Research Training Groups and Doctoral Programmes
IRTG 2991: Photolumineszenz in supramolekularen Matrices
IRTG 2991 is an international and interdisciplinary, knowledge-driven research and training program on innovative supramolecular functional materials with photoluminescent properties. The team conducts cutting edge research projects on fluorescent, phosphorescent and higher complexity luminescent materials by making use of smart supramolecular matrices. The research program includes synthetic organic and biomolecular chemistry, physical and theoretical chemistry for structure and function elucidation, and applications in bioimaging and OLED devices.
Where: Thiruvananthapuram (Indien), Würzburg
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Frank Würthner (Institut für Organische Chemie, JMU), Prof. Dr. Mahesh Hariharan (School of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram)
Funding Period: 10/2024-09/2029
Particle physics is entering an exiting phase with the recent start of the Run 3 data taking at the LHC experiments. In this phase precision measurements will test the Standard Model of particle physics even further. Of particular interest are measurements related to the Higgs boson and the vector bosons as these are highly sensitive to new physics. This is of special importance as on the one hand the Standard Model is valid up to energies higher than had been expected. On the other hand it leaves several fundamental questions open, puzzling the community for quite some time now:
- What causes the flavour structure of the Standard Model fermions?
- Is there a unification of the fundamental forces as indicated by the underlying mathematical structure?
- What is the nature of the observed dark matter relic density?
- What causes the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe?
- Is only one Higgs field driving electroweak symmetry breaking? Does its potential have the simple form assumed in the Standard Model? What is the dynamical origin of its form and is it linked to the flavour problem raised in the first question?
A coordinated and combined effort of theory and experiment is required to answer these questions. We will tackle them by focusing on: precision tests of the Standard Model at the LHC and prospective future colliders, the search for physics beyond the Standard Model at present and future colliders, and the development of field-theoretical methods and tools. It is the aim of the research training group to train a new generation of doctoral researchers with a focus on the connection between theory and experiment and equipping them with modern methods and techniques.
Where: Würzburg
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Werner Porod (Chair of Theoretical Physics II)
Funding Period: 01/2025-12/2029
This RTG 2660 Neural mechanisms of (mal)adaptive approach and avoidance behaviour focuses on the two fundamental behavioural patterns approach and avoidance. They are studied on multiple descriptive, interferential and analytical levels with emphasis on the translation of findings from basic to applied research and from animal models towards humans (Projects). It involves a multi-disciplinary team of principal investigators with psychological, psychiatric and neurobiological backgrounds and research foci.
Where: Würzburg
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Matthias Gamer (Institut für Psychologie)
Funding Period: seit 2021
The Research Training Group (RTG) 2581 aims to identify targets for novel anti-infective or immunotherapeutic strategies at the level of sphingolipid metabolism. As a long-term perspective, rationally defined synthetic sphingolipid analogues or sphingolipid-metabolizing enzymes will be evaluated for therapeutic options in the respective disease models. The realization of these goals requires the multidisciplinary training of a new generation of young scientists who can integratively implement the expertise taught in the RTG in the fields of basic and clinical infectiology, immunology, high-end microscopy, bioorganic chemistry, as well as lipid and protein analysis and bioinformatics.
Where: Würzburg
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Seibel (Institute for Organic Chemistry)
Funding Period: seit 2020
The research program of the GRK 2243 is focused on uncovering molecular mechanisms underlying the cellular functions of key enzymes at all levels of the ubiquitin system: the E1, E2 and E3 enzymes mediating the ubiquitylation of specific target proteins; the de-ubiquitylating enzymes (DUBs) that control, counteract and edit target protein ubiquitylation; and the ATPase p97 (also known as Cdc48 and VCP), an abundant and essential regulator for the turnover of ubiquitylated target proteins. The elucidation of molecular mechanisms and physiological functions of these enzymes will guide the subsequent exploration of their dysfunction in ubiquitin-related diseases and the identification of small-molecule inhibitors as potential lead compounds for future therapeutic approaches.
Where: Würzburg
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Alexander Buchberger (Biocenter)
Funding Period: 2017-2026
In the RTG 2157, scientists combine many years of research experience in the field of infectious diseases with innovative organoid technologies and the engineering of 3D models of human tissues. The broad pathogen repertoire includes papillomaviruses, bacterial pathogens, and trypanosomes as well as leishmania. Understanding the critical processes of a natural infection forms the basis for new preventive and therapeutic strategies in the fight against infectious diseases. Research that combines such complex infection models and "next-generation" technologies at the highest level requires the interdisciplinary training of a generation of scientists who are familiar with the application of these techniques.
Where: Würzburg
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Thomas Rudel (Biozentrum)
Funding Period: 2016-2025
New Research Training Group starting in 2026: The Experience of Stories in the Digital Age (TESDA)
Collaborative Research Centers and Transregional Research Centers often feature Integrated Research Training Groups. Get an overview of these research centers.
Integrated Research Training Group DECIDE in CRC 1583 Decisions in Infectious Diseases
Integrated Research Training Group in CRC 1170 Topological and Correlated Electronics at Surfaces and Interfaces (ToCo Tronics)
Integrated Research Training Group TRR (Transregio) 387 UbiCancer: Functionalizing the Ubiquitin System against Cancer
Integrated Research Training Group TRR (Transregio) 221 Modulation of graft-versus-host and graft-versus-leukemia immune response after allogeneic stem cell transplantation
Funded by Elite Network of Bavaria the programme „Business and Human Rights: Governance Challenges in a Complex World“ establishes an inter- and transdisciplinary research forum for excellent doctoral projects addressing practically relevant problems and theoretically grounded questions in the field of business and human rights.
Prof. Dr. Eva Maria-Kieninger –Lehrstuhl für Deutsches und Europäisches Privatrecht, Internationales Privatrecht
The International Doctorate Program "Philology", which is funded by the Elite Network of Bavaria and focuses on the pre-modern period, aims to examine the history of philological practices in their longue durée over a period of more than four millennia and to explore them exemplarily with the dissertations of the doctoral students. The aim of the International Doctorate Program is to compare concepts and practices of philological work on a global scale in order to discover intercultural commonalities and differences between various pre-modern written cultures. The International Doctorate Program "Philology" follows the principle of no philology without a literary and cultural studies. In the sense of a future-oriented further development of philology, the new possibilities of technologies in the field of digital humanities will be harnessed to test new research horizons and interests.The International Doctorate Program strives to provide its doctoral students with a research environment that stimulates inventive research and creates a framework for excellence. Speaker: Prof. Dr. Beate Kellner, Co-Speaker Prof. Dr. Susanne Reichlin
Prof. Dr. Martin Stadler – Lehrstuhl für Ägyptologie, JMU
The International Doctorate Program “RNAmed – Future Leaders in RNA-based Medicine” equips PhD students with the knowledge and skills they need to launch a career in the rapidly evolving field of RNA-based medicine. In terms of content, RNAmed ranges from basic science to nucleic acid chemistry and formulation to clinical research. Internationality and interdisciplinarity as well as extracurricular activities that contribute to the understanding of preclinical and clinical research are key features of RNAmed.
Prof. Dr. Jörg Vogel - RNA Biology
Promotionskolleg - Professional School of Education
PSE-Promotionskolleg 2025-2028: Die Promotionen finden im Rahmen eines interdisziplinären Forschungsprojektes zur „Begleit- und Wirkungsforschung zu KI-bezogenen Kompetenzen von (angehenden) Lehrpersonen“ der Professional School of Education der Universität Würzburg statt. Durch die profilbildende lehramtsbezogene Forschungsstruktur sollen Qualitätsverbesserungen in Lehre und Forschung in der Lehrpersonenbildung erreicht werden, die in ihrer Vernetzung größere Effekte haben als die Fokussierung auf empirische Bildungs- und Individualforschungen.
Zentrales Anliegen des PSE-Promotions-Kollegs ist es, den Austausch zwischen den Doktoranden anzustoßen und zu begleiten. Hierzu gehören regelmäßige informelle und Arbeitstreffen, aber auch maßgeschneiderter fachlicher Input zu gemeinsam interessanten Themen – und zwar nicht ausschließlich für die zehn PSE-Doktoranden, sondern ausdrücklich für alle Doktoranden aus der Bildungsforschung – unabhängig von ihrer „Heimat-Fakultät“.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Trefzger, Direktor
Dr. Angelika Füting-Lippert, Geschäftsstelle
