“The idea becomes reality.”

As the coordinating team, you were involved right from the start. What do you personally associate with “Cells in Motion”?

Lydia Sorokin: A lot of motion, a lot of change and a lot of work – but “work” very much in a positive sense.

Volker Gerke: What I personally associate with CiM is the enormous number of contacts and collaborations that were established. They would not have been otherwise possible. I‘m a biochemist, and in the last three years I‘ve spent more time with physicists and chemists …

Michael Schäfers: … than ever before?

Volker Gerke: Exactly – than ever before in my life as a scientist, and it has led to some fantastic results and interesting ideas which have enormous potential.

Lydia Sorokin: I think that goes for all of us – that we have broadened our horizons.

Michael Schäfers: That‘s not only true for the scientific side, but also on a personal level. I‘ve met so many new people – that‘s what makes it all so exciting. Just speaking with other people triggers new ideas.

In your view, how has research changed at the University of Münster as a result of CiM?

Volker Gerke: Overall, biomedical research has certainly become much more connected to the natural sciences – that is, with colleagues in chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science. Also the newly recruited colleagues have strengthened both the University and the research focus of the Cluster of Excellence.

Michael Schäfers: One thing that is clear is that a lot has ­changed with regards to interdisciplinary collaboration. The Cluster has led to the establishment of a community of people who want to further push the concept forward.

Lydia Sorokin: Entirely new opportunities have also come up for junior researchers. Long term, researchers working in an interdisciplinary way will have better career opportunities. I‘ve received the first application from an engineer who would like to do his PhD thesis in my biochemical group. This is just one of many examples.

How difficult was it to introduce new structures? And when did it become clear to you that the concept works?

Lydia Sorokin: I have to admit that the first year was hard. It took time before all the new programmes were introduced and we had to invest a lot of time and energy, which is now however starting to pay off. Now, we have to keep the ball rolling.

Michael Schäfers: At the beginning we had a lot of administrative work to do, of course. We had to bring a variety of scientific disciplines together into one common structure – which was not always easy, as the classic subjects each have their own structures, at least in an institutional sense.

Volker Gerke: A great event was our first Flexible Funds Symposium in spring 2013, where CiM scientists presented research projects and applied for funding. It showed how many exciting collaborations had already formed in a short period – most of them across faculty borders – and that the idea we had formulated in the original CiM application had become reality. Our External Advisory Board, which is composed of internationally renowned scientists, saw it in exactly the same way. That was fantastic! Another highlight was in 2014, when approval was given for the construction of our Multiscale Imaging Centre.

Michael Schäfers: Yes, that‘s true. By having our own building by 2019, we establish the structural basis for continuing the CiM research concept in the future. Bringing the core professorships and the relevant technologies together under one roof will promote our interdisciplinary work even more.

Lydia Sorokin: I am especially happy about the success of our Brown-Bag Lunch lectures. Every Thursday junior researchers from a variety of disciplines meet to exchange ideas. They collect a packed lunch – in a “brown-bag” – and listen to a talk while they eat. People who might otherwise never have met, get to know each other and start planning joint projects. I‘m pretty certain that the fact that the lunches are free is not the only reason they are so well attended (laughs).

Volker Gerke: Another great moment was when the master‘s degree course in Experimental Medicine was accredited.

Lydia Sorokin: Absolutely! As a preclinical professor I am particularly proud of this achievement. The process took three years, but I believe that it is one of the most important sustainable structures that we have introduced. It will produce a new generation of “clinician scientists” – that is, physicians also trained to do high quality research. These are the people we need to perpetuate the CiM concept.

One of CiM‘s aims is to transfer the results of experimental research to clinics. What benefit does this provide for science and for society as a whole?

Michael Schäfers: CiM researchers work on many important medical questions, including diseases that are wide-spread in society, such as multiple sclerosis or atherosclerosis. Our aim is to interconnect basic research and clinical work to generate information that, ultimately, can lead to better treatment of diseases. Viewed from the clinical perspective, doctors with a knowledge of basic research in natural sciences have more opportunities – and more ideas – in working with their patients.

Volker Gerke: One thing to remember, though, is that many projects in basic research are long term by nature. General insights into cell behaviour gained today, may be implemented in diagnoses and therapies only in five, ten or even 20 years‘ time.

Lydia Sorokin: That‘s right. Force clinical translation of data quickly is not possible, but in the long run only good basic science can provide the results that can sensibly be transferred to clinical application.

Volker Gerke: The advantage of the Cluster is that the people who do basic research have close contact to clinicians, with the result that both sides begin thinking, “Maybe that‘s something that could be interesting.” That wouldn‘t happen if everyone sat alone in their ivory towers.

CiM has already achieved a lot. What ideas do you have for the future? 

Volker Gerke: The past few years have confirmed that our concept is sustainable in the long term. We see that various projects have been successfully initiated and pursued. In the future, we certainly have to sharpen our focus even more. For example, a central focus will continue to be cell dynamics in vascular system, and we foresee strong growth in this field.

Lydia Sorokin: This also applies to immunology, that is inflammation in various organs.

Michael Schäfers: As far as imaging methods are concerned, we can clearly see what we have learnt and where we still have gaps to fill. Our aim is to visualize molecular processes in the body, ranging from individual cells to the whole organism. Bringing this together, we gain new knowledge – which is why we will continue to focus on imaging technologies.

Lydia Sorokin: Long term our dream is to become an “institution” – an interfaculty structure that will have a firm place in the University of Münster even in 20, 40 or 50 years from now.