International Leibniz Research School for Microbial and Biomolecular Interactions

Scientists at ILRS combine microbial natural product research with infection biology, particularly focusing on human-pathogenic fungi. In their natural habitat, microorganisms do not occur in isolation but live in close association with other organisms of different species and developmental stages. Their interactions can take many forms, ranging from mutual symbiosis to parasitic interactions. How these complex, multi-organismic networks are regulated by microbial communication is still poorly understood. We are interested in the production and ecological function of microbial natural products as well as the interactions between pathogenic microorganisms, particularly fungi, and the host. Consequently, we investigate the defence mechanisms the immune system uses against pathogens as well as the strategies employed by microorganisms to overcome these defence mechanisms and the molecules involved in these processes. We utilise our findings to develop new diagnostic methods and anti-infectives based on natural products. The ILRS PhD projects try to answer these intriguing questions with interdisciplinary approaches, combining methods of microbiology, natural product chemistry, biotechnology, immunobiology, bioinformatics and systems biology. The ILRS faculty is composed of professors and group leaders of different disciplines from all participating institutions forming a highly interactive network of scientific discourse and experimental work. The ILRS is part of the excellence graduate school "Jena School for Microbial Communication" (JSMC) which was established in 2006 as an umbrella organisation of three existing Research Training Groups in Jena. The JSMC is funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation.