Biomaterials used in clinical contexts are often designed for a single specific function. To develop new and more broadly applicable—i.e. multidimensional—biomaterials, researchers from the disciplines of chemistry, chemical engineering, pharmaceutical science, physics, cell biology, materials science and biomedical engineering at the University of Bayreuth and the Australian partner institutions Monash University, Swinburne University of Technology and the University of Melbourne have been collaborating for many years. This collaboration will now be intensified and expanded within the International Research Training Group [MB]². In addition, the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) will act as an associated project partner to support the translation of fundamental research into practical applications.
A central aim of the International Research Training Group [MB]² is the coordinated training of early‑career researchers in Bayreuth and Melbourne. The innovative field of biomaterials science requires genuine multidisciplinary and international collaboration: the more demanding the application, the more complex the biomaterial often becomes. For this reason, [MB]² brings together cutting-edge research concepts in biomaterials that are closely connected to an application environment enabled through interdisciplinary expertise.
“The training of early‑career researchers places particular emphasis on translational research and therefore sits at the interface between fundamental research and practical medical application. Doctoral candidates will have access to world-class facilities in Bayreuth and Melbourne and will be brought together with extensive expertise and know-how from a wide range of fields,” says Prof. Dr. Thomas Scheibel, spokesperson for the International Research Training Group GRK 3194 and Chair of Biomaterials at the University of Bayreuth.
Doctoral candidates at the University of Bayreuth within the Research Training Group [MB]² will be enrolled in the new doctoral programme PESBA (PhD Programme Engineering Science Bayreuth–Australia) of the Bayreuth Graduate School of Engineering Science (BayING). As a result of existing cooperation agreements between the University of Bayreuth and each of the three participating Australian universities, doctoral candidates at the Australian partner institutions will have the opportunity of obtaining a joint doctoral degree and will likewise be able to enrol in the Bayreuth PESBA programme. In addition to multidisciplinary training that fosters cross-disciplinary thinking, the Research Training Group thereby further strengthens international mobility between Australia and Germany. Applications for prospective doctoral candidates are now open via the website: https://irtg-mb2.de.
The University of Bayreuth has operated a Gateway Office in Melbourne since 2018 to support exchange in research and teaching, providing an essential foundation for long-standing joint academic collaboration. The international Research Training Group “Multidimensional Biomaterials [MB]²” is already the second DFG-funded international Research Training Group involving Bayreuth and Melbourne, following “Optical Excitations in Organic and Inorganic Semiconductors (Optex)”, funded in 2023. The University of Bayreuth is also a founding member of the Australia–Germany Research Network (AGRN), established in 2018.
