DFG establishes nine new collaborative research centers

Topics range from cancer research to population migration to statistical models

This release is available in German.

Effective 1 July 2009, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish nine new Collaborative Research Centres. This decision has just been made by the responsible Grants Committee of the DFG at its spring session in Bonn. The new centres will initially be funded for four years with a total of 73.6 million euros. In addition to this, the DFG will also provide 20 percent overhead funding for each centre for indirect costs incurred by the research projects.

Research topics of the newly approved Collaborative Research Centres (Sonderforschungsbereiche, SFB) include the development of more-effective cancer treatments through better imaging processes, the spread of modern man from Africa to Western Eurasia and the research of new statistical models that can better model, predict and control complex technical processes. Other topics include studies of transcendence and public spirit in society and more-precise research of the microenvironment of tumours. Two of the nine new centres are Transregional Collaborative Research Centres, which are distributed over multiple research locations.

In addition to these new institutions, the Grants Committee also agreed to extend 31 existing centres for an additional funding period. As of July 2009, the DFG will thereby fund a total of 243 Collaborative Research Centres.

The new Collaborative Research Centres:

The objective of SFB 840, "From Particulate Nanosystems to Mesotechnology", is to improve methods in mesotechnology, the link between the macroscopic world and nanotechnology. To accomplish this, researchers want to create reliably and easily reproducible nanostructures in an application-oriented manner, thereby establishing innovative, functional mesoscopic systems. By cleverly combining macromolecular materials with inorganic function units, new systems are to be created that may be useful in technological applications such as in catalysts and photovoltaic cells, as switchable optical band-gap materials or as mechanically stable lightweight construction materials. (Host university: University of Bayreuth; spokesperson: Professor Matthias Ballauff)