Structure and Interaction of Biological Macromolecules

The aim of this DK-plus is to provide selected students with an in-depth, interdisciplinary training in scientific method to enable them to comprehend, rigorously analyse and provide solutions to biological problems. To achieve this aim, we have chosen the theme "Structure and Interactions of Biological Macromolecules". This theme contains questions at the heart of modern molecular and cellular biology which can be investigated by a range of powerful and varied techniques. Students will master several of the most modern techniques and to gain experience in choosing the appropriate approaches to solve biological problems in structural terms. The theoretical and practical training will emphasise the interactions of biological macromolecules for determining their function and the prerequisites necessary for interactions and subsequent outcomes. The participating faculty comprises twelve scientists with excellent publication and funding records in analysing the structures and interactions of biological macromolecules. Together, the faculty employ most of the current techniques available. Eight faculty members have substantial experience in supervising graduate students. The remaining four faculty are younger scientists in the early part of their careers who themselves will be guided in mentoring by the more experienced faculty. The added value of this DK-plus lies in the common theme, the supervision and the participating faculty. The students will be exposed to very different techniques and scientific approaches to examine the structures and interactions of biological macromolecules. The projects offered range from the folding of macromolecules through the importance of interactions for determining function in macromolecular complexes to the consequences of protein-protein interactions in pathogenic infectious agents. The students will have a co-supervisor from the program faculty and will be guided by a PhD committee. Lab talks, journal clubs and rotation will expose the students to different ways of thinking and environments and will permit them to master a significantly broader range of techniques than would ever be possible in a PhD outside the program. The scientific development of the students will be promoted by the inter-disciplinary approach of the faculty and the scientific environment of the Vienna Biocenter Campus. Specific lecture and seminar courses, visits to collaborating laboratories, the organisation of an international workshop and participation at international meetings will further extend their scientific development. Courses in accompanying skills such as paper and grant writing, presentation techniques, ethics, project management, gender issues and career planning will round off the students` education. The DK-plus "Structure and interactions of biological macromolecules" is geared to producing alumni disciplined in the use of the scientific method, able to analyse scientific problems with intellectual rigour and having the analytic awareness to make unexpected discoveries in the future.