Lichtgedanken 05

Rubrik 6 Research cluster receives a seal of excellence The Friedrich Schiller University Jena was granted funding for one Cluster of Excellence. As announced last September by the selection committee, the cluster »Balance of the Microverse« was one of the 57 chosen clus- ters that will be funded over the next seven years as part of the Excellence Strategy by the German government and federal states. This is the first time Jena has been given funds for a Cluster of Excellence. »This is excellent news for the Univer- sity, for Jena as a research location, and for the Free State of Thuringia«, stated the President of the University of Jena, Walter Rosenthal. He believes this fun- ding acknowledges the development of the research profile at the University which has been taking place in recent years, now combined under the motto »Light, Life, Liberty—Connecting Vi- sions«. The President is convinced that this success will transform the science and business region of Jena into an in- ternational beacon. The big picture and the smallest of the small The »Balance of the Microverse« Clus- ter of Excellence concerns the complex symbiotic communities of microor- ganisms. These microbiomes have a stabilizing influence on living beings and the environment, for example, on the health of humans, animals, plants as well as on soil fertility and the qua- lity of water bodies. Research into the functions and dynamics of these sys- tems is still in its infancy. The aim of the research cluster is to find out which overarching principles dictate the in- teractions between microbial com- munities, for example, which factors stabilize these systems and how can human beings intervene to restore the balance in a microbiome. The research programme is about to advance the re- search areas having been developed by Jena School of excellence, »Jena School for Microbial Communication«, and four existing collaborative research centres, both in terms of content and methodology. »We are, of course, thrilled that our work in recent years has been rewar- ded with the seal of excellence and that we can now take a leading position in the field of research«, says Prof. Dr Axel Brakhage, a spokesperson for the Microverse cluster. A large team has developed that spans across all the par- ticipating disciplines and institutions. »Elucidating the function of microbio- mes will open up completely new paths in prevention and treatment of disease and in environmental protection.« The new research network sees scien- tists and researchers from the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, the Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences, the Faculty of Biological Sciences, and the Faculty of Medicine in Jena all work together. Non-univer- sity partners include the Max Planck Institutes (Chemical Ecology, Biogeo- chemistry, Science of Human History), the Leibniz Institutes (Natural Product Research and Infection Biology; Pho- tonic Technologies), the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Preci- sion Engineering, the Jena Helmholtz Institute, and the DLR Institute of Data Science.  US Microorganisms (fungi, streptomycetes, staphylococci, amoebas) under the fluore- scent microscope. News