The Leibniz-Graduate School of Molecular Biophysics aims for an alliance between basic biophysical and biomolecular research. Biophysical techniques are becoming increasingly significant in the analysis of biomolecular processes. At the same time, a wide range of methods is required in order to obtain a complete description of complex systems. The participating institutions are equipped with an attractive range of instruments (BESSY-II, NMR Centre Berlin-Buch, EM-Ultrastructure network, EPR spectroscopy) offering doctoral candidates the opportunity to acquire various techniques.

The Graduate School focuses on the investigation of protein-protein interactions. These are the basis of enzymatic processes, of perceptive and cognitive events in the cell, and underlie cellular degradation as well as protein aggregation processes.

Knowledge of the structural basis of protein interaction mechanisms is indispensable for the understanding of biological function. At the same time, protein-protein and protein-lipid interactions are important for conformational changes of glycoproteins during viral infection and assembly. These structural data enable the targeted synthesis and modification of small molecules of therapeutic importance. The Leibniz Graduate School is a collaboration between university and non-university institutions: Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Freie Universität Berlin, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin and Universität Potsdam.

centre Prof. Dr Bernd Reif Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie

biophysics, biomolecular processes, protein-protein interactions