Universities vie for DFG center

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has received nearly two dozen proposals from universities vying to be home to the foundation's sixth research center, according to the DFG.The foundation decided earlier this year that its next center would focus on either regenerative therapies or on cognitive technical systems, Anne Lipp, program officer of the DFG's Research Centres Unit, told The Scientist. The DFG then asked for proposals, setting a September deadline.In order to be a serious contender for a center, a university must already have a solid foundation in the proposed research area. "Our goal is to further strengthen already existing strengths," Lipp said. "The universities have to already have the basic infrastructure in place; the basic personnel has to be there."Twelve of the latest bids outlined plans for a cognitive technical systems center, and 10 were for a regenerative therapies center, Lipp said. The proposals now will be reviewed by two international panels, with each panel focusing on one of the two research areas to identify the three best proposals in their respective research areas.In January, the DFG Senate will decide whether the next research center will focus on regenerative therapies or on cognitive technical systems. After that decision is made, the three short-listed universities in the winning research category will be asked to submit full proposals, with a winner picked around October next year. The DFG began funding for the first three research centers in 2001—marine geosciences in Bremen, functional nanostructures in Karlsruhe, and experimental biomedicine in Würzburg. Since then, two more centers have been added—mathematics for key technologies in Berlin and molecular physiology of the brain in Göttingen. Lipp said that the DFG hoped to be funding a dozen or more centers by around 2010, adding that centers must be based at universities, but that they can collaborate with outside research institutes. DFG centers receive annual funding of €5 million for up to 12 years, enough for the chosen university to add about six new professorships and 50 to 70 other staff positions, as well as additional lab equipment and operations, such as travel and meetings. Each center is evaluated after the first 4 years of operation and then again 4 years later, Lipp said. At the end of the 12 years, funding for a center would be taken over by the university. Martin Lohse, chairman of the board of the Rudolf-Virchow-Center for Experimental Biomedicine at the Universtity of Würzburg, told The Scientist that the DFG program was helping to spark more research at German universities. Traditionally, much groundbreaking research in Germany has been conducted outside the university system, such as Max Planck Society and Helmholtz Association institutes—unlike the university-tilted systems in the United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and other nations.Establishing DFG research centers within universities is good for both students and professors, Lohse said, adding that new biomedicine undergraduate courses and a graduate study program have been added at the University of Würzburg. Asked about the benefit for professors, Lohse quipped: "It's good for researchers to be exposed to students' stupid questions." Lohse believes Germany could sustain 20 to 30 DFG research centers, which would trigger more interdisciplinary cooperation and make the whole system more stable. Although he is enthusiastic about the DFG research center program, Lohse conceded he was not totally satisfied. "We are on earth, not in heaven," he said. For example, he would like DFG administration of the system to be more flexible. Asked to cite an example of increased flexibility, he said: "That they would just give us a lump sum of money and say: 'Do something exciting with it.' And then ask us later how we spent it."

Universities vie for DFG center

Twenty-two universities want to host a new center in regenerative or cognitive research

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