An international research team headed by Markus Sauer of the University of Würzburg has been awarded a grant to pursue research in superesolution microscopy, aimed at advancing the study of proteins as they relate to the function of the nervous system.

Sauer will team with synapse physiologist Silvio Rizzoli of the University of Göttingen Medical Center, and physicist and biotechnologist Edward Boyden of MIT. Their project, dubbed “Ultraresolution” as it intends to develop technology capable of observing the interactions between proteins located in synapses and other molecules, has received a European Research Council Synergy Grant for €11 million.

“Even with the best superresolution microscopy techniques, we are still unable to visualize the proteins individually with a spatial resolution of a few nanometers,” Sauer said.

The project will begin in June 2021 with a planned duration of six years. The funds will be used for postdoctoral and doctoral students, and for a new light-sheet microscope.