Project Details
Projekt
Coordination Funds
Applicant
Professorin Dr. Marina Bennati
Subject Area
Analytical Chemistry
Term
from 2012 to 2019
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 222265560
ecent progress in electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) has been mainly driven by specific needs in the research areas of biological and materials science. Since the first funding period, the priority program has been bringing together German research groups from these two different fields in a coordinated effort to expand the frontiers of EPR spectroscopy in biology, chemistry, materials science and physics. The creation of a scientific network has been crucial to provide a platform of scientific exchange and collaboration, in which new ideas have been emerging through cross-fertilization of expertise in different areas. The objectives of the coordinator, the applicant of this proposal, have been consisting mainly of three different tasks, which are first summarized here and will be outlined in more details in the following sections:· organizing a yearly meeting of the network· creating synergy at an international level with other initiatives· advising the participants and encouraging suitable networking, avoiding possible conflicts of interestand supporting young researchers and female scientists.To meet these objectives, the coordinator has been assisted by the other members of the initiator team of the program, who together constituted a formal executive board and provided an internal panel, through which important decisions could be discussed and voted. The board met at every annual meeting of the network in a closed session.The coordinator established a second platform for strategic planning, i.e. the general assembly of all members of the priority program (PIs and their scientific co-workers). The assembly has been taking place at each annual meeting and was open to all participants, including members of the reviewer panel and DFG representatives, to encourage exchange of opinions and get advice. It served to report on network activities such as the Young Investigator Workshops (organized and attended only by students and postdocs) to discuss exchange with other initiatives (for instance the US initiative), to announce upcoming conferencesand schools as well as to vote for the location of subsequent meetings.Finally, the administration-related duties of the coordinator have been substantially alleviated by the employment of a non-scientific member of the program, who has been taking care of the logistical and financial planning of all workshops and has also designed a web portal (www.spp1601.de) containing most information of the scientific activities of the network.For the upcoming funding period, the coordinator plans to continue the on-going activities, however as an important new feature, substantial efforts will be devoted in establishing a synergy with the new US network, SHARED EPR, which emerged from a common initiative of DFG and NSF representatives, strongly supported by the coordinator and the executive board.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
