Research at the Department of Psychiatry
Research at the Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy aims to contribute to the development of innovative and personalised therapies for people with mental health conditions and to the prevention of mental health conditions. We view mental health conditions as disruptions in complex networks. Our research is guided by the faculty’s research focus on “network disorders”, as well as the university’s research focuses on “Disrupting Disease Dynamics” and “Complex Minds”.
Research into mental illness must be interdisciplinary and transgenerational, take developmental psychiatric aspects into account and develop preventive approaches. Close collaboration with the Clinic and Polyclinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy and the Institute of Psychology is essential for this and has a long tradition in Würzburg, with shared research questions and facilities.
Interdisciplinary collaboration
For this reason, the Centre for Mental Health was established in 2014 as an interdisciplinary research and treatment centre. Here, psychiatrists, psychologists and biologists work together to investigate the causes of mental illness and develop new therapies. Through this interdisciplinary collaboration, the Centre is able to offer a wide range of methodologies, from molecular approaches and the measurement of behaviour and brain activity to experimental treatment methods such as non-invasive brain stimulation, digitally assisted psychotherapy and virtual reality. The various research platforms are represented, among others, by three W2 professorships in Translational Social Neuroscience, Clinical Anxiety Research and Neuroscience of Decision-Making. Within the Faculty of Medicine, there are close collaborations with Neurology, Neurobiology, Neuroradiology and Pain Medicine.
Furthermore, they are included in national and international research networks such as of the Research Training Group RTG 2660, the BMBF networks (Nationale Kohorte, NapKon, the European Union (Cost-Engage), but also in the worldwide Psychiatric Genomics and Enigma consortia.
Core areas of research
Key research areas, which are reflected both in our research groups and in our external funding projects, include psychotic disorders, depression and substance use disorders. We view these conditions as disturbances in complex brain networks, which should be understood as dysfunctional systems and are, in principle, modifiable. The fundamentals of social interaction, psychomotor function and decision-making processes are further key areas of focus. We currently have externally funded projects underway on social interaction (DFG Research Training Group, GK 2660 Approach and Avoidance), pain processing (Resolve pain FOR5001), personalised treatment of depression (BMBF P4D) and the management of depression in older adults (Bridge). We collaborate within international networks on psychomotor function and catatonia.
We are involved in the National Centre for Affective Disorders (NCAD), a university centre for translational and clinical research in the field of affective disorders.
In addition to the research areas represented by the W2 professorships, we have a working group for rehabilitation sciences and collaborate closely with the German Centre for Prevention Research and Mental Health (DZPPP). The focus here is on the primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of mental disorders. An important partner for artificial intelligence methods is the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (CAIDAS).
Young researchers
The training and promotion of young researchers is an essential part of our research. We achieve this goal through an English language elite master study program „Translational Neuroscience“ funded by the Bavarian State Government, the Clinician Scientist Program „Union-CVD“ funded by the DFG, and the PhD classes Neuroscience and Clinical Science within the Graduate School of Life Sciences (GSLS) of the German Excellence Initiative in the context of which the PhD students of the Research Training Group RTG 2660 acquire their PhD. Internationality is a core feature of our doctoral and post-doctoral programs.