Our Key Features
The International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) on Cellular Biophysics (IMPRS-CBP) is an international doctoral training program hosted by the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Goethe University Frankfurt, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and Frankfurt Institute of Advanced Studies. Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies the theories and methods of physics to understand biological phenomena. Our mission is to train graduate students to tackle one of the ultimate biological challenges: to gain a complete molecular-level understanding of the cell.
The Faculty of the IMPRS-CBP consists of about 30 highly committed principle investigators from four institutions: the Goethe University Frankfurt (GU), the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), the Frankfurt Institute of Advanced Studies (FIAS) and the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics (MPIBP). There are eight institutes associated with four faculties at GU involved the IMPRS-CBP. These institutes as well as the FIAS and MPIBP are located at the heart of “Science City Frankfurt Riedberg”, a high-performance center of the Rhine-Main knowledge region. On the Riedberg Campus, research is being conducted today on the chemical, biochemical and physical applications of tomorrow.
At JGU, two institutes associated with two faculties are involved in the IMPRS-CBP. Due to the geographical as well as thematic proximity between the research groups located in Frankfurt and Mainz, close collaborations and a vivid research environment have already been established between the two sites.
The interdisciplinary research setting allows students to network in an international community of scientific experts, establish collaborations and profit from an outstanding infrastructure with state-of-the-art facilities for in vitro structural biology (e.g. cryo-EM), mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), cellular imaging (E.g. cryo-ET), and advanced light microscopy.
The program offers training in concepts and techniques to explore the structure, function, and interactions of macromolecules, the regulation of cellular processes at the molecular and genome-wide levels, as well as the development of methods to image and model these processes. In addition, the curriculum covers a wide array of transferable skills and includes multi-step career mentoring, specifically aimed at preparing our doctoral students for the challenges of a professional career on the global market, whether that be in academia or industry.
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