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Prof. Klemens Rottner from the Institute of Cell and Neurobiology at Technische Universität Braunschweig and head of the research group “Molecular Cell Biology” at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) has been awarded a Synergy Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). In the project called DRACHE (“Development & Regulation of Actin Cytoskeleton Homeostasis across Eukarya”), which has received funding of about 10 million euros, he is collaborating with two researchers from the United Kingdom and the USA to investigate how cells build up and maintain the necessary reservoir required for the continuous formation of essential actin filaments.

12.11.2026

HZI Campus

Prof. Tobias Gulder and Dr. Angela Sester are examining cultures of cyanobacteria.

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Researchers at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) are participating in the new European research project AIMARIA (Accelerating Innovation in Marine AI-powered Bioprospecting). The enormous biosynthetic potential of marine microorganisms has been insufficiently explored to date. The project’s goal is to systematically harness this potential for the development and production of bioactive natural products and enzymes. The 48-month project began on September 1, 2026, and is funded with approximately six million euros, of which about ten percent will go to HIPS. It brings together research institutions and industry partners from across Europe and New Zealand.

12.11.2026

HIPS

Microscopic image of Streptomyces barkulensis subsp. lavasanensis

News

In a close collaboration, researchers from the Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures and from the department “Microbial Drugs” at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) have discovered two previously unknown natural products. Lavasamycin A and B are produced by the bacterium Streptomyces barkulensis subsp. lavasanensis, which was isolated from a soil sample collected in Lavasan, Iran, and characterized as a new subspecies at the DSMZ. The findings have been published in the renowned journal Journal of Natural Products.

03.11.2026

HZI Campus

Group photo of 18 people in formal attire, standing in three rows on a staircase in front of the entrance to a modern building

News

The Braunschweig Centre for Systems Biology (BRICS) is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Since its foundation, this interdisciplinary and internationally oriented research center has been bringing together researchers from the Life Sciences, Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering. Together, they are working to gain a better understanding of complex biological processes. In doing so, BRICS brings together the scientific expertise of four partner institutions: Technische Universität Braunschweig, the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), the German National Metrology Institute (PTB), and the Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH (DSMZ).

30.10.2026

BRICS

News

Natural products produced by microorganisms are a promising source of new drugs. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and its Saarbrücken-based site, the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), have now discovered a new family of such compounds, elucidated their unusual biosynthesis, and developed a way to produce them synthetically. They also found that this class of compounds binds specifically to a human protein involved in the development of cancer. The findings were published in two thematically linked studies in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

26.10.2026

HIPS

HZI Campus

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From October 2026 to July 2027, Prof. Irah King, from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, will conduct research at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg, a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in cooperation with Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU). His stay is supported by the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The award is endowed with 60,000 euros.

22.10.2026

HIRI

HZI in the media

... Technischen Universität Braunschweig, Forschungsgruppenleiter am Helmholtz Zentrum für Infektionsforschung.

Nach seiner Promotion über ...

09.11.2026

Radio38

WDR am 05.11.2026: Vitamine sind lebenswichtig. Viele greifen deshalb zu Kapseln, Pulvern und Brausetabletten, um mit einer Extraportion nachzuhelfen.

Das Geschäft boomt: Hersteller versprechen mehr Energie, ein stärkeres Immunsystem, gesünderes Altern und Schutz vor Krankheiten

06.11.2026

ARD Mediathek

Jörg Vogel, Direktor des Helmholtz-Instituts für RNA-basierte Infektionsforschung und Sprecher der Leopoldina-Arbeitsgruppe RNA-basierte ...

04.11.2026

Tagesschau

... Team der MHH beteiligen sich das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, das Fraunhofer-Institut für Toxikologie und ...

04.11.2026

Deutsches Ärzteblatt

... leitete er eine Forschungsgruppe am Helmholtz-Institut für RNA-basierte Infektionsforschung (HIRI) in Würzburg.

Vorbeugen - ...

02.11.2026

Management & Krankenhaus

"Trump ist eine Bedrohung für die Demokratie und Freiheit. Eine Rückkehr in die USA ist beruflich keine Option mehr", so Biologin Dr. Elsa Anderson. Forschenden droht in den USA in der zweiten Amtszeit von Donald Trump der Verlust ihrer wissenschaftlichen Freiheit, sie suchen des

02.11.2026

arte

... nach dem Saarland benannt.

Seit gut drei Jahren läuft das vom Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische Forschung ...

02.11.2026

Tagesschau

... ist Leiterin der Abteilung Epidemiologie am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) und Mitglied der Ständigen Impfkommission ...

30.10.2026

Focus Online

von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen und des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung zwei bislang unbekannte Naturstoffe entdeckt. Die

30.10.2026

Bionity.COM

Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and its Saarland University partner site, the Helmholtz Institute for

27.10.2026

Scienmag Science Magazine

experimental and modeling study led by scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig. The researchers found that

26.10.2026

Bioengineer.org

... am Helmholtz Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) und dessen Saarbrücker Standort, dem Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische ...

26.10.2026

Verband Deutscher Biologen e.V.

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HZI in the media

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