Press release of the Academic Medical Centre Carl Gustav Carus Dresden
Launch of NUM 3.0
From crisis management to medicine of the future: new funding phase for the Network of University Medicine
When the COVID-19 pandemic reached Germany, numerous research activities on the novel virus quickly developed. However, these remained largely isolated and fragmented. In order to coordinate clinical research at a national level and enable cross-site data exchange, the German academic medical centres joined forces in April 2020 to form the Network of University Medicine (NUM). On 1 July 2025, the NUM will seamlessly enter its third funding phase, which has been approved by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) for a period of five years until 31 December 2030.
In the Network of University Medicine, scientists from all 37 German academic medical centres work together in interdisciplinary research projects and in nationwide research and data infrastructures. The continuation will enable NUM to pursue its strategic goal of creating a standardised study and data space for clinical research in Germany. In addition, clinical projects with directly practice-relevant findings will be realised in order to improve patient care and manage future major crises in the field of public health. "Excellent, future-oriented medical research is inconceivable without digital transformation and cross-institutional collaboration. As the research infrastructure operator of the NUM, we are delighted with the BMFTR's decision to continue funding the network's pioneering projects and platforms," congratulates Prof Dr Esther Troost, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.
Dresden University Medicine (HSMD) with the Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden and the Academic Medical Centre Carl Gustav Carus has been strongly represented in the network since the first NUM funding phase. The local NUM community now consists of 15 scientific and medical organisations from both institutions. The relevant research and infrastructure projects are managed and coordinated by the NUM Local Coordination Units (LokS), which is based at the Centre for Medical Informatics (ZMI) under Prof. Dr Martin Sedlmayr and headed by Dr Claudia Heine. "The NUM initiative is a key factor for Germany as a centre of medicine in terms of pooling and jointly advancing innovative, academically initiated research. We are delighted to be able to make a significant contribution through our intensive involvement in the network," says Prof Dr Uwe Platzbecker, Medical Director of the Academic Medical Centre Dresden.
Over the next five years - within NUM 3.0 - HSMD will play a leading role in the research, infrastructure and management line of the network: The site is involved in eleven infrastructures (NUM-DIZ, National Study Network (NUM SN), Specialist Network Infectious Diseases (SNID), Specialist Network Intensive Care Medicine, Specialist Network Stroke, NUKLEUS 3.0, NUM-SAR, RACOON, QS-MB, NATON 3.0, AKTIN 3.0) and ten research projects (NUM4Rare, ENRICH, RAPID, ELEVATE, canTEN, RACOON AI Brain Tumour, RACOON COMPARE, RACOON INCLUDED, RACOON MARDER, RACOON PAIN), provides the (co-)spokespersons in four infrastructures and is leading the development of a registry for rare diseases (NUM4Rare).
With this commitment, the Dresden NUM players are making a significant contribution to the further development of university medicine and to strengthening Dresden as a centre of research. Prof. Dr Sedlmayr emphasises: "The NUM is a strong community that is growing into a central partner for multicentre medical research. Dresden University Medicine is a leading location with a high level of participation."
To the press release (German)