15 new projects approved
SystemsX.ch published its 5th call for proposals last November and interested parties had until the end of January 2012 to submit their research proposals to Systemsx.ch and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
Transition Post-doc Fellowship
In this category the search was on for young, ambitious researchers who wish to carry out their own interdisciplinary project independently. The time frame is limited to two years with an option of a third year extension.
17 proposals were submitted in total. In July 2012, candidates were invited to present their projects to a panel of representatives of the Scientific Executive Board (SEB) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNFS). The experts approved the following four projects for funding:
| Main Applicant | Institution | Research Group | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pham, Tri | UniBS | Cabernard Clemens | Cortical tension and stiffness during asymmetric cell division |
| Neves da Silva, Aitana | EPFL | Gönczy Pierre | Robustness of C. elegans development at thermal limits |
| Necsulea, Anamaria | EPFL | Duboule Denis | The roles of long non-coding RNAs in mammalian development and aging |
| Geiger, Roger | USI | Zamboni Nicola ETHZ | Metabolic Regulations of Human T cell Activation and Differentiation |
Interdisciplinary PhD Projects (IPhD)
One of SystemsX.ch's main tasks includes the promotion and training of future generations of systems biologists. SystemsX.ch therefore regularly launches calls specifically aimed at promoting interdisciplinary doctoral theses.
From a total of 25 submitted proposals the expert panel of the SNFS and SEB elected the following 11 applicants:
| Title | Mentors |
|---|---|
| Modeling the cellular phosphorylation response to double strand breaks using quantitative mass spectrometry | Aebersold, Rudolf (ETHZ); Beerenwinkel, Niko (ETHZ) |
| Modeling dynamics of protein synthesis and degradation in Arabidopsis thaliana | Bärenfaller, Katja (ETHZ); Robinson, Mark (UZH) |
| A microfluidics-based pipeline for the quantitative analysis of yeast aging | Barral, Yves (ETHZ); de Mello, Andrew (ETHZ) |
| Genomic and transcriptomic characterization of heterogeneous tumor cell populations | Beerenwinkel, Niko (ETHZ); Beisel, Christian (ETHZ) |
| Towards systems biology of adenovirus transmission | Greber, Urs (UZH); Sbalzarini, Ivo (ETHZ) |
| An extended computational morphodynamics approach to understand self organization in plant growth control | Hardtke, Christian (UniL); Smith, Richard (UniBE) |
| Quantitative approaches for the reconstruction of palmitoylation networks in ER | Hatzimanikatis, Vassily (EPFL); van der Goot, Gisou (EPFL) |
| Generation of biomarkers for the detection of ADP-ribosylated proteins during cellular stress | Hottiger, Micheal O. (UZH); Hopfgartner, Gérard (UniGE) |
| Collective dynamics and crosstalk in MAPK signaling | Koeppl, Heinz (ETHZ); Peter, Matthias (ETHZ) |
| Dynamics of Sertoli cell transcriptomes during the progression of spermatogenesis using ultrahigh-throughput sequencing technologies | Nef, Serge (UniGE); Emmanouil, Dermitzakis (UniGE) |
| Systems Analysis of Neutralizing Antibody Repertoires for Nanoparticulate-based Anti-viral Vaccine Design | Swartz, Melody (EPFL); Reddy, Sai T. (ETHZ) |
For the duration of three years, with an optional, additional year, SystemsX.ch will financially support one doctoral student for each project.
In this way SystemsX.ch not only significantly promotes the training of young researchers, but–equally essential for systems biology–also interdisciplinary collaboration and support for promising research.
The next call for Transition Post-doctoral Fellowships and Interdisciplinary PhD Projects will be published in autumn 2012, and the deadline for submission will be in first quarter of 2013.