The Interdisciplinary Center of Clinical Research (IZKF) of the Jena University Hospital promotes clinical and basic research thereby strengthening the major research topics of the medical faculty and allowing the development of new research areas. The graduate programme Experimental Medicine is part of the IZKF promotion programme for young scientists. It is open to doctoral students of life sciences and medicine coming from different research groups of the Medical Faculty and the Faculty for Biological Sciences and provides a diversified curriculum. The qualification programme familiarises students with up-to-date topics of molecular and experimental medicine and modern laboratory techniques. It includes a lecture series, which is dealing with the pathogenesis of immunological, inflammatory, oncological and neurological diseases, method courses on advanced molecular biology and cell biology techniques, imaging techniques, electrophysiological methods, functional and morphological analysis as well as animal studies. An intensive scientific exchange with experts from the respective research fields including placements in host labs is also part of the programme. The aim of this graduate programme is to develop doctoral students into competent young scientists who will prospectively address topics of experimental medicine in clinical and basic research studies in a collaborative and successful manner.