This International Research Training Group (IRTG; Internationales Graduiertenkolleg 1422) was established in October 2006 and is funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) and the Swedish Research Council.

The International Research Training Group is located at the interface of chemistry and biology, where it is concerned with the role of metal ions in biological systems. Research in this area is developing rapidly, and the discipline of biological inorganic chemistry constitutes one of the most intellectually attractive and experimentally demanding frontiers in modern life sciences. It is estimated that over one third of all proteins contain at least one metal ion as essential prosthetic group, and it is well recognized that those metallobiomolecules are of key importance for a large number of biological reactions and phenomena, including electron transfer, biological oxidation reactions involved in metabolism and catabolism, hydrolysis reactions, synthesis and metabolic function of genes, regulation of protein expression, cell signalling, etc.. A detailed understanding of the regulation and molecular mechanisms of metalloprotein function is not only of fundamental interest, but is of vital importance in, inter alia, medical sciences, environmental chemistry and molecular biology. In the end it may also pave the way for various technological applications of the principles of biocatalysis, since metalloenzymes are capable of carrying out energetically difficult chemical transformations (such as the fixation of dinitrogen to ammonia or the oxidation of methane to methanol) under mild and environmentally safe conditions.

The International Research Training Group brings together expertise and skills from chemists, biologists and biophysicists with both experimental and theoretical approaches. Such cross-discplinary collaboration is essential for a comprehensive examination of metallobiosites and for cutting-edge research in the biometals field. The International Research Training Group provides a stimulating and interdisciplinary environment for young researchers, and it offers a high-level teaching program that enables the PhD students to tackle their specific scientific objectives – these objectives may comprise the preparation and identification of metalloproteins, their functional analysis and modification, and their chemical emulation via chemical synthesis and bioinspired catalysis. Both graduate training and research are highly intertwined between the groups in Lund and Göttingen, including joint workshops and an active exchange program for the PhD students.