Automated Reasoning
Coordination: Georg Weissenbacher, TU Wien
Funding volume: €2.49 million
Electronic systems and, increasingly, artificial intelligence are becoming part of our everyday lives, with potentially enormous social consequences. How can we make sure that self-driving cars or AI-supported decisions in justice and medicine are reliable, error-free, and fair? The doctoral program Automated Reasoning aims to ensure the security of software and deep learning with the help of logic, machine reasoning, and automated analyses. It offers young researchers exciting research topics at the interface of IT security and artificial intelligence, international internships in leading research laboratories, intensive supervision, and the opportunity to work with excellent scientists.
Molecular Transport and Recognition
Coordination: Peter Pohl, Johannes Kepler University Linz
Funding volume: €2.49 million
How does a cell transport substances through its inner and outer membranes? How do factors like age or illness affect this process? Using the latest microscopy and spectroscopy techniques, students gain fascinating insights at the nano level. They make visible how cells use adjustable pores to pass substrates from one side to the other and how they analyze their environment. They use the latest microscopic techniques to investigate fundamental mechanisms and detect changes caused by disease or aging. The interdisciplinary program at the Johannes Kepler University Linz combines natural sciences and medicine, providing optimal preparation for careers in research and industry.
Biomolecular Technology of Protein Interactions
Coordination: Chris Oostenbrink, BOKU University
Funding volume: €2.49 million
Protein interactions are central to cellular processes and the development of biotechnological innovations. The doctoral program BIOTOPIA investigates interactions of proteins with other proteins, in their complex environment and with intracellular components. Twelve interdisciplinary projects will be supervised by leading researchers in molecular biology, cell biology, protein production, and molecular simulation. Building on the successful BioToP doctoral school at BOKU, BIOTOPIA offers excellent teaching and research, global networking and a dynamic scientific community – a unique platform for future experts in the molecular biosciences.
Anti-Infectives Drug Discovery - AIDD
Coordination: Judith Rollinger, University of Vienna
Funding volume: €2.49 million
Drug-resistant infections claim one life every 25 seconds worldwide – and the trend is rising. The AIDD program combines the expertise of a multidisciplinary team of researchers with the aim of identifying innovative drug candidates against two particularly dangerous pathogens, Candida sp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Through the use of artificial intelligence, state-of-the-art drug discovery methods, and expertise in natural products, the AIDD consortium at the University of Vienna offers a pioneering pharmaceutical education for a new generation of researchers to tackle the urgent challenges in the field of antibiotic resistance.
Alpine Geo- and Biodiversity During Environmental Changes
Coordination: Stefan Dötterl, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg
Funding volume: €2.49 million
Interactions between plants, animals, other organisms, water, climate, and the earth's surface are increasingly shaped by human intervention. For example, increasingly frequent landslides, flood events, and the decline in pollinators are threatening our very existence. The AlpsChange doctoral program now established at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg combines the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and history. It aims to train a new, interdisciplinary generation of scientists who can develop solutions to the biodiversity and climate crisis in order to ensure a sustainable future.
