Balance of the Microverse
Full proposal for Cluster of Excellence with participation of the HKI submitted
| by Christine Vogler
The proposal Balance of the Microverse of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena with major contributions by the HKI was selected in September 2017 for the final round of the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments. The participating researchers have been working intensely on the full proposal for the Cluster of Excellence until the deadline on February 21, 2018.
Spokesperson of the project is Axel Brakhage. Looking back on the labor-intensive past weeks, he draws a positive balance: “The collaboration between all involved scientists and coordinators was great. I would like to thank all contributors for their commitment and enthusiasm. Only this intense interaction, in particular between the different faculties, institutes and disciplines, made it possible to complete this proposal. Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed.”
The members of the Cluster now concentrate on the oral defence of the proposal in spring. The funding decision will be announced at the end of September 2018 and the Cluster could officially start its work in 2019.
Balance of the Microverse
The aim of the proposed Cluster of Excellence is to investigate microorganisms and their interactions with their complete environment – the Microverse. Thereby, major scientific and societal questions will be addressed, such as how to treat infectious diseases, keep the environment healthy, make agriculture sustainable or contribute to a stable climate. The scientific disciplines (environmental) microbiology, infection biology, chemical biology, bio-geo interactions, systems biology, optics/photonics and materials science among others are working together across all disciplinary borders.