News Release

DFG to establish 14 new priority programmes

Strong competition among the 58 project proposals

Grant and Award Announcement

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) will be funding 14 new Priority Programmes beginning in 2004. The DFG's Senate selected the new programmes from 58 proposals. The programmes will receive a total of €38 million over the first two years. This increases the number of Priority Programmes funded by the DFG in the coming year to 112. The "Priority Programmes" funding instrument aims to bring together and support researchers from various research institutes and fields in a project on a defined topic. Priority Programmes generally run for a period of six years.

The new programmes in detail:

Life Sciences

The Priority Programme "Colonisation and Infection by Human Pathogenic Fungi" studies the role of fungal infections which can trigger life-threatening infections, above all, in humans with weak immune systems. The research focuses on the processes which cause a normally harmless fungus to become virulent, its infection mechanisms, how its spreads and the way in which the pathogens interact with the patient's immune system. In this work, the sequencing completed for the genomes of a number of fungi that represent a danger to humans offers an outstanding starting point for using functional genome analysis to examine the questions that have been raised. (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Axel Brakhage, University of Hannover)

The Priority Programme "The Significance of Neuroglia for the Formation, Function and Plasticity of Synapses" examines glia cells, a cell type of the human nervous system which, in the past, was thought to play only a passive role in neuronal information processing. More recent findings, however, prove that glia cells not only act as the "adhesive" for the nervous system, but also, through their dynamic interaction with neurons, contribute significantly to processing information in the brain. This programme focuses on the dialogue between neurons and glia cells and also aims to contribute to extending the lead which German research has in the international field. (Coordinator, Prof. Dr. Joachim W. Deitmer, University of Kaiserslautern)

Biochemical reactions are controlled by special molecules, so-called biocatalysts. The Priority Programme "Directed Evolution to Optimise and Understand Molecular Biocatalysts" will deal with the molecular principles of biocatalysis. The research will focus on simulated evolution processes which will be used to help to show how biocatalysts have developed over the course of time. It is hoped that this approach will produce a picture of their shared and distinct characteristics and so lead to a better understanding of how biocatalysts function and of the reactions which they control. (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Reinhard Sterner, University of Cologne).

Humanities and Social Sciences

The Priority Programme "Early Centralisation and Urbanisation Processes North of the Alps" examines the Celtic civilisations of the 7th to 5th century BC. The interest focuses on studying the chiefdom strongholds, that is the main settlements of the Celtic elites and their surroundings, in order to reconstruct the far-reaching changes that took place within the social structure. The project's core interest lies in studying those socio-historical processes in which, over time, these centres evolved. This will provide the foundation for a better understanding of the centralisation developments and the cultural and political formation of a people which accompanied this process. (Lead Researcher: PD Dr. Dirk L. Krause, University of Kiel)

One of the most noticeable social developments in recent decades has been the change in pair relationships and families. These include the growing instability of non-marital and marital relationships as well as the pronounced drop in the number of children. This development has serious consequences for family, labour and social policy, although the reasons for this are not yet adequately understood, especially because no long-term studies have been carried out on the development of pair relationships and families. The goal of the programme "Development of Relationships and Families" is to study the creation of pair relationships and families in detail and to research the conditions under which a relationship stabilises or falls apart. (Coordinators: Prof. Dr. Johannes Huinink, University of Bremen, Prof. Dr. Hartmut Esser, University of Mannheim)

Recent work on researching labour markets shows that these markets are not homogenously structured, but are rather made up of various sub-labour markets. The goal of the programme "Flexibility Potentials in Heterogeneous Labour Markets" is to examine the sub-labour markets and to develop models which show how these react to economic and social changes. A particularly topical question relates to how far the deregulation of industrial law can contribute to making labour markets more flexible. In addition to this aspect, the scientists are also interested in researching the exchange taking place between different sub-labour markets and how this impacts certain social groups. (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Bernd Fitzenberger, University of Mannheim)

Engineering

As the number of Internet users grows and the need for ever more mobility simultaneously increases, the demand for an efficient wireless Internet connection will grow. The Priority Programme "Techniques, Algorithms and Concepts for Future COFDM Systems (TakeOFDM)" studies the COFDM (Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) transmission technology, which may be able to meet these demands. This programme aims to further extend and deepen the fundamental understanding of COFDM technology and to devise methods which facilitate broadband network access. (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Hermann Rohling, Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg)

Industrial production of microsystems and components using nanostructures is dependent on reliable measurement and testing technology. The development of new and standardised measurement methods is the goal of the Priority Programme "New Strategies in Measurement and Testing Technology for the Production of Microsystems and Nanostructures (StraMNano)". Research findings will contribute to enabling production processes to be controlled more reliably in the micro- and nanotechnology sphere, to testing the functionality and to reliably assuring product quality. (Coordinator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Albert Weckenmann, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)

The goal of the Priority Programme "Extending the Range of Application for Magnesium Alloys (InnoMagTec)" is to formulate a concept for the development of magnesium materials with tailor-made properties. The application range for magnesium alloys in lightweight structures is to be expanded by developing new models and methods, from the production of the alloy via the specific manipulation of the microstructure through to controlling the material's properties (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Karl Ulrich Kainer, GKSS Geesthacht)

Natural Sciences

The floods in 2002 once again confirmed how important the reliable forecasting of precipitation is. The Priority Programme "Quantitative Precipitation Forecasting: A Social Expectation of Meteorology" aims to optimise existing forecasting models and to develop new models to improve forecasting quality. The support received by the Priority Programme from the German Weather Service (Deutscher Wetterdienst) creates outstanding conditions for achieving the programme goals and also provides German meteorology with the opportunity to contribute to current international research programmes. (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Andreas Hense, University of Bonn)

What happens in aquatic ecosystems – i.e. in lakes, rivers and seas – when the climate changes? The Priority Programme "The Impact of Climate Variability on Aquatic Ecosystems: Match and Mismatch Resulting from Shifts in Seasonality and Distribution (AQUASHIFT)" addresses this question. The research in this programme aims to improve predictions on the processes of change taking place in aquatic ecosystems by analysing existing data and carrying out experimental studies (such as simulations of climate changes). (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Sommer, University of Kiel)

When using fluids in micro and nanoengineering, changes in the flow patterns appear at the boundary between the macroscopic and molecular properties which have not yet been understood. The Priority Programme "Nano and Microfluidics: From Molecular Movement to Continual Flow" aims to elucidate the problem by devising new models and methods for recording and describing the phenomena which occur. (Coordinators: Prof. Dr. Karin Jacobs, University of the Saarland, PD Dr. Hendrik C. Kuhlmann, University of Bremen)

Solid structures of nanoscopic dimensions show clearly different physical properties than those found in macroscopic systems. These different properties are to be made useable for the field of nanotechnology. The goal of the Priority Programme "Nanowires and Nanotubes: from Controlled Synthesis to Function" lies in developing new, non-carbon-based nano-structures whose use in nanotechnology might open up new fields of application. (Coordinators: Prof. Dr. Andreas Greiner, University of Marburg, PD Dr. Margit Zacharias, Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle)

The Priority Programme "Lanthanide-Specific Functionalities in Molecule and Material" researches the properties and application potentials of the lanthanide group of elements. These metals, which are also called "rare earths", play a role, inter alia, as catalysts in the synthetic materials industry or as luminescent materials in television and computer screens. This programme aims to investigate the innovative potential of these chemical compounds in the conception of new materials. (Coordinators: Prof. Dr. Rhett Kempe, University of Bayreuth, Dr. Peter W. Roesky, Free University of Berlin)

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