Lichtenberg-Professuren / Lichtenberg Professorships

Bewilligungen / Grants 2010

 

How Stress gets in the Body? A Psychobiological Approach to the
Pathophysiology of Chronic Fatigue

Bewilligung: 17.12.2010  Laufzeit: 5 Jahre

The main objective is the elucidation of the pathophysiology of
stress-related severe chronic fatigue using methods and paradigms from
various disciplines, such as psychology, medicine, and biology. The
overall research question is how stress impacts the body and how this
leads to fatigue. Medically unexplained chronic severe fatigue is very
prevalent in our society. It incurs suffering at an individual level
and accounts for high health-care related costs on a societal level.
Despite virtually thousands of studies, no pathophysiological
mechanism has been found which might explain this. In order to take
the next step in the elucidation of the intricate relationship between
psychological mechanisms and molecular underpinnings, the combination
of methods derived from various disciplines is crucial. By incorporating psychological measurements, peripheral biomarkers of
physiological stress systems, and state-of-the-art functional genomics
technology, a first study will be attempted comprehensively assessing
the underlying pathophysiology of severe chronic fatigue. Further,
intervention research will be implemented in the project, thus
allowing definition of biological pathways resulting from treatment
success or failure in this disabling condition.

Universität Marburg
Fachbereich Psychologie
Lichtenberg-Professur für Klinische Biopsychologie
Prof. Dr. Urs Markus Nater
Gutenbergstraße 18
35032 Marburg
Tel.: 06421 282 3943
Fax: 06421 282 6949

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Switching RNA interference (continuation)

Bewilligung: 17.12.2010  Laufzeit:  3 Jahre

RNA interference (RNAi) describes the specific down-regulation of gene expression induced by homologous double-stranded RNAs, exploiting a naturally occurring pathway. To date, RNA interference can not be controlled once the RNAi triggers are delivered into cells. Moreover, the technique allows only for switching off the expression of a targeted gene. The possibility to switch on and off expression at particular times would widely broaden the scope of this method. In addition, it would be of great impact to turn on RNA interference when certain changes take place inside cells. Nuclid acids capable of triggering RNA interference will be synthesized using solid-phase phosphoramidite chemistry, augmented with sequences and modifications rendering the small interfering RNA (siRNA) accessible to regulation. Using this strategy, the possibility to switch on and off RNAi by other nucleic acids, proteins, and small, drug-like molecules will be explored. In addition to the modulation of RNA interference by controlling siRNA activity, regulation could be achieved by localizing the effects. A so-far unsolved issue of future therapeutic applications of siRNAs represents the targeted delivery to the tissue of interest. Sequences with binding affinity towards cellular structures such as tumor marker proteins will be fused to siRNAs.

Universität Konstanz
Fachbereich Chemie
Lichtenberg-Professur "Chemie biologisch
funktionaler Materialien"
Prof. Dr. Jörg Steffen Hartig
Universitätsstr. 10, Fach M 704
78457 Konstanz
Tel.: +49 7531 884575
Fax: +49 7531 88 5140
Homepage: http://www.uni-konstanz.de/FuF/chemie/jhartig

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Sensory and cognitive ecology (continuation)

Bewilligung: 30.11.2010  Laufzeit:  4 Jahre  9 Monate

Pinnipeds are mammals that adopt an amphibious lifestyle. Their frequent transition between water and air requires specific adaptations of, not only their anatomy and physiology, but also of their senses. In an interdisciplinary research group the first aim of this professorship is to understand the basic mechanisms and adaptations of pinniped sensory systems and cognitive processes with respect to ecological parameters of their aquatic and aerial environments. These questions are approached mainly in psychophysical experiments with ten well-trained male pinnipeds - nine harbour seals and one South African fur seal - that are kept in a large seawater enclosure at the Baltic Sea. Understanding the basic sensory and cognitive mechanisms is a prerequisite for studying orientation and navigation at open sea, which is the second aim of the professorship. At first sight the open ocean seems to be a rather featureless environment. Nevertheless marine mammals in general and pinnipeds in particular, are well-oriented and can navigate proficiently. However, little is known about the mechanisms they can rely on. Therefore, as well as the controlled experiments in the pinnipeds' enclosure, researchers will also take the trained animals to the open ocean, in order to conduct orientation experiments under natural conditions without any space limitations. In a third step, the professorship aims to transfer the specialised sensory adaptations discovered in pinnipeds into bio-inspired technological applications.

Universität Rostock
Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät
Institut für Biowissenschaften
Prof. Dr. Guido Dehnhardt
Albert-Einstein-Str. 3
18059 Rostock
Tel.: 0381 498 6010
Fax: 0381 498 6302

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Controls of ecological stability of marine ecosystems over long temporal scales (global evolutionary biogeosciences) - continuation

Bewilligung: 06.12.2010  Laufzeit:  3 Jahre

This is an extension of a previous project on "Controls of ecological stability of marine ecosystems over long temporal scales". As previously, links are explored between geologic factors such as climate change, ecosystem development and biodiversity dynamics. New aspects are: (1) Biodiversity dynamics will be analyzed by a combination of fossil occurrences and molecular data; (2) Work will focus on reef ecosystems with aim to forecast the fate of coral reefs in the future; and, (3) geochemical data will be integrated more rigorously than before applying a new method called information transfer to establish causal relationships from incomplete and noisy time series.

Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz-Institut
für Evolutions- u. Biodiversitätsforsch.
an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Kießling
Invalidenstraße 43
10115 Berlin
Tel.: 030 2093 8576
Fax: 030 2093 8868

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The fundamental structure of string theory and its relation to gauge field theories - continuation

Bewilligung: 24.11.2010  Laufzeit:  3 Jahre

String theory is the most promising candidate for a unification of gravity with the other three fundamental forces of nature in a quantum mechanically consistent framework. It predicts the existence of a symmetry between bosonic and fermionic particles which would be of great relevance in particle physics and will be searched for in the next generation of accelerators. Moreover, strings predict the existence of six additional compact dimensions in our universe. The central focus of the research is directed towards the study of dualities between strings and gauge theories. Gauge theories are the essential building blocks of the Standard Model of Elementary Particle Physics, but their strong coupling dynamics to date is not accessible by analytic means. In recent years strings have emerged as a tool to study strongly coupled gauge theories through a dual string formulation. Here the discovery of integrable structures on both sides of the duality has been the key to important progress towards an exact solution of the supersymmetric gauge theory. The application of these hidden symmetries to the computation of scattering amplitudes as well as three-point functions of local operators will be explored.

Humboldt-Universität Berlin
Institut für Physik
Theorie der Elementarteilchen/
Quantenfeldtheorie
Prof. Dr. Jan Plefka
Newtonstr. 15
12489 Berlin
Tel.: 030 2093 7622
Homepage: http://qft.physik.hu-berlin.de

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Philosophie- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte der griechisch-arabisch- lateinischen Tradition (Weiterführung)

Bewilligung: 24.06.2010  Laufzeit:  3 Jahre

The research focus of this professorship is the Arabic influence on medieval and Renaissance Europe, especially in philosophy and the sciences - an issue of importance not only historically, but also for the modern understanding of Islamic and Western cultures. One branch of this research is philological. This branch aims to produce, on the one hand, a comprehensive dictionary of the vocabulary of the Arabic-Latin translations of the Middle Ages, that is, a lexicographical tool for both Arabists and Medievalists, and, on the other hand, a critical edition of a central text: the Latin version of Averroes' Long Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics. The other branch is thematic, and is concerned with the Arabic influence on European metaphysics, cosmology and psychology. A topic of particular attention is the culmination of Arabic influences in the Renaissance, especially in medicine, astrology and psychology, and the attempts of humanists to suppress the traces of Arabic influence in European culture.

Universität Würzburg
Institut für Philosophie - Lehrstuhl III
Prof. Dr. Dag-Nikolaus Hasse
Residenz - Südflügel
97070 Würzburg
Tel.: 0931 31 2850
Fax: 0931 31 2855
Homepage: http://www.philosophie.uni-wuerzburg.de/institut/allelehrsthlefrphilosophie/profdrdagnikolaushasse/

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Fast rhythm in the Dentate Gyrus - its role in coding of behavior-related information

Bewilligung: 23.06.2010  Laufzeit:  5 Jahre

The goal is to understand how functional diversity of various neuron types sets the dynamics of gamma activity and thereby underlies coding of behavior-related information. Subject matter will be the dentate gyrus (DG), the input region of the hippocampus. Electrophysiological, imaging, neuroanatomical and computational techniques will be used. The activity patterns of identified neurons in the DG of rodents will be examined with juxtacellular recordings during network oscillations in vivo. Synaptic conductances underlying the activity of identified cells will be analyzed with whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in anaesthetized and freely moving animals. The properties of synaptic communication among cells will be characterized with paired whole-cell recordings and the dendritic integration of synaptic inputs by using voltage-sensitive dye imaging in hippocampal slice preparations. Connectivity patterns will be analyzed in the DG. Finally, a network model based on the experimental data will be developed, the functional contribution of the various circuit properties for the emergence of synchronous gamma oscillations analyzed and investigated how sparse coding is realized.

Universität Freiburg
Medizinische Fakultät
Institut für Physiologie I
Prof. Dr. Marlene Bartos
Engesserstraße 4
79108 Freiburg
Tel.: 0761 203 5194

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Nonlinear dynamics in high temperature magnetized plasmas; Physics understanding through computing

Bewilligung: 28.04.2010  Laufzeit:  5 Jahre

The professorship is dedicated to nonlinear dynamics in high temperature magnetized plasmas. The primary research method will be based on high performance computing. Achieving fundamental theoretical understanding of both astrophysical plasmas and laboratory plasma experiments are the central aims of the research. Within the area of magnetic confinement of fusion the professorship will focus on the study of turbulent dynamics. Understanding of turbulence is one of the great long-standing scientific challenges. Progress is particular important for fusion devices since it is the turbulent transport which determines the size of a burning plasma. First principle-based models are beginning to substitute the previously used empirical or semi-empirical approaches. The second part of the research addresses the extension to astrophysical plasmas. Like fusion plasmas, astrophysical plasmas are largely collisionless and the theoretical description of many phenomena in this area is closely related to the theory developed for magnetic confinement. The astrophysical problems include magnetic reconnection and dynamo action. Additionally, research on high temperature plasmas is highly relevant for the public. A prominent topic is the research on magnetic confinement in nuclear fusion which aims at providing a future source of energy.

Universität Bayreuth
Physikalisches Institut
Prof. Dr. Arthur Godfried Peeters
Postfach
95440 Bayreuth

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Coinage and Money in the Graeco-Roman world

Bewilligung: 18.01.2010  Laufzeit:  5 Jahre

The research focuses on the development, functions and use of coins in the Western Mediterranean in the period 500-100 BC. The hypothesis is that the adaptation and use of coinage in this period might be understood in the context of the constantly changing balance of power in the area. In the struggle over hegemony in the western Mediterranean, coinage was an important instrument to finance the various bids for power, to display developing identities and shifting loyalties and to facilitate control over subjugated areas. Central to the proposed project is an interdisciplinary approach from the perspective of the 'longue durée'. For it is thought, that a comprehensive understanding of the adaptation and use of the earliest western currencies is best achieved by a diachronic, systematic comparison of the phenomenon within a wide geographical scope. In this way patterns rather than incidents will come into focus and as such might offer an insight into larger societal developments.

Universität Frankfurt am Main
Fachbereich Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaften
Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften
Abteilung II
Prof. Dr. Fleur Kemmers
Grüneburgplatz 1
60323 Frankfurt a. M.
Tel.: 069 79832281

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Schriftgröße