Research Building THINK

One Health Ruhr – from Molecules to Systems

The Research Centre "One Health Ruhr  – from Molecules to Systems" investigates the fundamental mechanisms of health and disease from the molecular level to higher-level systems in order to consider the complex relationships between environmental health, animal health and human health in the sense of the "One Health" concept.

NeuroMind: Memories of the future

The interdisciplinary network NeuroMind (Ruhr University Bochum & University of Duisburg-Essen) integrates neuronal mechanisms, psychological phenomena, clinical questions as well as computational and philosophical approaches. The aim is to gain new insights into why memory is also a tool for predicting the future.

In the ERC project "Avian mind", Prof. Dr. Onur Güntürkün is investigating how birds think. How does thinking develop in a brain that is structured so completely differently from that of mammals?

In the ERC project "Neuronal principles of spatial navigation", Prof. Dr. Nikolai Axmacher is investigating how the brain manages spatial navigation. The results are also relevant for Alzheimer's research.

In the ERC project "The Neuronal Basis of Mental Flexibility", Prof. Dr. Caspar Schwiedrzik is investigating how living beings can learn categories and apply their knowledge flexibly. 

The transregional Collaborative Research Center "The impact of expectation on health outcome" investigates the impact of patients' expectations on the effectiveness of medical treatments with an interdisciplinary team.
 

The central aim of the Collaborative Research Center "Magnetoreception and navigation in vertebrates, from Biophysics to Brain and Behaviour" is to achieve a comprehensive and multidisciplinary understanding of the biophysical mechanisms to the natural behavior of navigating animals.

One goal of the Priority Program "Functional Specialisation of Neuroglia as Critical Determinants of Brain Activity" is to understand glial cell specialization and to elucidate its role in the mammalian brain.

 

The Priority Program "Evolutionary Optimization of Neuronal Processing" investigates the robustness and flexibility of neurobiological information processing and its energy efficiency compared to digital computing devices.
 

The core aim of the Priority Program 2411 "Sensing LOOPS: Cortico-subcortical Interactions for Adaptive Sensing" is to provide a deeper understanding of the role of cortico-subcortical loops in adaptive sensing, across modalities and in behaving animals.

The Priority Program 2453 "Integration of mitochondria into the cellular proteostasis network" will contribute to a better understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying aging and the development of neurodegenerative diseases.
 

The aim of the Research Group "Synapses under stress: Early events induced by metabolic glutamatergic synapses" is to generate a new, holistic understanding of basic pathomechanisms, which is urgently needed to develop better therapeutic strategies for the treatment of stroke-induced brain damage.

The Research Group 2848 addresses fundamental questions about mitochondrial ultrastructure, with the aim of clarifying how proteins support the shaping of the inner membrane and defining how these processes are interconnected and regulated in cellular context.
 

The Research Group "Affective and cognitive mechanisms of specific Internet-use disorders (ACSID)" investigates the (bio-)psychological and neurobiological processes involved in the development and maintenance of addictive behaviors (primarily performed online).
 

Within the ERA NET-NEURON participation "I-SEE", the improvement of intracortical visual prostheses through complex coding and spontaneous activation states is being researched.
 

Within the ERA NET-NEURON participation "MASE" (motor activity - subjective energy) the neurobiological and digital phenotyping towards digital mental health interventions in depression is the focus of the research.
 

The aim of the "CLAIMS - Clinical impact through AI-assisted MS care" project, which is funded as part of the Innovative Health Initiative, is to develop a diagnostic platform that would offer clinicians a holistic overview of the MS patient.

How can "autonomy", "well-being" and "security" be adequately taken into account in clinical-ethical decision-making? This is what the SALUS project is investigating in the treatment of persons with mental disorders.
 

terahertz.NRW brings together leading minds in terahertz research. The goal of the global network is to develop new mobile applications for communication, localization, material characterization, medical technology, and environmental monitoring.

The Research Network NeMUP-North is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and primarily examines the biological mechanisms underlying pedophilia specifically and sexual offending against children generally.

The project "The Transformation of Autobiographical Memories through Empathic Interactions" investigates in three studies how social factors, particularly empathy, change autobiographical memories (AEs) by analyzing dyadic interactions, neural processes, and the effect on intrusive memories in a preclinical PTSD model.

How expectations influence perception during human communication

Prof. Dr. Helen Blank
Faculty of Psychology
Funding since 2020

Feedback as the way forward: sensory predictions in the primate face processing hierarchy

Prof. Dr. Caspar M. Schwiedrzik
Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology
Funding since 2018