NASAR- Nanoscopy Applied to Selective Autophagy Research

To advance the research front we bring together in NASAR leading research groups in Norway working in the different subject areas of selective autophagy and optical nanoscopy at UiT The Arctic University of Norway in this interdisciplinary project. The groups of Terje Johansen (Dept. Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences) and Balpreet Ahluwalia (Dept. of Physics and Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology) have demonstrated excellence in research and are at the international forefront in their respective fields; published in high-impact journals, received prestigious grants (several ERCs & TopForsk) and have contributed significantly towards innovations (several IPs). In NASAR we bring together expertise and knowledge in selective autophagy research and optical nanoscopy platform for live cell imaging complemented by the group of Ole Morten Seternes contributing competence on development of CRISPR/CAS9 gene-edited cell lines, protein kinase and phosphatase signalling and cancer-related studies and the group of Maria Perander studying stress-induced RNA-containing cellular bodies and autophagy. Bringing together our four groups in a Large-scale Interdisciplinary Researcher Project will create a synergy that will boost fundamental and mechanistic research into selective autophagy processes in human cells. The aim is to strengthen our joint research excellence and to generate new knowledge that would not be possible to obtain without this interdisciplinary cooperation. NASAR will create opportunities for high-impact pioneer research leading to high impact research papers and intellectual properties (IPs) and consequently also strengthen our case for large scale funding programs, with a prime focus on ERC and Norwegian Centres of Excellence (SFF).