The curATime Future Cluster—a cluster for atherothrombosis and personalized medicine based in Mainz—serves as a prime example of what this innovative spirit looks like in practice. Through curATime, TRON gGmbH, the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) are pooling their expertise with strong partners from the Rhine-Main-Palatinate region to bring together research excellence and technological innovation. The goal is to develop innovative solutions for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. curATime is working to detect vascular calcification and heart attacks earlier, treat them more effectively, and prevent them in the long term.
As an interdisciplinary cluster, curATime combines artificial intelligence with biomedical research, RNA technologies, and immunological approaches. Through close collaboration between research institutions, hospitals, and technology partners in Rhineland-Palatinate, new concepts are emerging, and their transfer from the laboratory to clinical care is being specifically accelerated.
This development is not an isolated case, but rather an expression of a system. At re:publica 2026, Germany’s innovation clusters will showcase their success stories, because: While there is much discussion about Germany’s capacity for innovation, it has long been happening—in the country’s innovation clusters.
Clusters are the workshops of change, because this is where scientific excellence is translated into practical applications. They bring disciplines together, pool expertise, and create the conditions necessary for ideas to become solutions.
From May 18 to 20, 2026, 21 cluster and campus initiatives from the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR) will present themselves together for the first time at re:publica in Berlin under the theme “Germany’s Innovation Engine Room.”
The goal: to demonstrate how innovation actually takes shape in Germany—from new medications and energy-efficient AI to hydrogen technologies and new mobility concepts.
The joint booth invites visitors to engage with cluster managers and offers insights into specific projects and success stories from across Germany. The booth will be complemented by a panel discussion on May 19 from 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. on the re:publica main stage, where representatives from politics and clusters will present Germany as an innovation hub through a networked system. Interested visitors and journalists are invited to schedule meetings and interviews with representatives of the cluster and campus initiatives in advance and at re:publica at the exhibition booth in Hall 3, Booth M2.
About the BMFTR’s Cluster and Campus Initiatives
The BMFTR’s cluster and campus initiatives bring together scientific excellence, economic strength, and societal perspectives. Together, they form Germany’s innovation engine room and help accelerate the translation of research into practical applications and tangible impact.
Represented at re:puplica are 14 future-oriented clusters: CNATM, curATime, ETOS, MCube, nanodiag BW, NeuroSys, Ocean Technology Campus Rostock, PROXIDRUGS, QSense, QVLS-iLabs, SaxoCell, SEMECO, SupplHyInnoRhineland, and ThWIC; as well as the four research campuses ARENA2036, FEN, Mobility2Grid, and OHLF, as well as four former leading clusters: Bavarian Biotech Cluster Development BioM, bioRN Life Science Cluster, and the South-West Electric Mobility Cluster.
The future cluster curATime was selected by the BMFTR in early 2026 for a second funding phase as part of the Clusters4Future initiative and will receive a total of 15 million euros in funding for the three-year implementation phase.
About TRON – Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH
TRON gGmbH (Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH) is an internationally recognized translational research institute based in Mainz. TRON develops innovative diagnostics and therapeutic agents for the immunotherapeutic treatment of cancer, infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and other serious conditions with high unmet medical needs. Our focus is on developing new platforms for personalized therapy concepts and identifying meaningful biomarkers. Following the principle of translation, we rapidly and efficiently translate promising ideas from basic research into clinical applications. In close collaboration with academic institutions, biotechnology companies, and the pharmaceutical industry, TRON is at the forefront of innovative drug development. For more information, visit www.tron-mainz.de.
About the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
The University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is the only supramaximal care medical facility in Rhineland-Palatinate and an internationally recognized center of scientific excellence. It comprises more than 60 clinics, institutes, and departments that collaborate across disciplines and provide inpatient and outpatient care to approximately 403,000 people annually. Highly specialized patient care, research, and teaching form an inseparable whole at the University Medical Center Mainz. Approximately 3,700 medical and dental students, as well as around 590 professionals in a wide variety of healthcare, commercial, and technical fields, are trained here. With approximately 9,000 employees, Mainz University Medical Center is also one of the region’s largest employers and a key driver of growth and innovation. For more information, visit www.unimedizin-mainz.de.
About the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI)
The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence GmbH (DFKI) was founded in 1988 as a non-profit public-private partnership (PPP). It maintains locations in Kaiserslautern, Saarbrücken, Bremen, Lower Saxony, and Darmstadt, laboratories in Berlin and Lübeck, and a branch office in Trier. The DFKI combines scientific excellence and industry-oriented value creation with social impact. For over 35 years, the DFKI has been conducting research on AI for the benefit of humanity, focusing on social relevance and scientific excellence in the key future-oriented research and application areas of artificial intelligence. In the international scientific community, the DFKI ranks among the most important “Centers of Excellence.” Currently, approximately 1,500 employees from over 76 nations are conducting research on innovative software solutions. For more information, visit www.dfki.de.