DFG to establish 10 new collaborative resear...( On 1 January 2008 the Deutsche Forsc...)

On 1 January 2008 the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish ten new Collaborative Research Centres, which will receive a total of 74.4 million euros in funding over the next four years, as well as a lump sum of 20 percent to cover indirect costs incurred by the projects. The new Collaborative Research Centres (SFBs) will address a range of topics, including inflammation of the brain, the distribution of oxygen in tropical oceans, and nanoscopic structures in the macroscopic world. Other topics will include the neurobiological basis for behaviour, managing cycles in innovation processes, and the development of high brilliance lasers and other novel components. Two of the ten newly established Collaborative Research Centres are Transregional Collaborative Research Centres, which are based at more than one location.

At its meeting in Bonn on 20-21 November, the relevant Grants Committee also approved the continuation of 26 existing SFBs for an additional funding period. The DFG will thus fund a total of 259 Collaborative Research Centres as of the beginning of next year. In total, they will receive 403 million euros in funding in 2008, plus the 20 percent programme overhead.

The new Collaborative Research Centres:

The Brain as a Target of Inflammatory Processes is the topic of SFB/Transregional Collaborative Research Centre 43, which will involve scientists from Berlin and Gttingen. Research will focus on inflammatory and immune reactions in the brain, an area that has received less attention in the past than research focussing on inflammatory processes outside the brain. The projects they plan include an attempt to find out what role inflammation plays in traumatic and neurodegenerative processes. Their main focus will be on diseases such as stroke, Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis. They hope that their insights will find their way into clinical practice and therapy in the long term.
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