Funding Extended for Research Training Group 2046 “Parasite Infections: From Experimental Models to Natural Systems”
German Research Foundation Supports Graduate Training for Four and a Half More Years

Press information № 127/2019 from May 13, 2019

The Research Training Group (GRK) 2046 “Parasite Infections: From Experimental Models to Natural Systems”, which is based at the Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, will be supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for another funding period. This enables the involved scientists to continue their research on molecular, cellular, and organismic aspects of parasite infections for another four and a half years. They work together with researchers from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Robert Koch Institute, the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, and the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces. The research topics of GRK 2046 focus on four parasite groups that are of medical and veterinary importance: Plasmodium, Toxoplasma gondii, Giardia, and helminths. The four groups of infections are studied in relevant natural hosts such as wildlife, pets, humans, and rodents. In the second funding period, the work will focus on the most common form of infection in the world, co-infection and its consequences. The new grant is for roughly 4.3 million euros through the end of March 2024.
Prof. Dr. Susanne Hartmann, the spokesperson for GRK 2046, stresses that the research training group bundles the comprehensive proficiencies in Berlin that are devoted to the research of parasite infections. The participating doctoral researchers can gain training in this important area of infection medicine that is unparalleled in the world. The subject-based education is complemented with comprehensive training in social skills and transferable skills offered by the local universities’ overarching graduate schools. The mission of GRK 2016 is to equip the next-generation of parasitologists with skills necessary to undertake advanced scientific studies of parasitic infections in experimental as well as natural systems.

Contact

Prof. Dr. Susanne Hartmann, Spokesperson, Research Training Group 2046 “Parasite
Infections: From Experimental Models to Natural Systems”
Tel.: +49 30 838 - 518 24 * Email: susanne.hartmann@fu-berlin.de

Dr. Marko Janke, Coordinator, Research Training Group 2046 “Parasite Infections: From
Experimental Models to Natural Systems”
Tel.: +49 30 838 - 656 06 * Email: grk2046@fu-berlin.de