FAU achieves success with two collaborative research centers
DFG funding for semiconductor development and bowel cancer research
Major success for FAU: The German Research Foundation (DFG) has awarded funding for two new collaborative research centers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg – one in semiconductor research and the second in cancer research.
ChemPrint consortium aims to revolutionize the manufacturing of semiconductors
In the new collaborative research center (CRC) 1719 “ChemPrint – the next generation of printed semiconductors: Engineering on the atomic level using molecular surface chemistry”, researchers at FAU are investigating how to improve the manufacturing processes and quality of semiconductors under specific physical and chemical conditions. Semiconductor materials are used mainly in computers and mobile phones, but also in solar cells. The speaker of the CRC is Prof. Dr. Julien Bachmann from the Chair of Chemistry of Thin Film Materials.
The CRC is planning to develop printable semiconductor materials using tailored chemical synthesis and deposition processes. In contrast to conventional methods of deposition from the gas phase, the aim of this project is to develop a deposition process using a liquid solution under mild conditions. In this way, researchers hope to transfer the chemical syntheses that can usually be well controlled to surfaces. They want to find out which materials are suitable for this newly-developed chemical process, which defects can be expected in the regular structures and how they can be minimized, and which characteristics arise from the presence of defects or may even be suitable for specific purposes.
Improving the treatment of bowel cancer
Colorectal carcinoma, which is also known as bowel cancer, is one of the three most common types of cancer. And it can be cured, provided it is detected early and can be completely surgically removed. In more serious cases, immune therapies are considered a source of hope as they involve the body’s own defenses in the fight against the tumor. However, these types of treatments are promising in fewer than one in five cases of bowel cancer. How the potential of immune therapies can be used despite this is the subject of research in Collaborative Research Center TRR 417 “Cellular Communication in the Stroma of Colorectal Cancer: From Pathophysiology to Clinical Translation”. Researchers from FAU are collaborating with experts from the University of Frankfurt (coordinating university) and the University of Freiburg in the TRR.
Only a small amount of research related to bowel cancer has been conducted to date on the interplay between the development of tumors and the tumor microenvironment, i.e. the environment in which the tumor develops. This is something the CRC/Transregio hopes to change. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of this type of cancer in order to create a basis for new types of treatment. The tumor microenvironment is particularly important for a patient’s individual response to treatments. In the medium term, the aim is to set up a permanent center for bowel cancer research in Germany from the CRC/TRR.
More information:
Communications and Press
+49 9131 85 70229
presse@fau.de
Prof. Dr. Julien Bachmann
Chair of Chemistry of Thin Film Materials
+49 9131 85 70551
julien.bachmann@fau.de
Prof. Dr. med. Markus F. Neurath
Chair of Internal Medicine I
+ 49 9131 8535204
markus.neurath@uk-erlangen.de