GRK 230:  Molecular Cell Biology

• Subject Area: Basic Research in Biology and Medicine
• Term: from 1996 to 2004
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 270995

The research training group offers its research fellows a wide range of study and research opportunities in the field of molecular and cellular biology. It focuses on the analysis of molecular mechanisms of cellular processes. Investigating the complex functions of cellular systems requires a multitude of techniques and methods. In vitro systems are developed and employed to identify and characterize the molecules which are involved in these functions. Genetic modification of cells allows the analysis of cellular functions in relation to both, the cell as a whole and the organism.The research program covers a wide range of topics related to molecular cell biology: protein synthesis, folding, transport and degradation, as well as organelle biogenesis, cell polarity, cell-to-cell interaction. An important part of the research training group is a carefully designed study programme. Topic-based seminars discuss various research questions of molecular cell biology. The study program also encompasses the multitude of new conceptual and methodological approaches that are characteristic for the latest developments in the field of molecular and cellular biology. Students can focus specifically on their individual research projects and simultaneously develop their skills in relevant research areas of molecular cell biology. The program is designed to enable students to complete their doctoral degree within three years of study. After this period they are qualified in such a way that they can pursue their careers according to their skills and personal preferences in academic research, biotechnology or biomedicine. The doctoral program GRK 230 closely cooperates with the collaborative research centre 352, a program focussing on molecular mechanisms of intracellular transport processes.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Participating Institution: Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ); European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL); Max-Planck-Institut für medizinische Forschung
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Bernhard Dobberstein
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Michael Brunner; Dr. Maria Isabel Geli; Professor Dr. Dirk Görlich; Professor Dr. Eduard Christian Hurt; Professor Dr. Ralf-Peter Jansen; Professor Dr. Wilhelm Just; Professor Dr. Gerhard Multhaup; Professor Dr. Walter Nickel; Professorin Dr. Blanche Schwappach-Pignataro; Privatdozent Dr. Matthias Seedorf; Professorin Dr. Irmgard Sinning; Professor Dr. Felix Wilhelm Theodor Wieland