Laying the foundation stone for the Biomedical Center

The High Tech Campus of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich in Großhadern/Martinsried has been extended by an important building block: On September 29, 2011, the foundation stone was laid for the Biomedical Center (BMC) with the Center for Applied Cell Research (Cell Center) of the LMU.

The construction costs for the BMC and the cell center will total around 125 million euros, with an additional 19 million euros being invested in the initial equipping of the buildings and in large-scale equipment.

Bavarian Minister President Horst Seehofer said on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone: "The Biomedical Center is an outstanding investment in the future of Bavaria as a science location and a prime example of Bavarian science and economic policy. This is how our future strategy "Bavaria on the move" becomes reality!" State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Dr. Georg Schütte, emphasized that the BMC at LMU is the largest federal project to date in the field of research buildings. "By funding excellent research buildings, the Federal Government wants to create the conditions for German universities to be successful in international competition," said the State Secretary. "The Munich Center will have a great impact."

With over 18,000 square meters of floor space, the BMC and the LMU Cell Center will offer excellent conditions for basic biomedical research and teaching. The BMC is already integrated into an outstanding research infrastructure on LMU's HighTechCampus. The Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy of the LMU with the Gene Center, the Faculty of Biology, the University Hospital, Großhadern site, the Max Planck Institutes of Biochemistry and Neurobiology and the Biotechnology Innovation and Start-up Center are all located in the immediate vicinity.

The BMC forms the northern end of the campus, with four building sections grouped around a spacious, green inner courtyard. This inner courtyard will be available to scientists and students as an outdoor recreation area. The areas open to the public as well as the teaching areas with rooms for seminars and practical courses and lecture halls are located in the southern building part and are designed to be transparent. On the ground floor, the cafeteria, the foyer and the Audimax will provide space for dialog between researchers, students and the public. The library will also be located on the ground floor. The laboratories with state-of-the-art technology will be located in the northern and eastern parts of the building and will have an additional technical center on the roof.

In future, around 500 LMU employees will research and teach at the BMC. The cell center will be financed as a joint research building in accordance with Article 91b of the German Research Act, with half of the funds coming from the federal government and half from the state of Bavaria. The basis for this was the recommendation of the Science Council.