Lichtgedanken 05

Rubrik 7 05 | LICHT GEDANKEN »Light, Life, Liberty—Connecting Visions« University President Prof. Dr Walter Rosenthal on a flying visit to the Matthias Schleiden Institute of Genetics, Bioinformatics and Molecular Botany: this is where research will be conducted into single-celled green algae as part of the »Balance of the Microverse« Cluster of Excellence. In this interview he speaks about the result of the Excellence Strategy competition and strenghting the profile of the Friedrich Schiller University. INTERVIEW: UTE SCHÖNFELDER Does standing in a laboratory like this awaken the researcher within you? Absolutely. I think it is fascinating to see that an algae cell has a lot in com- mon with a human cell. All life proces- ses are variations on a »theme«, just as in music. There are universal biological fundamentals that appear in extremely diverse forms. Which aspects that are being inves- tigated as part of the »Balance of the Microverse« Cluster of Excellence are you most interested in personally? The great thing about this cluster is that it poses fundamental questions. Like, how can single-celled organisms—in other words, very simple organisms— form highly complex communities? We know that microorganisms communi- cate using chemical molecules, but we still do not know the basic rules for how this happens. And that is precisely the objective of this cluster: to elucidate the- se basic rules. It is fascinating. Not least because of the huge number of different applications. After all, these microbial communities are immensely important, especially for us human beings. We are literally ecosystems of microorganisms: they live in our mouths, in our lungs and in our gut. The microbial communi- ties have a clear impact on our health. Part of the thrill of this cluster is that it combines fundamental questions with concrete applications. What was 27th September 2018 like for you, when the results of the Excellence Strategy run by the German govern- ment and federal states were announ- ced? It was a very joyous occasion for me. I was always very optimistic about our chances of success. However, given the tough competition, the result was anything but certain. »Balance of the Microverse« is the first Cluster of Excel- lence at the Friedrich Schiller University. And we celebrated in style. We met all the researchers and scientists involved in the Senate Hall, and the spokesper- son for the cluster, Prof. Axel Brakhage, who was abroad at the time, joined us via Skype. It was a great moment. Despite this, there were surely disap- pointed faces too, as the University’s second cluster application »Enligh- tening the Receptome« was not selec- ted for funding. Yes, but the work that has been invested here has not been in vain. On the one hand, this cluster includes a very strong methodological aspect in the field of high-resolution microscopy methods. We want to further expand upon this area. The life sciences and other asso- ciated fields, such as chemistry, physics and materials sciences will also benefit from this. On the other hand, the fact that we submitted two clusters has cer- tainly moved the University forward as a whole. In what way? With the two clusters, we had the chan- Prof. Dr Maria Mittag (left), PhD student Yu Hou (right) and PhD student Vivien Hotter (2nd from right) give the President of the University of Jena, Prof. Dr Walter Rosenthal, an insight into their research into the single-celled green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii .