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Projekt Druckansicht

GRK 1121:  Genetische und immunologische Determinanten von Pathogen-Wirt-Interaktionen

Fachliche Zuordnung Mikrobiologie, Virologie und Immunologie
Förderung Förderung von 2005 bis 2014
Projektkennung Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 462190
 
Erstellungsjahr 2014

Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse

The goal of the RTG1121 was to study pathogen-host interactions on the molecular level to provide a broad and modern education of doctoral students in the field of infection biology. The organisms of interest were viruses, bacteria and eukaryotic parasites in various hosts, comprising wellestablished model systems as well as so far understudied infections. The central scientific question was how pathogenic microbes infect their hosts, cause diseases and interact with the host’s immune response. To this aim, the projects of the RTG in both funding periods were arranged in two intertwined topics: - a cell biology oriented part, dealing with the pathogens’ pathogenicity factors allowing recognition and modification of the host cell, - an immunology-oriented part dealing with immune regulation and immune evasion in various infections. This concept proved very successful, as it allowed to bridge the traditional division between virology, bacteriology, parasitology and immunology, and provided a truly interdisciplinary framework for the doctoral students. Moreover, the integration of PIs from the fields of biology, veterinary medicine and medicine familiarized the students with a broad range of concepts. In addition, students got acquainted with hypothesis-driven research and data-driven approaches, such that they had the chance to develop integrative research projects. The RTG was composed of PIs from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Freie Universität Berlin, as well as from the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin, Robert Koch Institute, Leibniz Institute for Zoo & Wildlife Research and the Institute for Bee Research Hohen Neuendorf. The participation of these diverse institutions expanded the scope of the doctoral researchers and allowed their access to the facilities and technical platforms of the PIs’ institutes. The RTG closely cooperated with the International Max Planck Research School for Infectious Diseases and Immunology and the RTG of CRC 650 “Cellular approaches to the suppression of unwanted immune reactions“. These programs had a similar thematic scope, which allowed to join forces regarding common recruitment of excellent international students, organization of a common infrastructure and development of common standards for thesis supervision and mentoring. The merger also increased the critical mass, which facilitated inputs into revisions of the universities’ promotion regulations and contributions to a master’s course of the Humboldt Universität. Overall, RTG 1121 provided 59 doctoral students (32 female/27 male) with a fellowship, a research training, consisting mostly of work on a research project (90%) and participation in / organization of seminars, courses, retreats and conferences (10%). The mean duration until submission of the thesis was 3.9 years.

Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)

 
 

Zusatzinformationen

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