GRK 268:  Dynamics and Evolution of Cellular and Macromolecular Systems

• Subject Area: Basic Research in Biology and Medicine
• Term: from 1997 to 2006
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 271461

The aim of the research training group is to elucidate the structure and the dynamic properties of macromolecules and cellular processes by a tight interaction between experiment and theory. To understand the amazing amount of experimental data on complex biological systems, in particular in cell, structural and molecular biology, mathematical models are mandatory. The successful application of physical and mathematical methods in modern biology is often hampered on the one hand by the limited training of biologists in mathematics and physics and, on the other hand, by the rather limited biological knowledge of physicists, mathematicians and chemists. It is the goal of the proram to overcome those problems by concerted supervision of PhD students and by interdisciplinary lectures, courses and seminars of scientists from various fields. By that, experimental working PhD students can analyse their results on a high theoretical level and those, working in the field of theory, should be able to develop mathematical models and theoretical concepts which are of strong relevance for understanding of biological processes. The main topics are: 'Dynamics of cellular reaction and transport processes', 'Macromolecular structures, their dynamics and function', and 'Genome sequence and genetic networks'.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
• Participating Institution: Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie; Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin (MDC); Max-Planck-Institut für molekulare Genetik (MPIMG)
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Reinhart Heinrich (†)
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Gregor Damaschun (†); Professor Dr. Erwin Frey; Professor Dr. Thomas Günther-Pomorski; Professor Dr. Andreas Herrmann; Professor Dr. Andreas V.M. Herz; Professor Dr. Hanspeter Herzel; Professor Dr. Klaus Peter Hofmann; Professor Dr. Hermann-Georg Holzhütter; Professor Dr. Thomas Höfer; Professor Dr. Helmut Kettenmann; Professor Dr. Ernst-Walter Knapp; Professor Dr. Hans Lehrach; Professor Dr. Fritz G. Rathjen; Professor Dr. Jens Georg Reich; Professor Dr. Lutz Schimansky-Geier (†); Professor Dr. Stefan Schuster