Service Projects
The CONCENTRATE research projects are supported by the activities and key technologies of five central service projects.
The Central Enabler Projects provide essential infrastructure and support for the TRR 420 CONCENTRATE consortium. They offer advanced technologies, methodological expertise, and services that facilitate collaboration and enable the research carried out in the individual projects. In addition, they coordinate key activities such as data management, outreach, and overall project integration.
C Service Projects
This project will coordinate and support the management of all research and administrative activities within the TRR 420. This includes the organization of the annual project meetings, training workshops, a planned international symposium, public outreach and webpage of CONCENTRATE. The central C1 project ensures the support of early career researchers as well as the organization of gender equality issues. Beside the central management, C1 also provides a technical platform for the TRR 420. It organizes “synergy activities” which are joint research activities which integrate most of the CONCENTRATE partners.
This project will provide the technological and methodological proteome analysis platform for all CONCENTRATE partners, as a service, which includes high-resolution separation of peptide mixtures from single strains, mock cultures, and complex environmental (meta-)proteome samples. Moreover, this subproject will establish and optimize new proteome analysis methods that are a prerequisite to explore the specific protein machineries and molecular mechanisms for microbial polysaccharide utilization by the TRR partners.
This project is responsible for developing, providing and assisting with qualitative and quantitative technologies for structure specific glycan analysis in complex communities. This includes a pooled fund to outsource NMR experiments of dilute glycan samples (sample preparation, measurement and data processing) to external partners. The basic research component of C3 GLYCAN ANALYTICS involves resolving a new biocatalytic cascade for the degradation and quantification of diatom fucan. C3 assists the different teams of the TRR 420 to measure glycans in their experimental and environmental datasets.
This project provides a centralized platform for managing, integrating, and sharing research data. C4 INF offers a comprehensive RDM (research data management) strategy, ensuring that research objects are FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and managed in TRUST-compliant (Transparency, Responsibility, User focus, Sustainability, Technology) repositories. The repository will evolve into a dynamic knowledge base, enabling intuitive data contribution, access, and interaction. Advanced search and classification capabilities will facilitate data exploration, promoting cross-disciplinary collaboration and deeper insights.
The public relations subproject aims to raise the “microbial literacy and engagement” in society by demonstrating the importance and function of microbes in the global marine carbon cycle and the mitigation of the climate crisis. Our science communication approach will closely interact with C1 and complement traditional public outreach formats through three complementary pillars: (A) Research expeditions in the Baltic Sea on the SSS Greif, (B) Co-creation of cartoon-like microbial characters to develop a “Top Trumps”/Quartet card game, (C) Science communication through Micronaut-comics and podcasts.
