KLS connected - the newsletter of Kiel Life Science

Dear KLS members,

Today I would like to bring to your attention the first issue of our new newsletter "KLS connected". In future, we want to inform you about current developments in the life sciences in Kiel. The newsletter will reach you regularly in future and is also intended as a communication platform for mutual exchange. It is aimed at researchers in the life sciences, as well as colleagues in other areas of research and the general university public. As an entire university, we are repositioning ourselves in research, teaching and the central cross-cutting themes in order to survive in the competition among excellent science locations in the coming years and to expand our success. Read the guest article by our president. A central pillar of this development is the research focus Kiel Life Science, for example with its hotspot in evolutionary research, which is unique in Germany. This is the focus of this first issue of our new newsletter.

New research results from the RTG TransEvo point to future strategies in the fight against the antibiotic crisis: The rapid increase in resistance of bacterial pathogens could mean that in the near future bacterial infections that are usually harmless will be difficult or impossible to treat. TransEvo members from Professor Hinrich Schulenburg‘s (Kiel University) and Professor Stefan Niemann‘s (FZB) groups have now provided important research results that highlight the potential of sequential antibiotic therapy. Sequential treatment involves switching between different antibiotics in a short time, which could help reduce the spread of resistance. First author Aditi Batra from Professor Hinrich Schulenburg's research group Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics investigated in her doctoral thesis how, contrary to common practice, the rapid sequential administration of antibiotics affects the development of resistance in the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa - with promising results.

Since last year it has been clear that the new research centre "Center for Fundamental Research in Translational Evolutionary Biology" (CeTEB) at Kiel University will be built. The federal government and the state of Schleswig-Holstein are each investing up to 58 million euros in the new building. The construction of the ultra-modern new research building at Kiel University with capacities for around 140 researchers and staff, including extensive new research infrastructures, is to start next year. The almost 5,000 m² building will be built by 2025 on the Bremerskamp site as part of the new urban quarter 'Kiel.Science.City' in the immediate vicinity of Kiel University’s Biology Centre and will offer numerous KLS members a new place to work.

At the joint conference of the research initiatives Clinician Scientist Program in Evolutionary Medicine (CSEM), Leibniz Science Campus Evolutionary Medicine of the Lung (EvoLUNG) and DFG Research Training Group (GRK) Translational Evolutionary Research (TransEvo) entitled "Evolution by the Sea", researchers from the Kiel life sciences met in person for the first time in months. Around 75 scientists from the various collaborations at and with the participation of Kiel University were thus able to resume the all-important personal networking and discussed their respective areas of expertise in evolutionary research. The Kiel researchers want to counteract the consequences of human intervention in natural selection by researching the underlying evolutionary principles and developing strategies based on them, for example in evolutionary medicine, environmental protection or agriculture. The researchers' common goal is to find new approaches to solving major societal challenges such as the antibiotics crisis, the conservation of natural resources or food security.

Another part of the KLS promotion of young researchers is also provided by the Collaborative Research Centre 1182: For several years, interviews have been conducted there with international experts in the field of host-microbe research in order to provide a broad and differentiated overview of the numerous facets of this field of research. This extensive video series has recently been expanded to include an additional focus on international young researchers. The CRC 1182 invites junior scientists to talk to them about their research and career paths in order to inspire young colleagues. The latest contributions come from Dr Naama Geva-Zatorsky and Dr Tyler Carrier.

As part of the KLS promotion of young researchers, a new activity for digital networking of young scientists was created at the height of the Corona pandemic: For the first time, the Collaborative Research Centre 1182 awarded special creativity prizes in the categories "Art and Science Communication" and "Novel Scientific Ideas", the CRC 1182 Creativity Awards. The awards are intended to honour the creativity of young researchers whose work addresses important CRC 1182 research topics and inspires the community. This year, Lara Schmittmann and Lucas Moitinho-Silva received the new awards.

At this year retreat the research focus honoured its most successful young researchers of the past year with the Kiel Life Science Postdoc Awards: The 2021 award winners are Dr Lukas Pfeifer from Birgit Classens group at the Institute of Pharmacy and Dr Michael Raatz from Arne Traulsen’s at the Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology. Pfeifer receives the award for best postdoctoral researcher in non-medical research for his investigations into the structures of plant cell walls and possible potential applications in medicine. Raatz is honoured for his work in theoretical population ecology and its transferability to cancer research in the medical category. The annual call is tailored to young scientists in the life sciences who have already distinguished themselves with outstanding achievements in one of the institutions of Kiel University associated with KLS and its partner institutions.

Another part of the KLS promotion of young researchers is also provided by the Collaborative Research Centre 1182: For several years, interviews have been conducted there with international experts in the field of host-microbe research in order to provide a broad and differentiated overview of the numerous facets of this field of research. This extensive video series has recently been expanded to include an additional focus on international young researchers. The CRC 1182 invites junior scientists to talk to them about their research and career paths in order to inspire young colleagues. The latest contributions come from Dr Matt Agler and Dr Tyler Carrier.

Kiel University is globally connected, cosmopolitan and at the same time firmly anchored in the city and region as a central player in science, business and society. Our university has been able to celebrate important successes in recent years. On this basis, the University Board is pursuing the goal of further developing Kiel University together with its members into one of the 15 excellent and internationally visible universities in Germany.

The City of Kiel will host a new centre for science communication research: The Kiel Science Communication Network (KSCN) will initially be dedicated to exemplary health topics from the KLS research focus. Its aim is to share scientific findings with the public in a comprehensible and effective way and to research this process at the same time. The participants are relying on an interdisciplinary network that combines the expertise of the Kiel University, the IPN and the Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts joined together as the KSCN. The network wants to investigate how complex information can be visualised in a tangible way and, together with citizens, develop new formats tailored to target groups. The collaborative project will be funded by the Volkswagen Foundation with around four million euros over the next five years.

This year’s Kiel Life Science retreat place on November 11 and 12 2021 at the Hotel Waldschlösschen in Schleswig.