idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Nachrichten, Termine, Experten

Grafik: idw-Logo
Science Video Project
idw-Abo

idw-News App:

AppStore

Google Play Store



Instance:
Share on: 
05/05/2015 14:16

Gutenberg Research College welcomes new members and bestows the 2015 Gutenberg Research Award

Petra Giegerich Kommunikation und Presse
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

    Focus on supporting and creating a network of excellent researchers

    It is the highlight of the year for the Gutenberg Research College (GRC): the evening ceremony held to induct the new GRC fellows and to bestow the annual Gutenberg Research Award to internationally renowned researchers. The festivities on Monday evening on the campus of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) once again put a spotlight on the outstanding performance of researchers and the successes they have enjoyed. "Since it was established in 2007, the Gutenberg Research College has been entrusted with nurturing individual excellence and thereby reinforcing existing and pre-eminent academic areas while also helping to launch new and promising fields of research," said Professor Dr. Matthias Neubert, Director of the GRC and the head of the Theoretical High Energy Physics group. "Thus we are very pleased today to greet the new GRC fellows and to bestow the 2015 Gutenberg Research Award to two outstanding international researchers." The prize, endowed with EUR 10,000 each, was awarded to the Japanese polymer chemist Professor Kazunori Kataoka and the theologian Professor Kwok Pui Lan, who teaches in the USA.

    Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz founded the GRC in 2007 with the aim of promoting the university's core academic strengths and supporting promising new fields of research. Individual researchers can also receive support in the form of fellowships. This year, the GRC welcomed three new fellows.

    Molecular biologist Professor Krishnaraj Rajalingam is conducting research at the Institute of Immunology at the Mainz University Medical Center to better understand molecular signaling, which controls cell processes like pre-programmed cell death, cell migration, or cell differentiation. The work also encompasses investigating the mechanisms underlying the faulty regulation of cell signal paths. Research results should help pave the way for the development of new treatments for autoimmune diseases, neurological conditions, and cancer. In July 2014, Rajalingam received a prestigious Heisenberg Professorship for Cellular Biology, funded by the German Research Foundation.

    Neurophysiologist Professor Jochen Roper works at the University Medical Center of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and is a member of the Rhine-Main Neuroscience Network (rmn²). His pioneering research into dopaminergic neurons in the central cortex helped to improve the understanding of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. He will continue his research with his colleagues in Mainz and Frankfurt to find out more about important brain functions.

    Cornelia Schweppe, Professor of Social Pedagogy at Mainz University, established the pioneering research field of transnational social support at JGU’s Institute of Education. The research of the internationally renowned social pedagogue covers topics ranging from transnational support, migration, aging, and poverty to the professionalization of social work. As a GRC fellow, Schweppe will research cross-border support processes for elderly people in an age of demographic change.

    The Gutenberg Research Award 2015 was conferred on two outstanding researchers. Professor Kazunori Kataoka from Tokyo University in Japan is among the most renowned polymer chemists in the world. In particular, he has gained international acclaim for his work with polymeric micelles to help transport medication in tumor therapy. Professor Kwok Pui Lan, theologian at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of the leading representatives of post-colonial feminist theology, within which she actively advocates the revitalization of Christianity and the promotion of inter-religious dialogue.

    photo:
    http://www.uni-mainz.de/bilder_presse/GFK_fellows_research_award_2015.jpg
    (fltr) GRC Director Professor Matthias Neubert, Professor Kazunori Kataoka, Professor Kwok Pui Lan, Professor Jochen Roeper, Professor Cornelia Schweppe, Professor Krishnaraj Rajalingam, and University President Professor Georg Krausch
    photo: Simon Büttner

    Further information:
    Professor Dr. Matthias Neubert
    Director of the Gutenberg Research College (GRC)
    Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
    55099 Mainz, GERMANY
    phone +49 6131 39-23681
    fax +49 6131 39-24611
    e-mail: matthias.neubert@uni-mainz.de
    http://www.gfk.uni-mainz.de/eng/


    More information:

    http://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/18259_ENG_HTML.php - press release ;
    http://www.gfk.uni-mainz.de/eng/index.php - Gutenberg Research College (GRC)


    Images

    Criteria of this press release:
    Journalists, Scientists and scholars, all interested persons
    interdisciplinary
    transregional, national
    Contests / awards, Personnel announcements
    English


     

    Help

    Search / advanced search of the idw archives
    Combination of search terms

    You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.

    Brackets

    You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).

    Phrases

    Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.

    Selection criteria

    You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).

    If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).