HELMHOLTZ INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE SCHOOL FOR CANCER RESEARCH 3 CONTENT Welcome......................................................................................1 Winning.the.nobel.Prize.for.. cancer.research...................................................................2 helmholtz.association.....................................................4 international.collaborations.................................... 5 cancer.research.at.the.DKFZ.........................................6 cell.biology.anD.tumor.biology.................................. 7 s tructural.anD.functional.genomics......................8 c ancer.risK.factors.anD.Prevention..........................9 t umor.immunology........................................................10 imaging.anD.raDiooncology.......................................11 i nfection.anD.cancer.....................................................12 t ranslational.cancer.research..................................13 heiDelberg.–.bright.lights.in.an.olD.city............14 Joining.germany’s.best.university...........................15 graDuate.Program.outline.........................................16 suPPorting.stuDents....................................................... 18 the.PhD.stuDent.council..............................................19 aPPlication.anD.aDmission.requirements.........20 WELCOME Welcome.to.the Helmholtz In- cent. comes. from. the. german. ed.the Nobel.Prize.for Medicine. ternational. graduate. school. state.of.baden-Württemberg. or.Physiology.for.his.outstand- for Cancer Research.at.the Ger- ing. scientific. contribution. to. man. cancer. research. center. in Germany.alone,.cancer.is.the. the.study.of.human.papilloma. (Deutsches. Krebsforschungs- second.most.frequent.cause.of. viruses. zentrum,. DKFZ).. our. interna- death..each.year,.over.450,000. tional.PhD.program.warmly.in- new. cases. are. diagnosed. and. Perhaps.you. too.would.like. to. vites. you. to. consider. applying. 270,000. deaths. occur. at. the. be.part.of.this.renowned.orga- to. join. its. many. distinguished. hands.of.this.dreaded.disease.. nization,.which.is.at.the.cutting. scientists.in.cancer.research. cancer. constitutes. a. particu- edge.of.cancer.research.world- larly.challenging.task.for.both. wide,. and. to. work. amongst. the.DKFZ is Germany’s.largest. research.and.clinical.practice..it. leading. scientists. from. the. biomedical. research. institute. affects.practically.each.and.ev- field.. this. brochure. hopes. to. and.is.a.member.of.the Helm- ery. organ. in. the. human. body.. give.you.a.taste.of.what.life.is. holtz. association. of. national. each.type.of.cancer.has.its.own. like. in. our. international. PhD. research. centers.. more. than. modus.operandi.and.rules..the. program.. if. you. would. like. to. 2,000. staff. members,. includ- resultant. changes. in. affected. join. our. scientific. community. ing.850.scientists,.are.engaged. cells.are.highly.complex.. after.reading.this.brochure,.we. in.researching.the.mechanisms. are. looking. forward. to. receiv- of. cancer. and. are. working. to. in. recent. years,. researchers. at. ing.your.application. identify.risk.factors...their.valu- the. DKFZ have. been. respon- able. work. is. the. cornerstone. sible. for. major. advances. both. best.wishes,. for.developing.novel.approach- in.basic.research.and.in.the.de- es.in.the.prevention,.diagnosis,. velopment. of. novel. methods. and. treatment. of. cancer.. the. for. clinical. application.. these. german Federal Ministry.of Ed- achievements. received. mo- ucation.and Research.provides. mentous. recognition. in. 2008,. Prof. Otmar D. Wiestler 90.percent.of.the Center’s.basic. when. the. center’s. Professor. Scientific Director and Chairman funding;.the.remaining.10.per- harald.zur Hausen.was.award- of the DKFZ Management Board 1 W INNING THE NObEL Prize FOR cancer research in. 2008,. Professor. harald. zur. at. the. university. of. freiburg,. and. e7. virus. genes. in. human. hausen. won. the. nobel. Prize. germany.. here,. he. continued. cells..she.found.that.the.virus- for Medicine.or.Physiology.for. his. research. on. papilloma. vi- es.were.able.to.invade.healthy. his.groundbreaking.work.in.es- ruses.with.the.help.of.his.PhD. human.cells.and.cause.them.to. tablishing.that.viral.infections. students,. lutz. gissmann,. mi- proliferate. uncontrollably,. i.. e. can.cause.cervical.cancer. chael.boshart,.matthias.Dürst. become. cancerous.. this. im- and. hans. ikenberg.. the. aim. portant. discovery. lead. to. the. the. story,. however,. began. in. was. to. identify. the. papilloma. idea.that.it.may.be.possible.to. the.early.1970s,.while.zur Hau- virus. type. responsible. for. cer- use. this. infective. property. of. sen.was.working.at.the Univer- vical.cancer..from.1982.to.1984,. the.viruses.to.create.a.vaccine. sity. of. erlangen-nuremberg,. they. succeeded. in. isolating. protecting.against.hPv16/18.in. germany,. as. chair. of. clinical. two. human. papilloma. virus. cervical.cells.. virology.. it. was. here. that. he. (hPv). genomes. from. cervical. isolated. the. papilloma. virus. cancer. specimens:. hPv16. and. in. a. related. development. at. genome. from. cervical. cancer. hPv18.. significantly,. they. also. the.beginning.of.the.1990s,.zur. tissue. samples..this. led. to. his. discovered. that. hPv18. was. hausen’s.former.students,.giss- hypothesis. that. warts. of. the. present. in. hela. cells,. the. fa- mann.and.Dürst,.made.waves. genital. tract. can. be. harmful. mous. cervical. tumor. cell. line. in. the. united. states..together. and. cause. cervical. cancer. in. used. in. research. around. the. with.other.scientists.from. the. some.cases. world.since.1949.. american. national. institutes. of. health,. they. succeeded. in. in.1977,.zur.hausen.took.up.the. in. 1983,. zur. hausen. moved. developing. a. method. to. pro- chair. of.virology. and. hygiene. again,.this.time.to.the German. duce. a. non-infectious. protein. cancer Research Center.as Sci- component. of. the. hPv16. vi- entific. Director. and. chairman. rus.capsule.in.large.quantities.. of.the Management.board.un- these.particles.formed.the.ba- til.2003..Despite.the.time-con- sis. of. the. subsequent. vaccine. suming. task. of. directing. the. –.available.since.2006.–.which. center,. his. research. on. papil- has.been.proven.to.prevent.in- loma. viruses. continued.. elisa- fection.from HPv16.and HPv18. beth Schwarz.joined.his.group. and. therefore. protect. against. and. succeeded. in. identifying. cervical.cancer.. residues. of. the. dangerous. e6. 2 GREETING During .more.than.two.decades. disciplinary.research.is. the. or- at.the.german.cancer.research. der.of.the.day,.where.like.(and. center,. i. have. seen. the. insti- very. able). minds. engage. in. tute.improve.in.terms.of.qual- cutting-edge. work. to. discover. ity. of. research,. infrastructure. the. many. facets. and. nuances. and. caliber. of. scientific. staff.. i. of. a. disease. that. has. been. in. am.convinced.that.the.research. existence. since. the. evolution. carried. out. here. by. some. of. of.man.. the. world’s. best. scientists. has. made. the. center. deserve. its. as. to. the. important. role. stu- place. at. the. very. forefront. of. dents.play.in.the Center’s.work,. cancer.research.worldwide.. i. can. vouch. for. this. from. per- sonal. experience.. During. my. at. the. center’s. core. are. its. own. research. into. infectious. young.scientists..its.new.inter- agents,. which. led. to. the. dis- national. PhD. program. recog- covery. of. cancer-causing. hu- nizes. that. doctoral. students. man. papilloma. viruses,. three. make. an. important. contribu- of. my. students. at. the. time,. tion. to. the. center’s. achieve- lutz Gissmann,.matthias.Dürst. ments. and. encourages. you. to. and. michael. boshart,. made. apply.to.join.their.ranks..if.suc- significant.contributions. cessful,.you.will.take.up.a.place. in. a. community. where. cross- Professor Harald zur Hausen 2008 Nobel Prize Laureate for Medicine or Physiology Former Scientific Director and Chairman of the Management Board of the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (German Cancer Research Center), 1983-2003 3 the. DKfz. is. a. proud. m . students, ember . and. are. legally. inde- Outstanding scientist of. the. helmholtz. association. pendent.bodies...these.centers. of. german. research. centers.. are.equipped.with.state-of-the- the.association.is.named.after. this. association. is. germany’s. art.equipment,.including.large- hermann.von.helmholtz,..a.dis- largest. scientific. organization. scale. scientific. facilities. and. tinguished. natural. scientist. of. and. has. an. annual. budget. of. instruments.that.are.only.to.be. the.19th. vncentury.. o .helmholtz. approximately.2.4.billion.euros.. found.on.their.sites.. was. one. of. the. last. truly. uni- the. german. federal. and. state. versal. scholars,. specializing. in. authorities. provide. about. 70. the. helmholtz. association. a. natural. science. that. bridged. percent.of.its.total.budget..the. stands. for. cutting-edge. re- the. fields. of. medicine,. phys- 15. research. centers. belonging. search,. the.goal.of.which.is. to. ics. and. chemistry.. his. ground- under. the. association’s. um- contribute.significantly.to.solv- breaking.work.brought.togeth- brella. employ. 28,000. people,. ing.the.greatest.challenges.fac- er. theory,. experimental. and. including. over. 4,000. graduate. ing. science,. society. and. indus- practical. applications.. he. was. try.. its. research. focuses. on. six. the.founder.and.first.president. energy