  The Polyakov-extended quark-meson model (PQM) is investigated beyond
mean-field. This represents an important step towards a fully dynamical QCD
computation. Both the quantum fluctuations to the matter sector and the
back-reaction of the matter fluctuations to the QCD Yang-Mills sector are
included. Results on the chiral and confinement-deconfinement crossover/phase
transition lines and the location of a possible critical endpoint are
presented. Moreover, thermodynamic quantities such as the pressure and the
quark density are discussed.
