GRK 2344:  MeInBio - BioInMe: Exploration of spatio-temporal dynamics of gene regulation using high-throughput and high-resolution methods

• Subject Area: Basic Research in Biology and Medicine
• Term: since 2017
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 322977937

The MeInBio RTG unifies scientists from different research units in a joint and structured doctoral program dedicated to create excellent educational conditions for advancing in the understanding of transcriptional control at high spatial and temporal resolution. MeInBio studies small cell populations and single cells in transitory developmental, pathological or adaptation states. The mission is to answer fundamental open questions, which are (1) how single cells adapt their individual transcriptomic, epigenomic, proteomic or metabolic programs to changing environments or during differentiation, (2) how transcriptional programs of single cells and small cell populations correlate with dynamic alterations of the chromatin state or RNA-protein dynamics to adapt to their specific environmental context, and (3) how specificextra- and intracellular signals impinge on the transitory presence of transcription factors on DNA or alter chromatin structure. To address these questions the RTG employs highthroughput and high-resolution technology as experimental basis, together with refined biocomputational approaches. Generally, reproducible bioinformatics data analysis that is needed to extract actionable information from large data sets is both a quantitative and qualitative bottleneck in the life sciences. Hence, the MeInBio RTG aims to train PhD researchers in both wet-laboratory and bioinformatics approaches to overcome this shortage. The customized qualification concept of the MeInBio RTG consists of multiple elements, including interdisciplinary research tandems to provide exchange opportunities that overcome limits in the understanding of bioinformatics or molecular approaches used to generate big data sets. This, together with additional elements of the structured training program, prepares PhD researchers for the specific demands of a growing job market, which needs combined bioinformatics and laboratory experience that allow high-resolution insights into regulative processes in small cell populations and in single cells in transient states.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
• Participating Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für Immunbiologie und Epigenetik
• Spokesperson: Professorin Dr. Tanja Vogel
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Rolf Backofen; Professor Dr. Harald Binder, since 3/2018; Professorin Dr. Melanie Börries; Dr. Nina Cabezas-Wallscheid; Professor Dr. Wolfgang Driever; Professor Dr. Andreas Hecht, until 8/2023; Professor Dr. Wolfgang R. Hess; Professorin Dr. Anna Köttgen; Professor Dr. Thomas Laux; Dr. Thomas Manke; Privatdozent Dr. Ulrich Maurer; Dr. Sebastian Preißl, since 9/2023; Professor Dr. Oliver Schilling; Eirini Trompouki, Ph.D., until 11/2021; Professorin Dr. Annegret Wilde