DFG approves 11 new Collaborative Research Centers

News Release
5-Jun-2007


Changes to the program simplify the funding of independent junior research groups
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish eleven new Collaborative Research Centres (SFBs) on 1 July 2007. They will receive a total of 75.5 million euros in funding over the next four years. Research conducted in the centres will include work on the reconstruction of biological body functions using versatile “molecular switches” and innovative optical technology. Four of the new SFBs will be Transregional Collaborative Research Centres, which are located at multiple sites.

As well as establishing the newly approved Collaborative Research Centres, the committee also approved the continuation of 19 Collaborative Research Centres for another funding period, bringing the total number of Collaborative Research Centres financed by the DFG to 270 as of 1 July 2007. The total funding volume for 2007 will amount to approximately 388 million euros.

The committee also amended the funding programme: the “SFB independent junior research groups” component will become part of the Emmy Noether Programme, in order to bring more balance and simplicity to the funding offered by the DFG for young scientists and researchers who already hold a doctorate. In addition, as of 2008 the DFG will largely do away with the earmarking of certain funds that has existed up to now (for example funding specifically for inviting visiting researchers and scientists), in order to boost the individual responsibility of the Collaborative Research Centres and to simplify the utilisation of the funding granted to them. In the future, it will also be possible for Collaborative Research Centres to submit proposals for projects that will enable them to gather, generate, process and store the data relating to their projects in a more structured manner, using state-of-the-art computer data storage methods.

The new Collaborative Research Centres:

In Transregional Collaborative Research Centre 37 “Micro- and Nanosystems in Medicine – Reconstruction of Biologic Functions”, researchers from the fields of medicine, material science and the natural sciences will investigate the development of new technologies and methods of treatment in regenerative medicine using nano and laser technology. The centre will be based in Hannover, Aachen and Rostock. (Host university: Hannover Medical School (MHH), Coordinator: Axel Haverich)

Transregional Collaborative Research Centre 38 will deal with “Structures and Processes of the Initial Development of an Ecosystem in an Artificial Water Catchment Area”. Researchers from Cottbus, Munich and Zurich will work on the assumption that the early stages of an ecosystem have a decisive impact on its development and subsequent conditions. (Host university: Brandenburg Technical University, Cottbus, Coordinator: Reinhard F. Hüttl)

Transregional Collaborative Research Centre 45 will study the “Periods, Moduli Spaces and Arithmetic of Algebraic Varieties”. Researchers from the universities of Mainz, Bonn and Duisburg-Essen seek to combine various methodological approaches, ranging from the fields of algebraic and complex geometry to arithmetic geometry. (Host university: Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Coordinator: Stefan Müller-Stach)

In Transregional Collaborative Research Centre 49 “Condensed Matter Systems with Variable Many-Body Interactions”, scientists and researchers from Frankfurt/Main, Kaiserslautern and Mainz will be investigating the collective behaviour of interacting many-body systems. This will serve to extend cooperation between quantum optics, solid state physics and chemistry. This centre will also include the first integrated Research Training Group, taking advantage of the recently introduced programme element designed to improve the qualification path for doctoral students participating in Collaborative Research Centres. (Host university: Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Coordinator: Michael Lang)

Switchable molecules are able to change their properties reversibly in response to external stimulation, for example by light or magnetic field, a peculiarity that SFB 677 “Switch Functions” will investigate in greater depth. One of the objectives of their work will be to develop autonomous molecular switches suitable for use in medical or technical applications. (Host university: Christian Albrechts University, Kiel, Coordinator: Rainer Herges)

Researchers involved in SFB 728 “Environmental-Induced Aging Processes” will look at the mechanisms of aging at the molecular level and study their importance for the aging process of whole organs using models. In doing so, it may be possible to develop pharmacological prevention and treatment concepts. (Host university: Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Coordinator: Jean Krutmann)

The rejection of transplanted organs and the shortage of donated organs continue to pose challenges to transplantation medicine as a whole. This is the motivation for SFB 738 “Optimising Conventional and Innovative Transplantation”. (Host university: Hannover Medical School (MHH), Coordinator: Michael P. Manns)

The dynamic, i.e. temporally variable, parameters of molecules and biomolecules in chemical reactions are the topic that SFB 749 “Dynamic and Intermediate Molecular Transformations” will address. The structural analyses that are planned will be made possible by combining chemistry and biochemistry with theoretical chemistry and physics, as well as the application of state-of-the-art ultra-fast methods and high-precision theoretical procedures. (Host university: Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Coordinator: Thomas Carell)

The SFB 755 “Nanoscale Photonic Imaging” plans to investigate complex systems such as macromolecular fluids and living cells. Innovative optical techniques, which allow exceptionally high spatial or temporal resolution to be achieved or which use X-rays, are being developed for this study. (Host university: Georg-August University of Göttingen, Coordinator: Tim Salditt)

Identifying a route to rapid and targeted development of a new class of structural materials is the overall objective of SFB 761 “Steel – ab initio. Designing Novel Ferric Materials Using Quantum Mechanics”. Researchers aim to do this using ab initio methods and other numerical processes, validated by experiment. (Host university: RWTH Technical University of Aachen, Coordinator: Wolfgang Bleck)

Researchers in SFB 766 “The Bacterial Cell Envelope: Structure, Function and Infection Interface” aim to develop molecular knowledge of the cell envelope of bacteria, which is currently limited, in order to be able to influence undesirable bacterial processes such as infections and the formation of biofilms, and potentially develop new antimicrobial agents. (Host university: Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Coordinator: Wolfgang Wohlleben)

Contact: Dr. Eva-Maria Streier
em.streier@dfg.de
49-228-885-2250
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft


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Further information is available from the coordinators of the respective Collaborative Research Centres.

At the DFG’s Head Office, please contact Klaus Wehrberger, Head, Research Centres Division, Tel. +49 (0)228 885-2355, e-mail: Klaus.Wehrberger@dfg.de.

Additional information on Collaborative Research Centres can be found at http://www.dfg.de/sfb/en.