Early career researchers

The Integrated School of Ocean Sciences (ISOS) is the central platform for doctoral researchers investigating marine science in Kiel.

The programme offers researchers and supervisors a framework for comprehensive and interdisciplinary support during their studies. A central aspect of the programme is doctoral supervision by at least two supervisors. In addition, doctoral researchers can receive financial support for conferences, apply for funding for small projects (so-called mini-proposals), and benefit from a wide range of different courses & events - all related to marine science. They can also broaden their scientific horizons with supplementary education, and familiarise themselves with different career options for after their doctoral studies.

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In order to understand the development of human societies, interactions between humans and their physical and perceived environment need to be recorded in detail.

This is demonstrated by the Graduate School "Human Development in Landscapes" at Kiel University through its numerous doctoral degree projects that have tackled and continue to tackle archaeological problems. While natural sciences describe environmental conditions in precise detail, cultural sciences and archaeology can offer important information and clues for scientific analysis.

More intensive links between academic disciplines, the growing need of doctoral researchers for analytical equipment and efficient infrastructure, but also the increasingly internationalised research landscape created the need for the establishment of a multidisciplinary graduate school (GS).

This school makes new research and communication structures available to our doctoral researchers and thus enables them to undertake innovative research. The school is part of the German Excellence Initiative.

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A new graduate school focussed on evolutionary biology has been established in Kiel and Plön, as a joint project by Kiel University, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, and the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR).

It is called the International Max Planck Research School for Evolutionary Biology (IMPRS), and provides doctoral researchers of evolutionary biology with an interactive forum for exchanging new ideas and research results.

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Within this Research Training Group we will study the environmental influences responsible for the development of complex, chronic diseases. Moreover, we will systematically examine the previously understudied interplay between the (micro-)environment and predisposing genetic factors. Our research is based on a highly interdisciplinary and technology-driven approach and involves scientists from many different countries.

Our results will help to define novel pathophysiological trigger factors and aid the development of innovative therapeutic approaches. Much of our work is based on mouse models, as these warrant a homogeneous and controlled modification of the environment; for example, different diets can be fed and the impact on the gut microbiome and inflammatory conditions measured. Having access to patients, we will validate our findings in the human model system, too.

Another focus of our Research Training Group is on the gut microbiome, an organ-like system that recently received a lot of attention due to its relevance in metabolism, health and disease, and due also to the avenue that it may be modified by means of pre- and probiotics.

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The treatment of patients with chronic brain diseases is mainly based on systemic drug treatments. Sufficiently large drug concentrations in the brain are often accompanied by side effects affecting other organs in the body. Neural implants, which allow localized and individualized therapy, are an alternative solution if they can satisfy the following requirements: they must be compact, biocompatible, resilient and highly flexible, particularly when used in kids and teens.

Defined, nano-scale, therapeutically active coatings as well as suitability of the implants for diagnostics with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can open up new prospects for novel therapies. In order to reach these goals, micro-structured, functional materials based on thin film technology will be investigated for innovative local treatment of epilepsies, brain tumors and vascular diseases. Material-controlled drug release and implant interactions with cells will initially be studied using cell cultures. Subsequently, the effect of the implants on specific structures and functions of the brain will be investigated in disease-related animal models by histological and in vivo approaches by MRI and functional tests (behavioral tests, electroencephalography).

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