GRK 788:  Hydrogen Bonding and Hydrogen Transfer

• Subject Area: Physical Chemistry ; Basic Research in Biology and Medicine ; Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: from 2002 to 2007
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 273459

The multidisciplinary research field of hydrogen bonding and hydrogen transfer is studied and developed in this research training group. Hydrogen bonds are weak bonds between molecules, and they often result in the formation of larger molecular aggregates. The tertiary structure of biologically important molecules is often determined by intramolecular hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen transfer processes can be decisive for the dynamics of such molecular aggregates and of macromolecules. These phenomena are studied by means of a variety of methods: methods of theoretical physics, theoretical chemistry and biology, of synthetic organic chemistry, of X-ray and neutron diffraction, of synchrotron radiation and UV/IR laser spectroscopy in the femtosecond range, of time-resolved ESR and optical spectroscopies as well as solid-state and liquid-state NMR spectroscopy.The scholarship students benefit from tuition by two supervisors, and in common seminars of all students and associates connections with other research areas are easily established. Finally, at the Institute of Chemistry, the research training group is part of the international PhD Programme (supported by DAAD), where beside the scientific seminars in the narrow sense, also language courses and exercises in scientific writing (in English) and presentation are available to the students.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Participating Institution: Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie; Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP); im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.; Max-Born-Institut für Nichtlineare Optik und Kurzzeitspektroskopie; im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Hans-Heinrich Limbach
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Knut R. Asmis; Professor Dr. Helmut Baumgärtel; Professor Dr. Gerd Buntkowsky; Professor Dr. Thomas Elsässer; Professor Dr. Jürgen-Hinrich Fuhrhop; Professorin Dr. Leticia González; Professor Dr. Stefan Hecht; Professor Dr. Maarten-Peter Heyn; Professor Dr. Eugen Illenberger; Professor Dr. Ernst-Walter Knapp; Professor Dr. Oliver Kühn; Dr. Ruep Lechner; Professor Dr. Peter Luger; Professor Dr. Jörn Manz; Dr. Erik T.J. Nibbering; Professor Dr. Hartmut Oschkinat; Professor Dr. Hans-Ulrich Reißig; Professor Dr.-Ing. Wolfram Saenger; Professor Dr. Dietmar Stehlik (†); Professor Dr. Hans-Martin Vieth; Professor Dr. Ludger H. Wöste