Prestigious well-being related CRCs approved funding for second project phases at the University of Cologne

The CRCs 1211, Earth – Evolution at the Dry Limit, and 1218, Mitochondrial Regulation of Cellular Function, have received funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) for a second four-year project phase. Both projects, focussing on climate and the environment, and to health and ageing, respectively, are related to EUniWell’s research arenas.

Collaborative Research Centre 1211: Earth – Evolution at the Dry Limit explores the relationship between landscape development and the evolution of life. The first funding phase investigated the Chilean part of the Atacama Desert. The second phase, funded with ca. € 9 Million, will see research in the Namib Desert in Namibia. CRC 1211 is a joint project of the Universities of Cologne (Applicant Institution) and Bonn as well as RWTH Aachen University, and encompasses an international team of more than 80 scientists from different disciplines. As humanity faces climate change, the CRC contributes crucial research on global warming and increasing dry zones.

CRC 1218: Mitochondrial Regulation of Cellular Function researches the powerhouses of the cell, mitochondria, and how they influence activity, differentiation and survival of the cell. Its second project phase receives a funding of ca. € 9 Million. Given the crucial relevance of mitochondria research for well-being in an ageing society, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing have teamed up for this CRC with researchers from the University of Cologne, the University Hospital Cologne and the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research.