In the presence of numerous representatives from politics, the participating institutes - the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL), the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and the University Hospital Erlangen (UKER) - heralded a new era in research culture. The previous boundaries between the fields of physics and medicine are to be broken down further and physics is to play an integral role in understanding life in collaborative basic research.
In the new interdisciplinary research center in Erlangen, physics is not seen as a methodical approach and a helpful toolbox. Instead, the international scientists will focus on the physical principles of living systems themselves and their processes. Together, under one roof, they will now research fundamental questions in medicine from a completely new physical perspective. The aim is to gain a fundamental understanding of living systems, biological processes and their pathological changes from this perspective and to translate this into therapeutic applications.
The MPZPM offers the best conditions for basic research at the highest international level. The building was erected in the middle of the UKER campus, in close proximity to its four Translational Research Centers (TRZ). The daily direct exchange between scientists and clinicians as well as direct access to patient samples with links to current clinical issues are unique worldwide.
(Image description from left to right: Prof. Claudia Felser, Prof. Joachim Hornegger, Hubert Aiwanger, Prof. Vahid Sandoghdar, Dr. Markus Söder, Markus Blume, Prof. Kristian Franze, Prof. Jochen Guck, Prof. Vasily Zaburdaev, Dr. Dorothe Burggraf,Dr. Florian Janik / Copyright MPL Fuchs)