Interscience – First interdisciplinary symposium of the Vienna Doctoral Schools
On September 14th and 15th 2017, the Großer & Kleiner Festsaal of the University of Vienna were the setting of the first joint conference of the four current Vienna Doctoral Schools (VDSs): Cognition, Behaviour and Neuroscience, Mathematics, Molecules of Life and Physics.
When fish swim in the holodeck
Behavior experiments are useful tools to study brain function. Standard experiments to investigate behavior in popular lab animals such as fish, flies or mice however only incompletely mimic natural conditions. The understanding of behavior and brain function is thus limited. Virtual Reality (VR) helps in generating a more natural experimental environment but requires immobilization of the animal, disrupting sensorimotor experience and causing altered neuronal and behavioral responses. Researchers at the University of Freiburg, and the Max F. Perutz Laboratories (MFPL), a joint venture of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna, in collaboration with groups at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) and the MPI for Ornithology in Konstanz, have now developed a VR system for freely moving animals – FreemoVR - to overcome most of these limitations. Their findings are now published in Nature Methods.
Immune system can be modulated by targeted manipulation of cell metabolism
In its attempt to fight a serious bacterial infection, caused by listeria, for example, the immune system can become so over-activated that the resulting inflammatory response and its consequences can quickly lead to death. Scientists from the Medical University of Vienna and the Max F. Perutz Laboratories of the MedUni Vienna and the University of Vienna, supervised by Gerhard Zlabinger from the Institute of Immunology, have now demonstrated in an animal model that such an excessive response by the immune system can be modulated by targeted manipulation of the sugar metabolism to produce an immune response that efficiently eliminates the pathogens without causing any harmful secondary reactions.
Three FWF accolades for MFPL labs
Group leaders Thomas Leonard and Bojan Zagrovic were awarded an FWF standalone grant each, while postdoc Linda Trübestein received a Hertha Firnberg postdoctoral fellowship.
Spot on: DNA damage
MFPL scientist Dea Slade dedicates her research to the cellular responses to DNA damage. Recently, Dr. Slade won a WWTF Next grant and, together with a team of MFPL scientists, published new results on the DNA damage response in the renowned journal Nucleic Acids Research.The WWTF Next grant is awarded to researchers to facilitate the transfer of newly developed techniques from the bench to commercial applications.
Laura D. Gallego Valle awarded L’Oreal Austria Fellowship
We congratulate Laura, PhD student in Alwin Köhler’s lab at the MFPL, to her most recent stipend: The L’Oreal Austria Fellowship. This fellowship will support Laura during the last year of her PhD.
The second Vienna Doctoral School (VDS) “Molecules of Life” retreat
After a first successful year of “Molecules of Life”, the second retreat was held in Sopron, Hungary. About 80 PhD students, postdocs and group leaders from institutes across Vienna were among the attendees. The VDS’s main philosophy of promoting interdisciplinary research was reflected in the presence of both students and group leaders from different disciplines, enjoying the opportunity to meet and network at the second retreat.
Raffaela Torggler awarded DOC Fellowship from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OEAW)
We congratulate Raffaela, PhD student in the Kraft lab at MFPL, to the OEAW DOC Fellowship supporting her PhD project. Raffaela is working on a process called autophagy, the cell’s own waste disposal system. Autophagy protects the cells by degrading harmful cytoplasmic components. When autophagy is defective, these elements accumulate in the cell and can cause human diseases such as cancer or neurodegenerative disorders. Autophagy is not only an important degradation process, but it also allows cells to recycle the building blocks of the degraded material. This is especially crucial to survive periods of starvation.
New mechanism of transcription regulation in bacteria found by Schroeder lab
A new layer of transcription regulation in bacteria has been discovered by the Schroeder group at the MFPL/University of Vienna, in collaboration with the laboratory of Evgeny Nudler at the New York University School of Medicine. Their results are published in the journal Molecular Cell.
MFPL group leader Claudine Kraft is awarded prestigious START grant from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
One of the most meaningful awards for young researchers in Austria, the START grant will support her research, in recognition to her future potential and past achievements. The funding amounts to a minimum of EUR 800.000, up to EUR 1.2 Million over the course of six years. Dr. Kraft was one of six awardees this year, out of 88 submissions. A Swiss native, she joined the MFPL as a group leader in 2011, after completing her postdoctoral studies at ETH Zürich.
New Christian Doppler Laboratory at the University of Vienna/MFPL
Led by highly qualified scientists, the research groups in Christian Doppler (CD) Laboratories work on application-oriented basic research. They search for innovative answers to current research questions in close coordination with industrial partners. As a consequence, the Christian Doppler Research Association is internationally considered as best practice example. The new laboratory, which is supported by funding from the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy (BMWFW), is concerned with knowledge-based structural biology and biotechnology and will develop foundations that might lead to new therapeutic methods for diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer.
A successful "Ubiquitin and Friends" symposium at the Josephinum in Vienna
“The early bird catches the worm.” This was the thought on our minds at 9 a.m. on a rainy Saturday on the 13th of May when members of the Vienna BioCenter convened in Vienna’s 9thdistrict to discuss exciting new research in a historical and scientific setting.
office@maxperutzlabs.ac.at
+43 1 4277 240 01
Vienna BioCenter Dr.-Bohr-Gasse 9, 1030 Vienna
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
» Privacy Policy