In the newly established International Research Training Group "Economic Behavior and Interaction Models" at the University of Bielefeld and the University of Paris Panthéon Sorbonne, researchers are studying the economic behaviour of individuals within society. The main emphasis is on new methods of mathematical economic theory in conjunction with various other approaches, venturing as far as the social sciences. They are studying the interaction between dynamic evolutionary processes, institutional circumstances and human decision-making behaviour. The focus is on combining the strategic aspects with the interactive dynamics.
In the Research Training Group "Trustworthy Software Systems – Construction, Certification and Application" at the University of Oldenburg, computer scientists and jurists are studying user requirements for security and trust in software systems, because complex control systems are playing an increasingly crucial role in every day use – for instance in motoring technology or in the health care sector. The focal points of the research being conducted by this interdisciplinary Research Training Group are not restricted to the issue of security, but also deal with issues such as reliability, correctness, adherence to data protection regulations and the availability of software systems.
Interdisciplinary cooperation between researchers from different branches of engineering is supported in the Research Training Group "Harbours for Container Ships of Future Generations: Interaction of Ship, Fluid, Structure and Soil" at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg (TUHH). Researchers from shipbuilding, mechanical and ocean engineering and geotechnics are working on basic research into the interactions between the ship's hull and the water, the quay and the soil. In view of the increasing size of container ships anticipated in the years ahead, ports need to adapt to the new demands that will be placed upon them and basic research into suitable quay constructions is required.
Working groups from the institutes at the department of medicine, the biological sciences, pharmacy and psychology are working on neuroscience in the Research Training Group "Interdisciplinary Approaches in Cellular Neurosciences" at the University of Leipzig. Their research will focus on studies of the retina as a visual organ as well as processing systems for acoustic signals. This combination of biological sciences and biophysics is ideal for applying specialised methods to the study of highly complex neurological problems.
The interaction between pathogens and their hosts at the molecular level is the topic of the interdisciplinary group "Genetic and Immunologic Determinants of Pathogen-Host-Interactions" at the Humboldt University in Berlin. Whereas the studies into virology, bacteriology and parasitology are still highly focussed on their specific area, the applicants hope that this group will cross over the boundaries between the subjects. Their focal point is the intersection between the three groups of organisms in various host species.
The new Research Training Groups in detail:
The DFG has funded Research Training Groups for particularly highly qualified doctoral students from all scientific disciplines since 1990. Between 15 and 25 researchers per Research Training Group work in a research and study programme that is usually interdisciplinary, under the supervision of professors who are distinguished in research and teaching. Approximately six percent of all doctoral students in Germany complete their doctorates within a Research Training Group. Graduates of Research Training Groups generally have a more rounded qualification than others and complete their doctorate two years earlier on average. At 27 percent, the proportion of foreign students participating in Research Training Groups is almost three times as high as the German national average.
Further information is available from Dr. Jörg Schneider, Head, Research Training Groups and Research Careers Division, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Kennedyallee 40, D-53175 Bonn, Germany, Tel.: 49-228-885-2424, e-mail: joerg.schneider@dfg.de.