EXC 2189:  CIBSS - Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies

• Subject Area: Basic Research in Biology and Medicine ; Microbiology, Virology and Immunology ; Plant Sciences
• Term: since 2019
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 390939984

The vision of the Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies (CIBSS) is to understand and communicate in the molecular language of life. Biological signalling encompasses the fundamental communication processes - from signal generation to detection, processing, and cellular decision-making - that together build and sustain complex life. Our scientific mission is to understand biological signalling and its integration: how various signals are accurately combined, contextualised, and integrated with critical information such as cellular metabolism, epigenetic state, tissue context, and environmental factors. Our research spans multiple temporal and spatial scales, from microseconds to lifetimes, and from small signalling molecules to large multi-protein assemblies, covering organelles, cells, tissues and organs. Signal Integration is fundamental to the biological decisions that define vital processes in living systems. In the next funding period, we will build on our achievements and further push the frontiers of signalling research through an ambitious research programme focussed on three core mechanisms of signal integration: Compartmentalisation, Contextualisation, and Signalling Memory. Elucidating these mechanisms will deliver a comprehensive new framework for understanding the molecular basis of biological signal processing and decision-making. Studying biological signal integration is key to uncovering universal principles that govern both adaptive and maladaptive biological decisions across all living organisms. This knowledge not only deepens our understanding of biology, health and disease but also opens avenues for engineering new technologies to control biological decisions. In CIBSS we develop chemical and genetic Control-of-Function tools for unprecedented precision in signalling control. CIBSS will continue to advance technologies for acquiring and analysing complex data in experimental signalling systems. We will employ new data science approaches through the CIBSS Signalling Companion, an openly accessible machine learning and artificial intelligence framework designed to extract new insights into signal integration mechanisms from complex data. To pioneer new directions in integrative signalling research, CIBSS will establish five full professorships and five independent research groups. We are committed to empowering early career scientists, ensuring equity, promoting diversity, and making career paths transparent, reliable and compatible. With a highly interdisciplinary team, an ambitious collaborative research programme, and optimized support structures, CIBSS will deliver new signalling paradigms and precision control strategies, laying the groundwork for innovative solutions addressing challenges in global health and food security.

• DFG Programme: Clusters of Excellence (ExStra)
• Applicant Institution: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
• Participating Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für Immunbiologie und Epigenetik
• Spokespersons: Professor Dr. Wolfgang Driever; Professor Dr. Jürgen Kleine-Vehn; Professorin Dr. Claudine Kraft
• Participating Researchers: Professorin Asifa Akhtar, Ph.D.; Professorin Dr. Sonja Verena Albers; Professor Dr. Sebastian J. Arnold; Professor Dr. Harald Binder; Professorin Priscilla Briquez, Ph.D.; Professor Ibrahim Cisse, Ph.D.; Professorin Dr. Anne-Kathrin Classen; Professor Dr. Robert Grosse; Professor Dr. Thorsten Hugel; Professorin Dr. Carola Hunte; Nicola Iovino, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Henning Jessen; Dr. Katrin Kierdorf; Professorin Dr. Natalie Köhler; Professorin Dr. Anna Köttgen; Professor Dr. Chris Meisinger; Professorin Susana Minguet, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Thomas Ott; Professor Dr. Marco Prinz; Dr. Miriam Schmidts; Professor Dr. Nils Wiedemann; Professor Dr. Robert Zeiser