The Research Training Group (RTG 2157), started in April 2016, integrates the long-standing expertise in infectious diseases at the University of Würzburg and new technologies into an exciting new focus on 3D human tissue models. Within this program, scientists from the Biocenter of the University of Würzburg, the Research Center for Infectious Diseases, and the Chair of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine of the University Hospital and Fraunhofer ISC, Unit Würzburg, take a novel route to investigate microbial infections under close-to-natural conditions.