GRK 1885: Molecular Basis of Sensory Biology

RTG旨在研究环境刺激是如何被不同的生物体感知和处理的。动物在进化过程中经历了数百万年的选择压力，进化出了各种复杂的物理和化学刺激的感觉受体细胞。感觉受体细胞通过细胞内分子组分处理传入的信息，导致细胞反应。RTG的研究项目包括博士项目，旨在从分子生物学、化学和物理学的角度理解感觉处理的共同原理。它包括广泛的感官研究课题，包括视觉、听觉、磁感受和化学感受，并有来自化学、生物物理学和物理学的强烈投入。主题将涉及受体分子的激活过程，受体偶联信号转导途径和分子开关机制，但也将包括视觉和听觉功能障碍的研究。我们期望从物理模型系统和生物学概念中相互受益，这可能会导致新技术应用（例如生物医学）的发展。我们使用不同的实验策略来解决这些核心问题，这些实验策略基于分子和细胞生物学中可用的工具，并从生物物理技术和化合物的设计和合成（例如荧光研究）中输入，这也是许多项目的核心。因此，该课程将为学生提供强大的生物、化学和物理技能，从而促进这些学科之间的密切合作和相互交流。更重要的是，学生获得一系列不同技术的背景知识和实践经验，包括那些与他们具体的论文项目不直接相关的技术。奥尔登堡大学现有的体制框架和RTG的教育方案保证了这些目标的实现。由至少两名主要研究人员共同监督论文项目，由主要研究人员和访问科学家提供技术的特别培训讲习班，现有（已获得资助的）研究和项目小组的网络，以及他们的多学科讨论会是资格概念的核心部分。博士生还将参加自2008年以来在奥尔登堡开设的“神经感觉科学与系统”博士课程。

The RTG aims at investigating how environmental stimuli are sensed and processed by different organisms. Animals have developed a complex variety of sensory receptor cells for physical and chemical stimuli in response to millions of years of selection pressures during evolution. Sensory receptor cells process the incoming information by intracellular molecular components leading to a cellular response. The research program of the RTG involves PhD projects that aim at understanding the common principles of sensory processing from a molecular biological, chemical and physical perspective. It includes research topics on a wide variety of senses including vision, hearing, magnetoreception and chemoreception with a strong input from chemistry, biophysics and physics. Topics will address activation processes of receptor molecules, receptor-coupled signal transduction pathways and molecular switch mechanisms, but will also include studies on visual and auditory dysfunction. We expect mutual benefit from physical model systems and from biological concepts, which might lead to the development of new technical applications (e.g. biomedicine). We address these central questions using different experimental strategies based on tools available in molecular and cellular biology with input from biophysical techniques and the design and synthesis of chemical compounds (e.g. for fluorescence studies) being central to many projects as well. Consequently, the study programme will provide the students with strong skills in biology, chemistry and physics, thereby facilitating close collaboration and mutual exchange of ideas between these disciplines. It is further important that the students acquire background knowledge and practical experience with a range of different technologies, including those that are not directly related to their specific thesis project. The institutional framework in place at the University of Oldenburg and the educational programme of the RTG guarantees achieving these aims. Cosupervision of thesis projects by at least two principal investigators, special training workshops in techniques given by the principal investigators and visiting scientists, a network of existing (already funded) research and project groups, and their multidisciplinary colloquia are central parts of the qualification concept. PhD students will also enrol in the PhD programme "Neurosensory Science and Systems" that has been in place in Oldenburg since 2008.