Microbial cultures in Petri dishes, front: Streptomyces lividans

LIFE profile

The Future of LIFE: Understanding, Protecting, Shaping Life
Microbial cultures in Petri dishes, front: Streptomyces lividans
Image: Jan-Peter Kasper (University of Jena)

The funding program of the LIFE profile

  • Support by LIFE

    The LIFE profile serves as a creative space and facilitator for emerging fields within the life sciences and medicine—acting as a starting point for interdisciplinary collaborations and research initiatives.

    To ensure the continuous development and expansion of existing structures in research and teaching, the profile area LIFE supports researchers with a flexible funding program. Information on funding lines, requirements, application deadlines, and funding modalities can be found here.

    LIFE Funding
    Illustration: Franziska Eberl modified by Dania Rose-Sperling

News

  1. Jena is celebrating 225 years of UV radiation

    The University of Jena commemorates the discovery of UV radiation and its significance for modern key technologies.

    • Light
    • Life
    • Liberty
    In a darkened room, minerals can be seen under ultraviolet light at the Mineralogical Collection of the University of Jena.
    Image: Nicole Nerger (University of Jena)

  2. Invisible Actors in Groundwater

    Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence »Balance of the Microverse« discover previously unknown viruses and their central role in ecosystems

    • Life
    Water sampling well in the Hainich.
    Image: Akbar Adjie Pratama

  3. The invisible worlds beneath our feet

    A research team from the Cluster of Excellence »Balance of the Microverse« shows how microorganisms on rock surfaces shape groundwater

    • Life
    PhD student Alisha Sharma at the groundwater well with passive samplers in place.
    Image: Beatrix M. Heinze
All short news

About the LIFE profile

The LIFE profile supports existing structures within the main research areas in the life sciences and medicine, which have a long tradition in Jena. At the same time, new and innovative topics are identified and promoted. A high degree of interdisciplinarity within the LIFE profile connects the different faculties of the Friedrich Schiller University and the non-university partners. The application of technical solutions in biological research interlinks the LIGHT and LIFE profiles, whereas social and ethical aspects are explored in connection with the LIBERTY profile.

Life Sciences with Tradition

Portrait of the founder of ecology Ernst Haeckel

Image: Archiv Hoßfeld

Natural sciences in Jena have a long tradition. Specifically the disciplines botany, ecology and microbiology have a long-standing history in the science location Jena.

In the mid-nineteenth century, the botanist Matthias Jacob Schleiden was the first to describe cells in living plants, and with this became a pioneer of the modern cell theory. His collaborative efforts together with Carl Zeiss and Ernst Abbe built the basis for a lasting and strong connection  between the life sciences and the optical industry in Jena, which still is the driving force for innovations in the ‘science city’.

The term ‘Ecology’ was, in fact, born in Jena. With it, in 1866, the evolution scientist Ernst Haeckel defined a new sub-discipline within biology, which addresses the interactions between organisms and their environment. The chemical basis of such interactions is explored in the field of Chemical Ecology, which also is rooted in Jena by studies of the botanist Ernst Stahl.

The microbiologist Hans Knöll dedicated himself to drug discovery and production, in the early twentieth century. He was particularly interested in the production of penicillin and the tuberculosis vaccine BCG. The BCG institute that he founded in 1950 – later the Central Institute for Microbiology and Experimental Therapy (ZIMET) and now the Hans Knöll Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (HKIExternal link) – was the first building at the Beutenberg campusExternal link, which is the central location for research and science in Jena today.

Structure-providing facilities

Units of Excellence and Research Centres

Collaborative Research Centres (CRCs) and Transregios (TRs)

Research Units (RUs) and Research Training Groups (RTGs):

Structured Doctoral Programmes

Further Research Projects and Facilities

Faculties involved

Cooperation partners

LIFE Junior Research Group 

Contact

The 12-person coordination team serves as the reporting and strategic body within the LIFE profile. The spokesperson (currently Prof. M. Bauer) and deputy (currently Prof. U. Hellmich) are elected every 3 years. Additionally, the coordination committee is supported by a coordinator (Dr. Dania Rose-Sperling). A list of all members of the coordination team can be found here.pdf, 805 kb

Michael Bauer, Prof. Dr

Spokesperson | LIFE profile
Michael Bauer
Image: Szabó/ UKJ
Jena University Hospital, Department for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine
Erlanger Allee 101
07747 Jena Google Maps site planExternal link

Ute Hellmich, Prof. Dr

Deputy Spokesperson | LIFE profile
Foto Ute Hellmich
Image: Anne Günther (University of Jena)

Dania Rose-Sperling, Dr

Scientific Coordinator | Profile areas LIGHT.LIFE.LIBERTY.
dania.rose-sperling@uni-jena.de
Image: Kristin Wagner
Universitätshauptgebäude, Room 1.21
Fürstengraben 1
07743 Jena Google Maps site planExternal link