May 22, 2015

Kiel researchers build the world’s smallest machines




Millions of euros of funding for the development of new medicines and materials

(May 22, 2015)  Great excitement at Kiel University: As the DFG (German Research Foundation) announced today (Thursday, May 21), it will continue to support the research on molecules which function like machines with another 8.9 million EUR. This funding will allow the scientists in Germany's northernmost state to develop new engineering techniques for building tiny machine-like molecules over the next four years. The ultimate miniaturisation of engineering functions should improve the efficiency of energy conversion systems, medicines, diagnostic methods and materials. Moreover, completely new areas of applications will open up along this line. The Collaborative Research Centre 677 (SFB 677) "Function by Switching" now starts into the third and final funding period. Collaborative Research Centres are supported for a maximum of twelve years. They are highly competitive and prestigious flagship institutions at German universities. In total, around 100 scientists from the fields of chemistry, physics, material sciences and medicine collaborate in this Kiel based research network.

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