Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWMThe coronavirus pandemic presented our entire society with enormous and stressful challenges. Effectively containing it required an in-depth understanding of the infection process and its dynamics, ensuring functioning healthcare provision under pandemic conditions and effective pandemic management. We have contributed to meeting these challenges and supporting the fight against the coronavirus with several projects:
Mit Mathematik gegen die Pandemie: Corona Covid-19 Keyvisual
How can the course of infections be understood, measures controlled in a targeted manner and healthcare provision secured? At the Fraunhofer ITWM in the »Optimization« division, we have developed solutions to these questions using mathematical models and optimization methods – from forecasts and site planning to data analysis. Our approaches supported decision-makers and helped to better manage the pandemic.
© freepik / Fraunhofer ITWM
Mit Mathematik gegen die Pandemie: Corona Covid-19 Keyvisual
How can the course of infections be understood, measures controlled in a targeted manner and healthcare provision secured? At the Fraunhofer ITWM in the »Optimization« division, we have developed solutions to these questions using mathematical models and optimization methods – from forecasts and site planning to data analysis. Our approaches supported decision-makers and helped to better manage the pandemic.
© freepik / Fraunhofer ITWM
Mit Mathematik gegen die Pandemie: Corona Covid-19 Keyvisual
How can the course of infections be understood, measures controlled in a targeted manner and healthcare provision secured? At the Fraunhofer ITWM in the »Optimization« division, we have developed solutions to these questions using mathematical models and optimization methods – from forecasts and site planning to data analysis. Our approaches supported decision-makers and helped to better manage the pandemic.
© freepik / Fraunhofer ITWM
Mit Mathematik gegen die Pandemie: Corona Covid-19 Keyvisual
How can the course of infections be understood, measures controlled in a targeted manner and healthcare provision secured? At the Fraunhofer ITWM in the »Optimization« division, we have developed solutions to these questions using mathematical models and optimization methods – from forecasts and site planning to data analysis. Our approaches supported decision-makers and helped to better manage the pandemic.
© freepik / Fraunhofer ITWM
Mit Mathematik gegen die Pandemie: Corona Covid-19 Keyvisual
How can the course of infections be understood, measures controlled in a targeted manner and healthcare provision secured? At the Fraunhofer ITWM in the »Optimization« division, we have developed solutions to these questions using mathematical models and optimization methods – from forecasts and site planning to data analysis. Our approaches supported decision-makers and helped to better manage the pandemic.
© freepik / Fraunhofer ITWM
Using Mathematics to Fight the Coronavirus in our »Optimization« Division
Monitoring and Management of the Corona Pandemic
Modeling and Decision-Making Basis for the Pandemic
Effective pandemic management requires a comprehensive overview of the pandemic situation. In the »EpideMSE« project (»Epidemiological Modelling, Aimulation and Decision Support During the Pandemic«), we have developed mathematical models and methods to simulate, analyze and evaluate the dynamics of infection.
Our results were used by public decision-makers to model the pandemic and develop measures based on them.
Pandemic Forecasts and Strategic Management
Effective pandemic management must always take into account how the population reacts to published forecasts and measures taken. In the »SEMSAI« (»Self-Referential Multi-Scale Modeling and Simulation of Severe Infectious Diseases«) project, we have developed model and method solutions that take social reactions into account when planning pandemic measures.
These approaches have enabled needs-based and targeted management during the pandemic.
Healthcare Under Pandemic Conditions
A reliably functioning healthcare system is essential for effective pandemic management. In the »Health-FaCT-Cor« (»Health Facility Location, Covering, and Transport-Corona«) project, we have developed optimization methods to plan locations for vaccination centers, keep pharmacy emergency services available and organize patient transport efficiently.
These solutions have made a decisive contribution to keeping the healthcare system functioning even under pandemic conditions.
Data Analysis for Pandemic Monitoring
Effective pandemic management also requires a good data basis on current infection rates. This can be generated, for example, by collecting data on self-tests or testing the viral load in wastewater. In the »SentiSurv RLP« project (»Surveillance and Warning System for SARS-CoV-2 infections in Rhineland-Palatinate«), we compared data on pandemic dynamics with the results of our models.
This enabled us to identify the need for action and assess the effectiveness of the measures implemented.
Project Partners
- Ministry of Science and Health of Rhineland-Palatinate (Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Gesundheit Rheinland-Pfalz)
- Department of Social Science Disaster Research at the FU Berlin (Fachbereich sozialwissenschaftliche Katastrophenforschung der FU Berlin)
- City Kaiserslautern (Stadt Kaiserslautern)
- German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Trier (Deutsches Forschungszentrum für künstliche Intelligenz)
- Department »Transport Processes« of the Fraunhofer ITWM (Abteilung »Transportprozesse« des Fraunhofer ITWM)
Rheinland-Pfälzisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Gesundheit