Biointerface (GRK 1035)

 

Key Research Areas

The Research Training Group focuses on supporting doctoral projects at the crossroads of materials research and cell biology. It places strong emphasis on the development of nano- and microstructured biomaterial surfaces to control the molecular mechanisms of cell adhesion and the growth of three-dimensional tissue.

In order to find new ways to control cell development, we focus on investigating the mechanisms and also the synthesis of biomimetic surface structures.

We expect that an investigation of the biological reaction to intelligent biomaterials surfaces will also provide insights for the development of biosensors, biochips, and antifouling surfaces.

One of the key theses of the program is that the interaction between molecular and nanoscopic functional units (e.g. within the cell membrane) is not only of central importance for understanding cellular functions but can also be used for the detection and control of biological mechanisms. In this context, we seek to apply highly sensitive physical detection methods.

PhD Program and Supervision

PhD projects in this area require the integration of doctoral candidates into a research group. For this reason, we make sure that doctoral candidates are supervised by several researchers hailing from diverse fields in the engineering and natural sciences who bring complementary expertise to the team.

It is the primary goal of the research training group to complement the doctoral candidate's specialization as reflected in the written dissertation by a tailor-made teaching programme encouraging cross-fertilization and allowing the interdisciplinary transfer of skills and knowledge.

An interdisciplinary lecture series with expert guest speakers helps to provide doctoral candidates with the relevant physical and biological research methods and background.

In order to foster the students' ability to carry out independent research and communicate their research results, participants are expected to organise seminars in which they give presentations on and discuss their research projects.