Newsroom

Researchers led by Peter Lenart and Monica Gobran have discovered a previously unknown function of the protein kinase Plk1: It regulates the timely onset of cell division. When the protein is inhibited, cells start dividing many hours later. The new findings may help to improve approaches for cancer therapies. more

A team led by Hauke Hillen has shown how the genetic material of the Nipah virus replicates in infected cells. The virus can cause fatal encephalitis in humans. Using cryo-electron microscopy, the team was able to visualize the three-dimensional structure of the viral “copying machine”.
  more

A woman's egg cells are already formed in her body before she is born. However, with increasing age, DNA damage accumulates in the cells. Researchers have revealed why the cell’s own repair mechanisms do not fix this damage. more

A Göttingen research team has discovered a molecular “spring” that opens ion channels in the sensory hair cells of the ear. Their findings shed new light on our understanding of the sense of hearing and the function of ion channels. more

A team of researchers led by Stefan Hell has increased the resolution in fluorescence microscopy by a factor of 30 without switching fluorescent molecules sequentially into a fluorescent and a non-fluorescent state. By using an illumination beam with a zero-intensity stripe (node) in the beam they were able to separate constantly emitting molecules down to distances of a few nanometers. more

Researchers have succeeded in visualizing the entire process of ovulation in mouse follicles in real-time for the first time. The new live imaging technique allows to study ovulation with high spatial and temporal resolution and opens up new possibilities in fertility research. more

A team led by Steffen Sahl and Stefan Hell from the MPI for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen and the MPI for Medical Research in Heidelberg has succeeded in using the MINFLUX microscopy method to measure distances within biomolecules down to 1 nanometer, with Ångström precision. more

Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia. Researchers have now shown: It is not only nerve cells that produce the protein beta-amyloid, which clumps together to form harmful plaques in the brain of patients, damaging nerve cells. Glial cells also produce the protein and contribute to plaque formation. more

The “power plants” of living cells, the mitochondria, provide the necessary energy, among other things Mitochondria produce some of the proteins required for this themselves – with the help of special protein factories, the mitoribosomes. Researchers in Göttingen have now deciphered how the human cell assembles the mitoribosomes, which consist of proteins and RNA, in a modular fashion. more

Female mammals, including humans, are born with all of their egg cells. Some egg cells therefore survive for several decades – and need to remain functional over this long time. Extremely long-lived proteins in the ovary seem to play an important role in this and may help maintain fertility for as long as possible. more

For life on Earth, it is essential that plants carry out photosynthesis and produce oxygen and chemical energy with the help of sunlight. Researchers have now succeeded for the first time in visualizing the copying machine of chloroplasts, the RNA polymerase PEP, in high-resolution 3D.  more

Lipids play an important role in the development of Alzheimer's dementia. However, more details about this process were previously unknown. A team of scientists from Göttingen, Jülich, and Düsseldorf has now determined the atomic structures of lipid-fibril complexes for the first time. (in German) more

The waste system of living cells, the proteasome, not only shreds disused or damaged proteins. It also supports the immune system in recognizing virally infected or cancerous cells by producing so-called immunopeptides. Researchers headed by Juliane Liepe have now simulated protein degradation by the proteasome in the laboratory and identified peptides thereby produced. In future, the resulting data could help predict immunopeptides and develop new vaccines against infectious diseases or cancer. more

A team led by Sonja Lorenz has visualized the cell’s labeling machine, the ubiquitin ligase HACE1, bound to an important target protein in full length in 3D. The researchers were thus able to uncover important mechanisms of how HACE1 recognizes its target proteins and how this process is regulated. more

Whether we stay healthy or become seriously ill is determined by our genes. The folding of our genome also has a significant influence on this, as the 3D genome organization regulates which genes are switched on and off. Researchers led by Marieke Oudelaar and Elisa Oberbeckmann at our MPI have now succeeded in recreating the 3D folding of the yeast genome in the lab and deciphering the underlying mechanisms. more

At the Future Day, around 70 school students explored the diverse fields of work at our institute. more

Nine renowned scientists will present their new non-fiction books on current topics such as artificial intelligence and climate change in Göttingen’s Paulinerkirche from October 18 to 27 as part of this year’s scientific lecture series at the Göttinger Literaturherbst. (in German) more

Guests from politics, industry, and science joined the institute to celebrate the construction of the new tower 7 at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences. (in German) more

About 90 girls and boys get to know different areas of work at our institute. more

The new building will provide space for three departments and replace tower 6, which is in need of refurbishment. Preparatory work is currently underway to set up the construction site. The actual construction phase should start in November 2024 and be completed by July 2027. The state of Lower Saxony supports the new building with 34 million euros from zukunft.niedersachsen. The total costs will be about 40 million euros. more

From October 27 to November 5, renowned researchers and authors will report on their exciting findings in astronomy, biology, the humanities, and social sciences in the scientifc lecture series Wissenschaftsreihe beim Göttinger Literaturherbst. The lectures in the Paulinerkirche in Göttingen begin at 7 pm. (in German) more

For the fourth time, scientists from the four Max Planck Institutes in Göttingen will visit secondary schools in the city on January 26. There, they report on their daily work and provide unique insights into current research topics. (in German) more

The former Managing Director of the caesar Research Center (since 2022 MPI for the Neurobiology of Behavior - caesar) will continue to research on how living cells process signals in Göttingen with an emeritus group. His team wants to understand how cells perceive stimuli and respond physiologically. (in German) more

The exhibition “Glanzlichter” (“Highlights”) promises a reunion with the artists who have presented their works in the series Kunst am Fassberg over the past 20 years. The opening ceremony takes place on Saturday, October 22 at 4 pm. (in German) more

From October 28 to November 6, internationally renowned researchers and authors will report in the scientifc lecture serious Wissenschaftsreihe beim Göttinger Literaturherbst on current challenges of our time − such as the development of vaccines, the shaping of the energy transition, migration, and environmental protection. The lectures in the Göttingen Paulinerkirche begin at 7 pm. (in German) more

On January 1, 2022, the former Max Planck Institutes (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry and for Experimental Medicine in Göttingen merged to form our new institute. Last Friday, we celebrated the foundation with high-ranking guests from politics, industry, and science. (in German) more

The Society’s Senate unanimously appointed the Managing Director of our institute as new President-elect for the term of office from 2023 to 2029. He will take over the role in June 2023 on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Max Planck Society in Göttingen. more

The Max Planck Institutes for Biophysical Chemistry and Experimental Medicine have merged as of January 1, 2022. The new Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences will cover a much broader spectrum of research, thus promoting disciplinary diversity and collaboration. With a total of 16 departments and more than 25 research groups, the new MPI will be the largest institute in the Max Planck Society.
  more

The Max Planck Society is funding the International Max Planck Research School for Genome Science for another six years. The PhD program combines experimental and computational methods to train young scientists in the field of genome research (in German). more

On October 18, the institute's biotope project BioDiversum was inaugurated. Guest of honor was the well-known ornithologist and conservationist Peter Berthold, who even in his old age never tires of promoting his heartfelt mission: a conservation concept that also works in our intensively used and spoiled landscape. more

Prime Minister Stephan Weil presents the award to the physicist for his achievements and contributions in the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). (in German) more

Stefan Hell receives the highest award from the state of Lower Saxony for his many years of scientific achievements and his outstanding contribution to the research landscape in Lower Saxony. (in German) more

Frauke Alves and her team at NanoDrug Delivery GmbH have won the Lower Saxony Innovation Award in the category “Knowledge and Technology Transfer”. The spin-off from the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, the University Medical Center Göttingen, and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology develops so-called nanoparticles that transport drugs precisely into tumor tissue, for example. (in German) more

Alec Wodtke, Liv Hornekær, Varun Verma, and Peter Saalfrank receive a Synergy Grant from the European Research Council worth 12 million euros over six years for their research project IRASTRO. more

Carpenter Miriam Fischer receives the Apprenticeship prize for outstanding achievements during her training. (in German) more

Ida Marie Astad Jentoft and Panagiotis Poulis from our institute and Yuto Bekki from the MPI for Solar System Research receive the Otto Hahn Medal for outstanding achievements in their dissertations. Jentoft is also honored with the Otto Hahn Award. more

Markus Zweckstetter, research group leader at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases Göttingen and at our institute, has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant. He will use the approximately 2.5 million euros to research the biomolecular mechanisms involved in Alzheimer’s disease. (Press release by the DZNE) more

The Louis-Jeantet Foundation honors our Director for discovering a new kind of biological matter that acts as a highly selective barrier to control central transport pathways in the cell. He has made groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of the processes by which macromolecules are transported into and out of the cell nucleus, the foundation said. more

Once again, trainees from various fields of work at the MPI for Multidisciplinary Sciences receive the Max Planck Society’s annual apprenticeship prize, worth 750 euros. Lin Cao, Lili Dederer, Niko Freter, Lucas Majora, and Jakob Suderland are being honored for their outstanding achievements during their now completed training. (in German) more

The European Research Council (ERC) is funding the three Göttingen Campus academics Hauke Hillen, Marieke Oudelaar, and Saskia Limbach with an ERC Starting Grant of about 1.5 million euros each for a period of five years. more

The National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina honors its member Jürgen Troe with the Cothenius Medal for his outstanding scientific life's achievements in the field of chemical reaction kinetics. (in German) more

Constanze Depp and Dmitriy Borodin receive the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society for excellence in their dissertations. Borodin is also honored with the Otto Hahn Award for the exceptional quality of his research, Depp additionally receives the Peter Hans Hofschneider Prize. The research organization presented the awards at its annual meeting in Göttingen on June 21. more

Patrick Cramer shares the prestigious award in the life sciences with Eva Nogales from the University of California, Berkeley. Both scientists have made significant contributions to elucidating gene transcription, one of the fundamental processes to life, through the lens of structural biology. more

Aljaz Godec. leader of the Mathematical bioPhysics research group, receives a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The competition for the funding is fierce: The ERC selected only 371 of 2,222 applications in this round. more

Stefan Hell is awarded the prize together with BioNTech scientists Uğur Şahin, Özlem Türeci, Christoph Huber, and Katalin Karikó. The physicist succeeded in observing living cells at the molecular level using the novel super-resolution microscopy, the foundation said about its decision to honor Hell. (in German) more