JADS has been established by the TU Munich and Imperial College London to support priority research across and beyond the two institutions. Every year, the TU Munich and Imperial College London select and support up to six joint projects in a specific chosen research area. Uniquely within JADS, collaborating laboratories receive funding for 2 PhD candidates, one at each partner institution, to optimally leverage the specific resources from each partner lab and benefiting from the expertise of the supervising faculty. The program hence not only provides access to globally leading knowledge and world-class infrastructures but is truly geared toward inter-organizational collaboration and exchange to train an entirely new kind of 21st century scientists.
The JADS’ 2024 focus was on Health Resilience in a Changing Environment. Janna’s winning project entitled “Biophysical principles of the patient specific mucociliary defense against fine dust pollution” will be investigated in collaboration with Imperial’s Eric E Keaveny, and executed by two newly recruited PhD students during a fully funded 4 year period.
"We are excited about this unique opportunity to tackle a new frontier of science, immunomechanics, and start a new multidisciplinary collaboration with Imperial College London, kickstarted by the joint supervision of two JADS-funded PhD students complementary backgrounds in physics and biology. "
- Janna Nawroth
This award is a testament to Janna’s increasingly recognized approach to solving global health challenges, namely investigating fundamental principles of the mechanobiology of airway epithelia using state of the art technologies - executed collaboratively within internationally leading networks and further accelerated at the Helmholtz Pioneer Campus, the technology- and innovation hub at HelmholtzMunich.