Dr. Habil. Aleksandra Rutkowska awarded OPUS-LAP grant

21.11.2024

Dr. Habil. Aleksandra Rutkowska, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at the MUG, has been awarded the OPUS-LAP grant. The project, entitled Investigating the mechanisms underlying central nervous system diseases caused by viral infections is worth nearly 3 million PLN. Dr. Rutkowska will carry out this research in collaboration with Dr. Florian Kurschus from the University and University Hospital of Heidelberg. In addition to funding from the National Science Centre (NCN), the research is co-financed by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

The research will focus on the mechanisms which make some individuals more susceptible to developing multiple sclerosis (MS) after a viral infection. The project aims to understand how the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) contributes to the development of MS and what genetic and environmental factors may amplify this risk. The findings from this research could contribute to the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic methods, enabling earlier detection and more effective treatment of the disease.

The OPUS competition is the largest grant program run by the National Science Centre (NCN), which allows scientists to apply for funding for international collaborative projects under the Weave programme. This makes it easier to seek funding for cooperation with researchers from Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Belgium-Flanders.

Dr. Habil. Aleksandra Rutkowska received a grant of over 2.7 million PLN for her project. A complete list of Polish-German projects that have received funding from NCN is available here

Source: Dr. Habil. Aleksandra Rutkowska, NCN