INTRODUCTION
Carbohydrate-containing biomolecules are increasingly recognized as information-bearing molecules with highly important signaling and regulatory functions within and between cells and organisms. Many of these are due to direct interactions of the respective carbohydrates with cellular proteins, such as receptors or enzymes. Molecular and biochemical aspects of such carbohydrate/protein-interactions in the cellular context are to be characterized in detail by our International Research Training Group on MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR GLYCO-SCIENCES (MCGS).
The focus will be on structure/function-relationships, i.e. on elucidating the structural requirements responsible for the interaction of glycans with their target proteins. The German groups are focusing on the analytical and functional aspects of the carbohydrate moieties (e.g. identifying potential protein binding domains of glycans), while the Indian groups are mainly dealing with the protein aspects (e.g. identifying potential carbohydrate binding sites of specific agglutinins). Each doctoral project will be jointly investigated by an Indian and a German group. This will create a basic understanding of structure/function-relationships at a molecular level and, thus, will allow us to eventually develop, validate, and apply the tools needed to exploit the biotechnological potential of glyco-structures for novel knowledge-driven applications.
MCGS convenes a group of internationally recognized research teams from biology, chemistry, and medicine, initiating an interdisciplinary and intercultural approach for the doctoral candidates’ training and education. MCGS will accept candidates with different degrees such as Bachelor, Master, Diplom, or federal exam, in different disciplines of natural sciences, including applied sciences such as biotechnology, pharmacy, medicine, pharmacology, agriculture, veterinary, food, and material sciences, from a competitive pool of international applicants.
The MCGS study programm will offer a basic Lecture cum Seminar on glyco-sciences, and three-weeks Summer and Winter Schools followed by one week Excursions, individual Technical Workshops and two Enabling Skills Modules. MCGS will organise bi-annual MCGS Network Symposia. At its stationary size, MCGS will comprise ca. 40 doctoral and post-doctoral students advised by 18 scientists, with half of the students and scientists from Germany, half from India.
