Purines - 80 years and very much alive.

External funding is of course of major importance for research progress. This term, FyFa researchers were capable to attract more than 20 Milj kr (22,05 Milj kr) from the Swedish Research Council (for details and abstracts of the projects check www.vrproj.vr.se – project database). Even though, FyFa was very successful with 1 network grant (G. Engberg) and 9 project grants (A. Arner, B. Canlon, S. Erhardt, B. Fredholm, A. Krook, L. Lindbom, T. Svensson, Z. Wiesenfeldt-Hallin, X-J. Xu) it is a bit worrying that no Junior Research Position (Forskarassistent) has been awarded to the department. On the other hand Per Svenningsson was awarded a research position in molecular neurobiology from the Swedish Research Council for the study of signaling pathways in depression and Parkinson’s disease.The work will be focussed on serotonin and dopamine signaling and further on adaptor proteins affecting the subcellular localization and function of neurotransmittor receptors. to be continued on page 3... Dear readers, we are approaching the end of 2009. A very fruitful year for the department and KI. The “road map” initiative from the dean of research has been the subject of intense debate over the past weeks and is in many respects some what controversial. Who can identify the individual or individuals that will perform tomorrow’s cutting edge research? Many of the facts we take for granted today may not be true tomorrow. That’s what makes research fascinating. Creativity, joy and a critical mass of people are essential factors if we are to perform competitive research. There will always be “superstars” in science, like Zlatan in fotball. But behind every superstar is a vast community of people who contribute to the success. Research is collective, cumulative and constructive in its foundations. Everyone at FyFa contributes to our success. Thanks to all of you. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.