Prof. Dr. Chichkov's research topic:
Fabrication of three-dimensional vascularised organs is one of the most significant unsolved challenges in the field of biofabrication and tissue engineering. Blood vessels enable the transport of gas, nutrients and metabolites to and from cells and are therefore a basic requirement for the survival of biological tissue - both in vitro and in vivo - following transplantation.
In order to reproduce the complexity and structure of functional circulatory systems (arteries and veins, as well as micrometre-sized arterioles, venules and capillaries), new procedures need to be developed for high-resolution, multi-level biological constructs.
Research into new approaches involving laser-based bioprinters and two-photon polymerisation is being conducted to achieve this. This unique combination of methods is expected to enable the production of complex vascular networks for the first time.
15 LUH researchers currently conducting research with ERC funding
Due to the tough selection process, ERC Grants are considered the highest accolade awarded by the European Research Council. Important selection criteria include visionary research topics as well as excellent achievements that the applicants have accomplished to date.
In addition to Chichkov, QuantumFrontiers researcher Prof. Dr. Fei Ding received an award in the current funding round. The ERC awarded him with a Consolidator Grant. Together, the two LUH researchers will get funded with more than 5 million euros over the next five years (see LUH press release). In the period from 2014 to 2020, the European Research Council has supported a total of 6,707 research projects with 13.3 billion euros.
At Leibniz University Hannover, there are currently 14 more scientists receiving funding from the ERC Grant scheme. Three scientists work with funding from an ERC Consolidator Grant, another scientist with an ERC Advanced Grant and ten scientists with an ERC Starting Grant (for researchers who received their doctorate two to seven years ago). Among the latest group is PhoenixD board member Prof. Dr. Michael Kues.
Note to editors
For further information, please contact Mechtild Freiin v. Münchhausen, head of Communications and Marketing and spokesperson of Leibniz University Hannover (Tel. +49 511 762 - 5342, Email kommunikation@uni-hannover.de).
