Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär gained insights into research at Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) and Hannover Medical School (MHH) on 28 October 2026, as part of her inaugural visit to Lower Saxony’s Science Minister Falko Mohrs. She was accompanied by, among others, LUH President Prof. Dr Volker Epping. Researchers from L3S presented their work on artificial intelligence and IT security to the Minister.
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Nejdl, Dr Yao Rong and Maximilian Zühlke presented the Soofi project (Sovereign Open Source Foundation Models). Through interactive live demonstrations, the Minister gained an impression of how the AI language model works and what it can be used for. She was able to try out the applications herself and discuss questions directly with the researchers. The demos showed how Soofi answers queries while sticking to the facts. Openly available language models such as Soofi can help reduce technological dependencies and enable Europe to advance the development of AI applications independently.
On the subject of IT security, Prof. Dr Sascha Fahl, also from L3S, explained how new technologies can help to detect security risks and support users in their everyday digital lives. This included AI applications that use smart glasses to identify phishing messages.
Other stops on the visit were the Biomolecular Drug Research Centre (BMWZ) and the Hannover Institute of Technology (HITec), where the focus was on the Clusters of Excellence PhoenixD and QuantumFrontiers as well as the Einstein Elevator.
Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär and Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science and Culture Falko Mohrs at Leibniz University Hannover: Sascha Fahl, Wolfgang Nejdl, Yao Rong and Monty-Maximilian Zühlke presented L3S research on Soofi and IT security. Photos: Sören Pinsdorf/LUH
