Research on the immune system is the key to understand the molecular basis of many diseases. These obviously include bacterial and viral infections, but we now know that the immune system controls and influences the course of other common diseases, e. g. cancer, Alzheimers’, as well as cardiovascular and metabolic syndromes. 

Modern Immunology aims at understanding the functions of our key defense mechanisms against pathogens at the level of molecules or even atoms- but furthermore it is a real systems science: an immune reaction and its consequences can only be understood in the context of intact organs in a living organism, yet we need high-end in vitro approaches including imaging and biochemistry to fully understand the underlying pathways at the molecular level. 

Our choice of topics in the new Master’s program "Immunobiology: from molecules to integrative systems" offers an attractive package for educating you into a modern, complete immunologist and systems scientist, ready for tackling the challenges of the future. We will get you acquainted with model organisms and in vitro approaches for the study of the immune system and of its important cells. You will learn about intracellular signaling pathways, by directly visualizing molecules in living cells, and by isolating the corresponding protein complexes. Finally you’ll embark on systems approaches using functional genomics, epigenetics and sophisticated bioinformatics to understand the complex regulation and communication in the immune system. You'll learn how it is smartly operating as a whole – and what can go wrong in disease. 

Immunological research has never been more timely: Study at LIMES to become a comprehensively educated immunologist and be ready for a fascinating scientific career in academics or in industry!