Future Prospects

The ZMB will continue to strengthen the internationally competitive position of Biomedical Sciences at the UDE by bringing together expert resources and focussing on key competence fields in research. One of the goals in that process is to enhance its visibility as an integrative, nationally and internationally competitive research centre.

The network of scientists from Biology, Chemistry and Medicine that has been established over the past few years will be made stronger in the coming years, for example by creating other joint professorships in Biology and Chemistry and by raising funds for interdisciplinary collaborative research projects.

As the joint collaborative activities intensify, continued operation of the Core Facilities with state-of-the-art equipment is and remains a central priority. Developing both equipment and human resources in the Core Facilities is vital to upholding and advancing the ZMB’s competitive position.

The addition of new junior research groups should also deliver new impulses for the ongoing development of the ZMB. The first step towards that goal in 2018 will be the appointment of a junior professor in the field of mechanistic cell biology under the federal and state government young researcher programme.

Extending the successful collaboration with the Max Planck Institutes in Dortmund and Mülheim to include other institutes and faculties of the University Alliance Ruhr (UA Ruhr) and biomedical research institutions in the region is seen as an opportunity to establish a centre of excellence for Molecular Life Sciences in the Ruhr region.

It is intended through the planned activities, such as new degree programmes, stronger early career support and more intensive cooperation, to raise the international visibility of research at Duisburg-Essen.