As part of the current round of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments, Goethe University Frankfurt is applying for a continuation of its existing CPI cluster and has also submitted four new cluster initiatives: ConTrust, EMTHERA, ELEMENTS and SCALE. The projects bring Goethe University's research strengths in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and life sciences together with the complementary expertise of its regional and national partner institutions.
In 2019, the German federal and state governments launched the Excellence Strategy to promote top scientific achievements and research collaborations, as well as to strengthen the profile of German universities. While funding line I focuses on clusters of excellence, i.e. initiatives in which universities and research institutions conduct joint research, funding line II focuses on select universities of excellence, and is aimed at expanding their top position in research.
CPI's spokespersons are Prof. Dr. Werner Seeger (JLU Giessen) and Prof. Dr. Stefanie Dimmeler (Goethe University Frankfurt).
Thanks to modern imaging techniques, cells can now be studied down to the micro level of atoms. The cluster initiative SCALE (SubCellular Architecture of LifE) intends to use this methodology to uncover the principles of how cells organize themselves.
SCALE scientists are using their expertise in the analysis of RNA and membrane protein complexes to create a simulation of the cell in a high spatial and temporal resolution. In so doing, they are hoping to gain a better understanding of how cells really operate and how their various "machines" work together. Although the functions of many individual molecules have already been the subject of scientific research, it often remains unclear how the architecture inside a cell is formed, how it functions and how the individual elements interact.
SCALE's spokespersons are Prof. Dr. Martin Beck (Max Planck Institute for Biophysics/Goethe University Frankfurt) as well as Prof. Dr. Inga Hänelt and Prof. Dr. Michaela Müller-McNicoll (both Goethe University Frankfurt).
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