General Information

Coordinator Prof. Bernd Reif

The FMP has started one of the first Leibniz Graduate Schools in Germany in January 2007. The training program of the Leibniz Graduate School intends to improve education in the field of Molecular Biophysics for PhD students who have a degree in biology, chemistry, physics or medicine. It interlinks research institutions all over Berlin and Brandenburg as well as institutes from different sections of the Leibniz Association: BESSY, MBI and FMP, the Humboldt University, the Free University of Berlin and the University of Potsdam. Thus, a scientifically relevant and extensive education can be offered. The first funding period runs from 01/2007-12/2010.

The Leibniz-Graduate School ties in with the tradition of biophysical studies in Berlin (Biophysics at the Humboldt-University, Centre of Biophysics und Bioinformatics), seeks to implement an alliance between basic biophysical and biomolecular research, and hence provides PhD students with a wider understanding of their field of specialization. We expect this strategy to improve their carreer prospects in a very competitive job market, as well as their performance in international academia.

The Graduate school focusses on protein-protein interactions. These are the basis of enzymatic processes, of perceptive and cognitive events in the cell, and underlie cellular degradation due to protein aggregation processes. Knowledge of the structural basis of protein interaction mechanisms is indispensable in the understanding of biological function. At the same time, protein-protein and protein-lipid interactions are important for conformational changes of glycoproteins during viral infection and assembly. These structural data enable the targeted synthesis and modification of small molecules of therapeutic importance.

Biophysical techniques become increasingly significant in the analysis of biomolecular processes. At the same time, a wide range of methods is required in order to obtain a complete description of complex systems. The institutions are eqipped with an attractive range of instruments (BESSY-II, NMR Centre Berlin-Buch, Ultrafast laser spectroscopy, EM-Ultrastructure network, EPR spectroscopy) offering the students the possibility to aquire various techniques.