Helmholtz Association Pledges Millions for MDC

The aim of these projects, which will be financed from the Initiative and Networking Fund of the President of the Helmholtz Association, Professor Jürgen Mlynek, is to provide PhD students with an improved and better-structured doctoral program. The Helmholtz Graduate School of Molecular Cell Biology at MDC will receive 3.6 million euros (600,000 euros per year); 1.8 million euros (300,000 euros per year) are earmarked for the Helmholtz International Research School in Molecular Neurobiology. The MDC is the only one of the 15 institutions of the Helmholtz Association to be awarded grants for two projects during this year’s round of applications.

Both Helmholtz doctoral programs at the MDC collaborate closely with the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Free University Berlin, and the Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP). The doctoral students who are accepted into these programs will not only obtain their scientific qualification but also additional key qualifications important for their future professional careers, such as communication and time management.

The Helmholtz Graduate School of Molecular Cell Biology will build on the international PhD program of the MDC and the Humboldt University Berlin, which has been in existence for five years. About a third of the 160 PhD students at MDC are studying under this program, which is coordinated by the cancer researcher Professor Achim Leutz. He has also been named spokesperson of the Helmholtz Graduate School, which will now become the umbrella organization for the different doctoral programs in order to harmonize structures and quality standards.

Professor Gary Lewin has been appointed spokesperson of the Helmholtz International Research School in Molecular Neurobiology. It comprises an association of 15 laboratories of the MDC, the Free University and the Charité. Here, doctoral students will study special topics in neurobiology concerning the development and function of the brain, utilizing newest molecular genetic methods.

Helmholtz graduate schools will also be established at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig and at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg. In addition, a Helmholtz research school will be established at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven.