Three Successful Funding Bids for Collaborative Research Centres

Heidelberg University succeeded in gaining funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) in the latest approval round for three, internationally visible collaborative research centres. In physics, the collaborative research centre (CRC) studying isolated quantum systems in experimental and theoretical investigations will continue its work in the second funding period (CRC 1225). Funding has also been extended for two research consortia which are organised as transregional CRCs, each with several participating universities: Scientists of the Medical Faculty Heidelberg along with partners in Freiburg and Munich are involved in hepatitis research (CRC/TRR 179). In the molecular life sciences, researchers in Heidelberg and Berlin are investigating the coordination of signal transmission in living cells (CRC/TRR 186). DFG funding for the upcoming four-year period for all three consortia totals more than 40 million euros. CRC 1225, "Isolated Quantum Systems and Universality in Extreme Conditions" (ISOQUANT), is focused on a field of research of major importance for numerous applications in physics. Many of these systems exhibit characteristic common properties despite fundamental differences in key parameters such as temperature, density, or field strength.