, Experimental Dark Matter and Neutrinos

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