Scientific environment

Research Focus Program “Molecular Biosciences as a Motor for a Knowledge-Based Economy”
http://www.molekulare-biowissenschaften.uni-halle.de/

Top research in the main focus areas of the university will be strengthened through the support of defined projects. The supported projects are designed to foster applied research for which either industry partners have already been identified, or to provide proof-of-concept studies required to gain the interest of future industrial cooperations.

17 projects were selected that correspond to three categories:

  • I. Development of therapeutical agents and proteins
  • II. Plant-based resources and optimization of crop productivity
  • III. Innovative concepts for target-identification, diagnosis and therapy

“Protein Center Charles Tanford” at the Martin Luther University
http://pressemitteilungen.pr.uni-halle.de/index.php?modus=pmanzeige&pm_id=2762

Excerpt of a press release:
“The new protein center is seminal for the research focus Biosciences: Macromolecular Structures and the Biological Information Processing at our university. Short local distances between the research groups will even allow easy planning of cooperation projects in the future. Moreover, the research center is an acknowledgement of the excellent research activities that were performed by our scientists in the past”, said Dr. Udo Sträter, rector of the university.

The protein center has 5.400 square meters. In the new research building 255 employees from 12 research groups, belonging to the faculties of natural sciences I and II and the medical faculty, all of them will work on current topics in protein biochemistry. In total, 125 labs and 62 offices, in addition seminar and conference rooms have been built. Actually, all those rooms are in the process of being furnished and the house automation will be installed and tested. In the second half of 2018 the complete building will be put into operation.

Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy und Immunology
https://www.izi.fraunhofer.de/de/departments/halle-location/department-of-drug-design-and-target-validation.html

The Department of Drug Design and Target Validation as part of the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy und Immunology develops new molecular therapies for neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases in Halle. The department’s expertise is based on an in depth pharma-like understanding of scientific work and a long-lasting experience in the field of drug development. This profile encompasses the identification of new target proteins by analyzing putative pathologic post-translational modifications, the misfolding of proteins and the formation of pathological aggregates. Based on these new strategies the department develops and tests small molecules as well as biological agents (biologicals).

This research is complemented by the design of new assays for the identification and diagnostic application of biomarkers aiming at monitoring the course of the disease and its therapy. The department’s expertise also expands to the generation of pharmacologically relevant in vitro and in vivo models. Besides state-of-the-art methods for peptide synthesis and protein analytics, the department commands a wide range of biophysical methods to characterize therapeutically relevant physiological pathways, their key proteins as well as cell-based and pharmacologic models for the characterization of new chemical and biological drug candidates. In the moment, 40 employees and 20 students and student workers are working on projects that are supported by the Federal Government of Sachsen-Anhalt, the Federal Ministry of Education and Redsearch, The European Union and by industrial cooparations.

Institute for Technical Biochemistry at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (registered society)
contact person: Prof. Dr. Bordusa
(Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg)

Aim of the Institute for Technical Biochemistry at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg e.V. is the public information and distribution of scientific knowledge. The institute is interested in the promotion of young scientists having innovative ideas, the support of their personal qualification, the development and later commercialization of new products and the foundation of their own companies.