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Fostering Interdisciplinarity and Cross-University Exchange in Research: The FCMH “Experimentation Spaces” Programme

 

We all know: Innovative ideas emerge where disciplines intersect, where familiar paths are left behind, and where new perspectives are explored. But rarely are the necessary resources ready at hand. With its “Experimentierräume” (Experimentation Spaces), FCMH supports outstanding researchers in developing highly innovative, cross-university projects that bring together expertise from different disciplines, institutions, and types of higher education to best address the key challenges of our time.

The program provides researchers from the universities of the FCMH the needed support to test new research approaches, explore feasibility, and gain experience with novel methods and equipment. By fostering collaboration across the FCMH partner institutions, the Experimentierräume strengthen interdisciplinary exchange, enable the formation of new research networks, and create fertile ground for forward-looking, creative research.

The Project EPIC-CAM – A Prime Example of Cooperation at the FCMH

The EPIC-CAM Project Team, from left to right: Dr. Antje M. Richter, Prof. Dr. Cornelia Sigges, and PD Dr. Jarmila Jedelská

As one of the most recent projects which has been selected in the “Experimentation Spaces” Programme, EPIC-CAM (short for: 3R-compliant CAM model for investigating the effect of the epi-drug guadecitabine using epigenome) not only forms the foundation for groundbreaking new research, it stands as a prime example of interdisciplinary and cross-university cooperation.

The project brings together a broad range of fields, approaches, and expertise from all three universities of the FCMH, forming the ideal network of partners for the challenge at hand:

“In the EPIC-CAM project, we are developing a new way to investigate epigenetic mechanisms in renal cancer cells by combining an in-ovo tumor model with high-resolution DNA methylation analysis. The project brings together researchers from the three universities of the Forschungscampus Mittelhessen, who work closely across disciplinary boundaries,” Dr. Antje M. Richter explains.

 

In the project EPIC-CAM a chicken-egg model helps to understand how epigenetic cancer drugs work.

Dr. Antje M. Richter at Justus-Liebig-University Giessen leads the epigenetic analyses and the experimental validation. Prof. Dr. Cornelia Sigges at the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen - University of Applied Sciences is responsible for bioinformatic analysis. The in-ovo experiments are carried out at the University of Marburg under the direction of PD Dr. Jarmila Jedelská, where pharmaceutical technology and imaging-based assessment of tumor growth come together.

In these three interconnected dimensions, Dr. Antje M. Richter notes, "the project also actively involves early-career researchers at all three universities to strengthen research-oriented teaching and offer hands-on training in an interdisciplinary environment."

For the researchers involved in the project, the funding is well allocated, and the direction is clear as Dr. Antje M. Richter underlines:

“Together, we are working toward a scalable platform that will improve how epigenetic changes in tumor cells can be analyzed. The tools and data generated in EPIC-CAM will support our future funding activities and help us continue to expand our collaboration to additional tumor models and further omics technologies.”

Other projects in the "Experimental Spaces" program span a wide range of disciplines and questions

  • EPICURE - Epigenetic Editing for Inhibition of Cancer Using RNA-based EpiEdit
  • Facial Expressions of Central Bankers and the Response of Financial Markets
  • MAREB - Resolving the where and when of math and reading in the human brain
  • PaM - Planet as Method
  • MoSiPa - Monte Carlo Simulations of Radiation Effects in Particle Therapy
  • Antigen-Antibody Interaction in Epithelial Autoimmune Disease
  • EpiCure4C - Epigenetic Editing by plant based glycosylase for Inhibition of Cancer using RNAbased EpiEdit_ for Collaboration and Technology Transfer
  • Aggressive Aesthetics, Aesthetic Aggression: Issues of the Satirical
  • Proteases in the Myometrium and Endometrium as Diagnostic and Therapeutic Target Molecules (PROMINEND)
  • X4Neuro – XAI for Digital Neuropathology
  • Literacy in Post-Migrant Society (LiPS)
  • swAMPy – A Scalable Workflow for AMP Discovery
  • Role of the TRPM3 Channel in LPS-Induced 'Sickness Behavior'
  • Investigations into the Contribution of RNA to the Dynamic Formation and Dissociation of NF-κB Protein Complexes
  • Bioeconomic Approaches for the Development of Economical Insect Cell Culture Media (InMed)
  • Testing of Railway Ties with AI-Supported Acoustic Emission Analysis
  • ANTIBAM-MS (ANtibiotic Targeting of Innovative BamA scaffolds using native MS)
  • First Genome-Scale Metabolic Modeling for Understanding HMPV-Host Interactions
  • PaCo - packaging signals in coronaviral replication
  • Optical Imaging System for Assessing the Quality of Laparoscopic Vessel Sealing (OPTI-Q)
  • Verbal Politeness in the Acquisition and Use of German as a Foreign/Second Language: Prorodic Routines and Linguistic Means
  • EPIC-CAM - 3R-compliant CAM model for investigating the effect of the epi-drug guadecitabine using the epigenome
  • Sustainable Transparent Oxides for Perovskite Solar Cells (SuPer)
  • When Does the Beginning of the End Start? Idiosyncratic Symbols of Dying and Incurability from the Perspective of Patients in Palliative Care
  • VisSURG-AID - Visual Surgical Artificial Intelligence for Decision support
  • CRAFT: Carcinoembryonic Cell Adhesion Molecule 6-Targeted EVs for Raft-Localised Reporter Delivery

Watch our playlist of video interviews to find out more about past projects in the funding line here and follow our LinkedIn and newsletter to learn more about ongoing research and support at the FCMH.