The doctoral program "Genes and Development" is a member of the Göttingen Graduate School for Neurosciences, Biophysics, and Molecular Biosciences (GGNB). It is hosted by the Göttingen Center for Molecular Biosciences (GZMB) and is conducted jointly by the University of Göttingen, the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine, and the German Primate Center.

Training shall enable the students to integrate knowledge and methods from classical developmental biology, cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry and infection biology. The program’s faculty is convinced that scientific progress in these fields depends on the combined expertise in several of these disciplines and therefore aims at overcoming the boundaries between these conventional disciplines. The faculty members are experienced in many of the model organisms used in developmental biology and host-pathogen interactions, including fungi (Aspergillus, Verticillium), plants (Arabidopsis, tobacco), nematodes (C. elegans), insects (Drosophila, Tribolium) and vertebrates (Xenopus, chicken, mouse). In addition to a seminar series on developmental biology, additional lecture series and practical courses on the use of these systems are offered including advanced microscopy, transgenic technologies, gene knockout and RNA interference technologies.

The program accepts students from diverse areas of previous education who share enthusiasm for studying cells. Training is aimed at achieving a comparative understanding of how cell fate and topology are determined, a critical sense of how to apply comprehensive genomic analysis tools, and the ability to set up and test conceptual models for cellular functions.