DFG funds cutting-edge research at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg

"I would like to thank our researchers for their outstanding work, which will now have an excellent basis for developing a life sciences research focus over a period of five years as part of the DFG funding," says Professor Remi Maier-Rigaud, Vice President Research and Junior Academics at H-BRS. "This is a milestone for Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg. We are proving once again that cutting-edge research is taking place here."

The Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg impressed the jury with its plan for an interdisciplinary research centre for transport mechanisms in cells and their molecular interactions. Scientists from central scientific facilities at the university will work together in the centre to research the background to metabolic and immune system diseases or high blood pressure, for example.
The new biomedical centre at H-BRS builds on the university's strong profile in the biosciences and life sciences. Professor Mike Althaus, who conducts research into the molecular physiology of ion channels and transporters, is the spokesperson for the research network. The project, called "CytoTransport", will initially run until 2029. A continuation is possible. It includes the establishment of a junior research group as well as extensive positions for research associates. The centre works across disciplines and internationally, and the scientists will collaborate with research institutions in Germany, the USA, Denmark, the UK and Israel.

"We are very pleased about the funding for this project. Transport processes play an important role in almost all processes in the human body," says Professor Mike Althaus. "Impaired transport processes are associated with important human diseases. Understanding the mechanisms and modulation of cellular transport processes is therefore a prerequisite for the development of new therapeutic strategies for these diseases and a worthwhile goal for the promotion of human health."
In the new interdisciplinary research centre, Professor Mike Althaus works together with Professor Matthias Preller, Professor Jörn Oliver Sass, Professor Margit Schulze, Professor Christopher Volk and Professor Steffen Witzleben from the Department of Natural Sciences, Professor Dirk Reith (Department of Engineering and Communication), Dr Karl Kirschner (Department of Computer Science) and Dr Katrin Richter from Justus Liebig University Giessen

This is a first for the German Research Foundation (DFG): with the "Forschungsimpulse" programme, it is funding larger collaborative projects at universities of applied sciences (HAW) for the first time and is providing a total of 49 million euros plus a programme allowance of 22 percent. The DFG has selected ten projects from 69 proposals, which will initially be funded for five years. This makes Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg one of the first universities to benefit from the new funding programme. From the North Rhine-Westphalian university landscape, only Bochum University of Applied Sciences is also participating with a joint project.