EXC 2025:  Matters of Activity. Times Scales Defects

• Subject Area: Literary Studies ; Construction Engineering and Architecture ; Art History, Music, Theatre and Media Studies ; Materials Science ; Mathematics ; Medicine ; Microbiology, Virology and Immunology ; Condensed Matter Physics ; Social and Cultural Anthropology, Non-European Cultures, Jewish Studies and Religious Studies ; Zoology
• Term: since 2019
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 390648296

Imagine a new culture of the material. A society in which technologies, buildings, and infrastructures work with the inherent activity of materials – rather than against it. In which materials are not passivated at the expense of adaptability, and where the control of material flows goes beyond shortsighted profit. This vision creates a sustainable alternative to prevailing extractivist and energy-consuming technologies, and sparks a fresh perspective on the challenges posed by present-day anthropogenic crises. The Cluster Matters of Activity (MoA) proposes a pioneering approach for advancing such a new culture of the material grounded in the inter- and transdisciplinary study of “active mat-ters.” In its initial phase, MoA investigated the practices of filtering, weaving, and cutting as material operations and used this as the basis for innovative theoretical concepts and design strategies. Building on this foundation, MoA’s second phase will explore material defects arising from irregularities, impurities, and incompleteness. Defects are not just signs of damage, but key drivers of material activity, ultimately enabling plasticity, compossibility, and viability. Aging wood, moldy facades, or bone regeneration inspire new technoscientific and sociocultural practices for liv-able, sustainable material futures. This will allow us to move beyond current narratives of planetary collapse and learn from materials’ active responses to changing environmental conditions. By studying defect-induced transformations across different times and scales, MoA will formulate an urgently needed ecological approach to material activity. This will significantly advance and transversally connect materials research, address ethical issues, and lead to adaptive post-control design principles. MoA’s unique identity is shaped by its radical integration of theory and practice. It brings together wide-ranging expertise from the humanities and social sciences, natural and medical sciences, and incorporates design and the arts into basic research. Our shared focus on Gestaltung unlocks new potential for collaborative research, enabling responsible innovation in the sociocultural, technological, and medical fields. Over the last few years, MoA has established itself as a worldwide leading hub for integrative materials research, connecting local scientific and cultural institutions with a diverse global network. Based at the interdisciplinary Hermann von Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, MoA will advance innovative formats for knowledge exchange between academia, cultural institutions, and society. Berlin’s thriving academic and cultural landscape – with world-leading research facilities, art academies, museums, and an internationally renowned design scene – makes it an ideal location for this pioneering endeavor.

• DFG Programme: Clusters of Excellence (ExStra)
• Applicant Institution: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
• Participating Institution: Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM); Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin; Freie Universität Berlin; Hochschule für nachhaltige Entwicklung Eberswalde; Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz; Staatliche Museen zu Berlin ; Kunstgewerbemuseum; Max-Planck-Institut für Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung; Wissenschaftspark Potsdam-Golm; Technische Universität Berlin; Universität Potsdam; Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK); Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin
• Spokespersons: Professor Dr. Ignacio Farías; Professorin Dr. Claudia Mareis; Professor Dr. Wolfgang Schäffner
• Participating Researchers: Dr. Claudia Banz; Professorin Dr. Claudia Bluemle; Professor Dr. Alberto de Campo; Professor Dr.-Ing. Georg Duda; Professorin Dr. Michaela Eder; Professorin Dr. Myfanwy E. Evans; Professorin Dr. Saskia F. Fischer; Professor Dr. Peter Fratzl; Professorin Dr. Anna A. Gorbushina; Professorin Dr. Sandra Jasper; Professorin Dr. Ariane Jeßulat; Professor Dr. Christian Kassung; Professorin Dr.-Ing. Vera Meyer; Professor Dr. John A. Nyakatura; Professor Dr. Norbert Palz; Professor Dr. Thomas Picht; Professor Dr. Igor Maximilian Sauer; Professorin Dr.-Ing. Christiane Sauer; Professor Dr. Robert Stock; Professorin Dr. Viktoria Tkaczyk; Professorin Silvia Vignolini, Ph.D.; Professorin Carola Zwick