HPCwire: DFG Launches Ten New Research Centres

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December 02, 2008

DFG Launches Ten New Research Centres

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40th Anniversary of Successful Funding Programme

Dec. 2 -- On 1 January 2009 the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will launch ten new Collaborative Research Centres. They will be initially funded for the next four years with a total of approximately 90 million euros. Among other things, the new Collaborative Research Centres will study the origins of diseases caused by viruses and bacteria, scarring of the liver and kidneys, and the human skin. Other topics include the optimisation of planning, production and utilisation processes in lightweight engineering and the improvement of communications between humans and technical systems. Four Transregional Collaborative Research Centres are among the ten institutions, distributed among several locations.

In addition to these institutions, the responsible Grants Committee of Germany's central research funding organisation also agreed to continue 28 Collaborative Research Centres for an additional period. The DFG thus will fund a total of 250 Collaborative Research Centres as of next year. In 2009, they will receive around 480 million euros, including 20 percent overhead funding to cover indirect costs resulting from the research projects.

The Grants Committee's autumn meeting also observed the Collaborative Research Centres' 40th anniversary: in the autumn of 1968 the first 18 Collaborative Research Centres were launched -- with total funding amounting to 4.4 million Deutschmarks. This new type of collaborative research was seen as a "minor revolution" DFG President Professor Matthias Kleiner remembers in an anniversary speech to the Grants Committee. In both the universities and the DFG, Kleiner said, the Collaborative Research Centres had also initially given rise to apprehension -- 40 years on, they have more than fulfilled expectations. "Universities can bundle their resources, create local priorities and promote top-level research with the aid of Collaborative Research Centres," the DFG President underlined. In particular their concentrated quality, their interdisciplinary approach and the endurance of funding projects for up to 12 years make the Collaborative Research Centres a "programme for quantifiable, top-level research". The Collaborative Research Centres, and their variations the Transregional Collaborative Research Centres and Transfer Projects, also contribute to promoting young researchers, to international research cooperation and to cooperation between science and the private sector. The conclusion of the DFG President following 40 years of Collaborative Research Centres: "The whole world is envious of this programme."

The new Collaborative Research Centres in detail:
(in alphabetical order by host university)

Collaborative Research Centre/Transregional Collaborative Research Centre 57, "Organ Fibrosis: From Mechanisms of Injury to Modulation of Disease" deals with an extremely important scientific and clinical topic. Researchers at several sites study fibroses, i.e. the pathological growth of connective tissue in the liver and kidneys. This type of scarring can often lead to death and is also expensive to treat. The new project aims to decipher the still largely unknown pathophysiological fundamentals of fibrotic diseases. Identification of common molecular mechanisms in the kidneys and liver is especially important. It will only be possible to develop innovative therapies on this basis. (Host university: Rhineland-Westphalian Technical University of Aachen; Spokesperson: Professor Christian Trautwein; other universities involved: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University, Bonn, University of the Saarland, Saarbrücken.)

Detailed research into special molecules, atoms and ions with unpaired electrons is at the centre of Collaborative Research Centre 813, "Chemistry at Spin Centres - Concepts, Mechanisms, Applications". The so-called spin centres display unusual magnetic properties and high chemical reactivity; both may be extremely important for the development of innovative materials. Among other things, the researchers involved at Bonn University and the Jülich Research Centre want to develop new theoretical and experimental methods for studying spin centres and their transformation mechanisms. The knowledge gained will be utilised for developing new reactions and multifunctional materials. (Host university: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University, Bonn; Spokesperson: Professor Frank Neese; also involved: Jülich Research Centre)

The "Management of Uncertainty in Load-bearing Systems in Mechanical Engineering" is the topic of the newly launched Collaborative Research Centre 805. In it, engineering scientists of various disciplines and mathematicians study the subject of "uncertainty", which is prevalent in mechanical engineering in all phases of the development, production and utilisation of products and can have grave economical and safety consequences. This applies primarily to load-bearing systems in lightweight engineering, which aim to combine high load-bearing capacity, low weight and low production costs. With the aid of a particularly complex aircraft undercarriage, the Collaborative Research Centre aims to clarify how uncertainty and the resulting errors of judgement can be managed. This will help to optimise planning, production and utilisation processes. (Host university: Technical University of Darmstadt; Spokesperson: Professor Holger Hanselka; also involved: Fraunhofer Institute for Operational Strength and System Reliability, Darmstadt)

How do viruses and bacteria cause diseases - Collaborative Research Centre 796, "Control Mechanisms of Microbial Effectors in Host Cells" aims to acquire new, fundamental knowledge on this pivotal medical problem. The scientists involved will study molecular mechanisms relating to the origins of disease. They are particularly interested in the structural and molecular principles and mechanisms of the interactions between virulence factors and host factors. By incorporating both plant and human systems, the Collaborative Research Centre aims to cover as wide a spectrum of interactions between the two fields as possible. In addition, new virulence factors such as protease shall be investigated. In a holistic view, this will allow both universal and special mechanisms of the origins of diseases to be recognised. (Host university: Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen; Spokesperson: Professor Uwe Sonnewald; also involved: Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, Erlangen)

Developing a range of optimisation options for sheet metal elements is the aim of the new Collaborative Research Centre/Transregional Collaborative Research Centre 73, based in Erlangen-Nürnberg, Dortmund and Hannover. Under the main heading of "Manufacturing Complex Functional Elements using Fine Gauge Sheet Secondary Forming Elements - Sheet Metal Mass Forming" the scientists involved aim to investigate how the functionality and complexity of sheet metal components can be increased. Scientific principles must be established for facilitating material flux not only in the plane, but also out of the sheet metal plane in fine gauge sheets. On the other hand, the focus is on the development of new, more robust and flexible production processes by a unique combination of sheet metal forming processes with the mass forming process. This should allow the number of individual components required to be reduced and heavy-duty, reduced weight elements to be produced in small and large numbers. This also involves a considerable improvement in efficiency in an important branch of industry. (Host university: Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen; Spokesperson: Professor Marion Merklein; other universities involved: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University of Hannover, Technical University of Dortmund)

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