The new Collaborative Research Centre “PodoSigN – Podocyte Signaling Networks: From Basic Concepts to Disease Understanding” receives funding of 15.5 million euros from the German Research Foundation. One third of the research projects are carried out at the University of Münster. The University of Cologne takes the lead for the network. The University of Hamburg is also involved.
Cells build connections in organisms, and thus, form tissues that only allow certain substances or cells to pass through. In her doctoral thesis, biologist Dr Thea Jacobs has carried out investigations on this process using a simple model – fruit fly eggs. In a guest article, she provides insight into her day-to-day research and explains what she has discovered so far.
Neurobiologist Dr Bente Winkler is investigating how fruit fly brains react to inflammation. To do this, she is using genetically modified fruit flies in which a reaction of the immune system can be artificially activated. In this guest article, she explains how this could contribute to disease research.
PhD students and postdocs from the Cells in Motion Interfaculty Centre took part in a workshop on science communication and subsequently created articles about their research. Using different media and narrative styles, four of them report on various aspects of their research on the fruit fly.
In our videos, scientists provide multifaceted insight into their research and everyday work. They talk about current research questions, their new findings and how these findings were generated. They also talk about their personal motivations, the experiences they have had while on their career path and the framework of the scientific system. The videos are in either English or German and many of them have subtitles available in both languages.
