The International Research Training Group GRK 1384 is formed by scientists from the Justus-Liebig University (Giessen), the Philipps-University (Marburg), The Russian Academy of Science and the M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University. Associated partners include scientists from the Institute of Biotechnology (Vilnius) and the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (Warsaw). Speaker on the German side is Prof. Peter Friedhoff, on the Russian side Prof. Tatiana Oretskaya.

The scientists were selected on the strength of their expertise in the following areas: molecular and cellular biology, bioinformatics and computational biology, enzymology, bioorganic chemistry, biophysical chemistry, and structural biology.
The International Research Training Group focuses on the training of doctoral students in the biochemistry of enzymes and multienzyme complexes acting on nucleic acids.
These enzymes are crucial for the copying, maintenance, repair, and expression of genetic information. Some of them are essential tools for gene technology, and a thorough understanding of these systems will certainly enable better use to be made of them. Malfunction of several of these enzymes is causally related to human diseases, in particular some forms of cancer; again, understanding their mechanism of action may eventually lead to new therapeutic concepts.
Our study and research programme will not only consider proteins as individual structures but also as components of larger networks or macromolecular machines.
With the array of interdisciplinary expertise present among the partners, we will make substantial progress in

• understanding target site location, recognition and initiation of catalysis by enzymes replicating, restricting, modifying and repairing DNA,
• uncovering structural and functional implications of the cooperation of subunits in multienzyme complexes involved in RNA synthesis, processing, translation and degradation - issues of central importance for all enzymes acting on nucleic acids.

The principal goal of our International Research Training Group is to attract dedicated doctoral students who are interested in learning how contemporary interdisciplinary approaches can be used to address important and timely questions about a subject of central importance in biochemistry and molecular biology, namely the enzymology of enzymes acting on nucleic acids.
Our network will offer them a unique opportunity to pursue their projects in an environment of research excellence provided by the experienced partners who have similar research interests and complementary expertise. It provides them with experience of working across disciplines which will enable them to appreciate the synergism that underlies productive interdisciplinary interactions. The goals of the network will be achieved by a programme of in- lab, out-of-lab and network-wide activities.
We believe that young researchers trained in our network will greatly benefit from our integrated interdisciplinary approach and will be well placed for contemporary academic and industrial research.