Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology
| Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME | |
|---|---|
 Aerial photo of Fraunhofer IME in Grafschaft |
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| Category: | research Institute |
| Carrier: | Fraunhofer Society |
| Legal form of the carrier: | Registered association |
| Seat of the wearer: | Munich |
| Facility location: | Schmallenberg County |
| Branch office: | Aachen |
| Type of research: | Applied research |
| Subjects: | Life sciences |
| Areas of expertise: | Molecular biology , ecology |
| Basic funding: | Federal government (90%), states (10%) |
| Management: | Gerd Geisslinger, Christoph Schäfers, Stefan Schillberg |
| Employee: | approx. 527 |
| Homepage: | www.ime.fraunhofer.de |
The Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME , also known as Fraunhofer IME for short , is an institution of the Fraunhofer Society . With its molecular biology department, the institute is based in Aachen and the applied ecology department is in Schmallenberg in the Grafschaft district . Its activities can be assigned to applied research and development in the life sciences in the field of molecular biology and ecology .
Research and Development
The Fraunhofer IME conducts research and development in the areas of pharmaceuticals , medicine , chemistry , agriculture as well as environmental protection and consumer protection .
Molecular Biology (Aachen)
In this part of the institute located in Aachen, the focus is on the development of new technologies for the diagnosis and therapy of human and animal diseases and for the protection of crops and food. With the research areas in molecular biotechnology , Fraunhofer IME takes on research and development tasks for the pharmaceutical, agro-food and nutrition industries .
The molecular biology branch is divided into
- Functional and Applied Genomics
- Pharmaceutical product development
- Plant biotechnology
- Integrated production platforms
- Services of the departments
Applied Ecology (Schmallenberg)
The building complex was built in 1957. The research institute emerged from a laboratory for research into dust lung disease. The branch of the institute located in Schmallenberg was founded in 1959 by Karl Bisa. The then Institute for Aerobiology emerged from a research center that was already being supervised by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. The Institute for Aerobiology of the Fraunhofer Society was active in promoting applied research in the field of oriented basic research on chemical, aerogenic and radiological environmental influences on biological systems. The tasks were processed in approximately equally strong departments of biology, chemistry and physics.
The institute will be expanded for around 32 million euros by 2021. Construction work began at the end of 2014. Part of the building is to be demolished and replaced by larger ones. In addition to the renovation of the old buildings, a new four-story laboratory building, a supply and disposal yard, warehouses, parking lots, seminar rooms and a library are being built. In addition, additional jobs will be created.
Today's part of the institute aims to identify and assess the opportunities and risks of synthetic and biogenic substances for the environment and consumers, as well as to develop and implement strategies to protect them. By working on projects on behalf of the authorities and providing advice, the institute also has a significant influence on environmental policy decisions. One of the goals is to identify and assess the pollution of the environment and consumers by chemicals.
The applied ecology branch is divided into
- Plant protection
- Chemical and product safety
- Soil and water protection
- Environmental monitoring
- Food and feed safety
The core competencies for completion of these tasks are in the areas environmental chemistry , environmental simulation , environmental and food analysis , Cryobanking , ecology and ecotoxicology , mathematical modeling, risk assessment and communication.
Federal Environmental Specimen Bank
Fraunhofer IME has been involved in the federal environmental specimen bank since early 2000 . On behalf of the Federal Environment Agency , the annual samples are processed into homogenates (cryogenic grinding), the environmental samples sub-bank ( cryogenic storage ) is operated and the environmental samples are analyzed for elements and element species.
For this purpose, a new building in Schmallenberg was put into operation as a storage location for the bank for environmental samples. The environmental samples are stored here at temperatures as low as −150 ° C. The storage capacity, cooled with liquid nitrogen, has a total volume of 49 m³.
Cooperations
There is a cooperation with RWTH Aachen University in the university sector . This cooperation enables basic research for the Fraunhofer IME and also serves the training and further education of students and graduates. The collaboration is facilitated by the personal union of the head of Fraunhofer IME, who is also a professor at RWTH Aachen.
Fraunhofer IME is one of five Fraunhofer Institutes in the Fraunhofer Group for Life Sciences (VLS), which was founded in 2001. This association bundles the competencies of the Fraunhofer institutes active in the field of life sciences and wants to use synergies. In addition to the cooperation between the Fraunhofer Institutes in Germany, the group has three international branches. These are locations in China ( Shenzhen , Guandong and Xiamen , Fujian) and the USA ( Delaware ).
Infrastructure
In 2018, Fraunhofer IME employed 527 people in Aachen, Schmallenberg, Gießen, Münster, Frankfurt / Main and Hamburg.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sign at the Grafschaft monastery opposite. the IME
- ^ Josef Wiegel (Ed.): Grafschaft - Contributions to the history of monastery and village . Institute for Aerobiology, Verlag Heimat and Förderverein Grafschaft-Schanze, 2nd expanded edition, 1997, p. 247 ff.
- ↑ Derwesten.de: Research - Laboratory with the latest technology from June 8, 2016, accessed on June 10, 2016
- ^ Federal Environment Agency, Federal Environmental Specimen Bank: Home - Federal Environmental Specimen Bank. Retrieved May 23, 2017 .
- ↑ Environmental Specimen Bank - Fraunhofer IME. Accessed August 21, 2020 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 9 ′ 4.8 ″ N , 8 ° 18 ′ 44 ″ E