Press release: Immunity in plants

Nr. 268/2015 - 09.11.2015

DFG provides nearly 3.7 million euros in grants to Göttingen University Research Training Group

(pug) The German Research Foundation (DFG) will be funding a new international research training group in the field of plant sciences at Göttingen University. A total of 20 doctoral researchers will thus receive a structured education focused on how immune defences work in plants. The research training group (GRK) is a joint initiative involving the Faculties of Biology and Psychology, Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology and Agricultural Sciences in affiliation with the Göttingen Center for Molecular Biosciences (GZMB). The DFG will initially fund the international research training group for four years, with a total of around 3.7 million euros.

“This subject has pivotal relevance for crop productivity,” explains the research training group's spokesperson Professor Ivo Feußner of the Albrecht von Haller Institute for Plant Sciences at Göttingen University. The research training group aims to elucidate aspects ranging from plant immunity to crop protection strategies in order to fend off pathogen threats on all immune defence levels. “Such a broad education empowers our doctoral candidates to address aspects of systemic immunity throughout the entire plant,” Prof. Feußner adds. The programme of the research training group is integrated in the Göttingen Graduate School for Neurosciences, Biophysics and Molecular Biosciences (GGNB) as well.

This consortium is internationally aligned with the Department of Botany and the Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Within their individual research projects, the doctoral candidates will spend part of their PhD work in Canada. The joint PhD training program and close cooperation within the projects will let them gather international experience and foster relationship networks. For more information, go to www.uni-goettingen.de/de/protect/526369.html.

Contact address:
Professor Ivo Feußner
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Faculty of Biology and Psychology
Albrecht von Haller Institute for Plant Sciences
Department for Plant Biochemistry
Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Phone +49 (0)551 39-5743
E-mail: ifeussn@gwdg.de
Website: www.uni-goettingen.de/en/188278.html