Meike Burow appointed Villum Foundation Young Investigator

Villum Young Investigator Meike Burow

Each year the Villum Foundation gives a number of large grants to young talented researchers at Danish universities to accelerate their research careers.

Support to young talent

This year, Associate Professor Meike Burow from DynaMo Center, Dept. of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen received 7 million kr from the Villum Foundation´s Young Investigator Programme.

The Villum Foundation´s Young Investigator Programme was established in 2011 to target funds to the younger research talents who often stand in the shadow of the more well-known and well-established professors.

Disordered proteins

Meike Burow's grant will enable her to investigate structure-function relations of disordered proteins, her project being entitled 'Protein level regulation of transcription factor networks'. She explains,

"Proteins are essential for all biological processes and their individual functions are known to be largely determined by their structure. Yet, the proteins that bind to DNA to activate or inactivate genes in higher organisms typically lack a defined structure and still have distinct molecular functions. I have now been given this fantastic opportunity to elusidate the underlying mechanisms."

The 7 million grant will finance two PhD students and one postdoctoral researcher as well as new equipment.