Collaborative Research Centers

Collaborative Research Center 1436 -
neuronal Resources of Cognition

At the end of 2020, the German Research Foundation (DFG) approved the establishment and funding of the Collaborative Research Center SFB 1436 "Neuronal Resources of Cognition" at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases at the Magdeburg site and at the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology Magdeburg. Starting January 1, 2021, more than 40 scientists and beyond in a total of 22 individual projects will investigate the potential of the human brain and which neurobiological processes prevent it from exploiting it. The DFG funding for the Neuroscience Site Magdeburg hereby amounts to around 14 million euros.

Magdeburg as an international neuroscientific stronghold has achieved further acknowledgement by introducing SFB 779, which is considered one of the early successes of the cross-faculty institution Center for Behavioral Brain Science (CBBS). CBBS supports SFB 779 specifically to further the interdisciplinary collaboration and to aid in improving the chances for a renewal of external funding. To this date, total contributions of CBBS to SFB 779 amount to 1.9 million Euros.

Collaborative Research Center 854 –
molecular organization of cellular
communication in the immune system

The German Research Foundation (DFG) agreed to the establish and fund the Collaborative Research Center 854 - molecular organization of cellular communication in the immune system at Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg (OvGU). In the funding period of 2010-2014, the SFB will receive a total of 9.3 million Euros in DFG funding for interdisciplinary research projects. The Chair University is OvGU with Chairman Professor Dr. Burkhart Schraven and further funding was accredited to the Free University Berlin. The project is in collaboration with the Helmholtz-Center for infectious disease research in Braunschweig and the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology in Magdeburg.

Combinatorial NeuroImaging Core Facility

The DFG approved the establishment and funding of the “Combinatorial Neuroimaging (CNI)” Core Facility at the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology Magdeburg in 2012. The CNI Core Facility, which was instated under the direction of Dr. André Brechmann, Prof. Henning Scheich and Dr. Werner Zuschratter provides a platform for state-of-the-art techniques for macro-, meso-, and microscopic imaging. The scientific focus is in integrative combination of these techniques from the molecular to the systemic level in order to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of learning and memory processes.

STIMULATE research campus

On January 30^th 2013 the STIMULATE research Campus (Solution Centre for Image Guided Local Therapies) for innovative medicinal technology was opened at OVGU in attendance of State Secretary Cornelia Quennet-Thielen of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the former science minister of Saxony-Anhalt, Prof. Dr. Birgitta Wolff, representatives of the state capital, and Siemens AG Healthcare representatives.

Dementia Research

With increasing age, the risk of neurodegenerative diseases grows significantly. In Germany, approximately one million people above the age of 65 are currently suffering from the effects of dementia, and their numbers are inceasing steadily.

Given the demographic change, dementia research is one of the most important medical research areas of the future. In 2008, the Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research (IKND) was therefore founded at the Medical School of Magdeburg. Here, among other things, the mechanisms of higher cognitive brain functions, such as memory, motivation, goal-directed behavior, decision making and behavioral control are studied.