50 years of independent junior research

The Friedrich Miescher Laboratory is a career springboard for young researchers

One of the central challenges in the late 1960s was the realization that more and more researchers in Germany were leaving the country to pursue careers abroad. To counteract this trend, the Max Planck Society wanted to create structures and development opportunities that were at least equal to those abroad.

The laboratory now looks back on eight successful generations of researchers and 34 research groups. Among its members are well-known names such as Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for her research on the genetic control of embryonic development. One of the institute's founding fathers, Rolf Knippers, created a basic book on molecular genomics that is now a standard reference for students worldwide.

Door to door with researchers from all over the world

Currently, four international research groups are conducting research at the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory, which is represented by Andrei Lupas as managing director, door to door with the Max Planck Institutes for Biology Tübingen, Biological Cybernetics and Intelligent Systems. State-of-the-art equipment meets an irrepressible thirst for research on the part of the young scientists working here, who ensure a lively atmosphere and intensive exchange through joint projects and seminars.

And new young talent is already waiting in the wings: Two programs for the promotion of scientific talent are currently enabling more than 100 researchers to complete their doctoral theses on central questions of basic work in the life sciences. The International Max Planck Research Group "From Molecules to Organisms" and the international PhD program in the biological sciences provide numerous career opportunities for a stable future and continuous expansion at the research site Tübingen.

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