docfunds_MatureTissue

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The doctoral college “MatureTissue – Driving maturation of artificial tissues using bioreactor and microfluidictechnologies” (DC MatureTissue) will educate and train next generation tissue engineers. PhD students will study and develop novel strategies for producing mature engineered constructs of musculoskeletal tissues – tendon, cartilage, bone and muscle. DC MatureTissue will be a joint venture between the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien (UASTW) and TU Wien (TUW). UASTW is the oldest university of applied sciences in Vienna, while TUW, with motto “Technology for People”, has been educating scientists for over 200 years. Both UASTW and TUW have been strategically promoting life sciences with a focus on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (TERM) at UASTW and a wider approach at TUW within the TU-Bio initiative. From existing UASTW-TUW collaborations the vision of DC MatureTissue arose: to bundle forces in tissue engineering, microfluidics, analytical chemistry, biomechanics and 3D bioprinting to develop mature constructs of musculoskeletal tissues for clinical application and serving as model systems for ageing and disease. To overcome current limitations bioreactor and microfluidics strategies will be adopted to utilize mechanotransduction pathways. We hypothesize that through strongly interlinking tissue construct production, chemical and mechanical characterization optimized parameter sets can be found. This promises interdisciplinary projects for PhD students and faculty and the necessity of teamwork to achieve
common goals. The faculty within DC MatureTissue is balanced between UASTW and TUW, female and male as well as young and senior faculty. The faculty and their groups bring exactly the scientific expertise needed to support PhD students and address research questions put forth. PhD students will receive training in a variety of areas, to equip these future scientists and leaders with theoretical, scientific, experimental, networking and communication skills – so they can develop their own research programmes in industry or academia. A quality assurance process involving PhD student, thesis advisory committee, executive administrator and scientific advisory board has been put in place for optimal support, leading them to a successful project, PhD completion and future career. Experience accumulated via 19 TUW-internal DKs funded over the past 10 years, forms a profound, versatile and well-experienced basis for the DC Mature Tissue. We can rely on a broad basis of educational tools, scientific and administrative structures, support for transferable skills training and ethics as well as scientific equipment and research excellence. Overall, DC MatureTissue will successfully combine application-oriented and basic research to achieve one synergistic vision, train PhD students to become future leaders in TERM equipping them perfectly for their future careers, and strengthen both Austria’s research base and industry.