Spotlight: Faculty Visits 3 – Two gardens and much more on the tour of the life sciences institutes The President's topics and appointments

After the reception in the Pharmacy Center by Dean Prof. Christoph Jacob and his collagues, my tour of the Faculty of Life Sciences started in the wonderful Medicinal Plant Garden. We then continued through the Pharmaceutical Technology lab before I got the chance to meet the research groups and the Center for Pharmaceutical Engineering (PVZ).

Next, the six Chemistry institutes reported on their research focuses and collaborations in the PhoenixD and SE2A clusters of excellence, among others. In addition to the highly relevant energy topics, I was also impressed by the implant research, which reflects the broad collaborative work with experts from the ForschungRegion (our regional research network).

Later, I was able to test a driving simulator in the Institute of Psychology at Gaußstraße and gain insight into the therapy services offered at the psychotherapy outpatient clinic. I was pleased to see that there are many psychologists here who are actively collaborating  with our other academic disciplines.

From Gaußstraße, we continued to the Botanical Garden, past the giant water lily, which is about to bloom, and the “Grüne Schule” (Green School) school laboratory. The Biozentrum is home to Biology and Biotechnology. In the corresponding research focus “Infection and Therapeutics”, there are close ties in teaching and research with the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI); the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DSMZ) and the University of Göttingen are important partners, as well.

“Making health predictable” is the motto of the Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), which I was also able to visit at the invitation of spokesperson Prof. Dieter Jahn. The BRENDA database is one of the most comprehensive and important online biochemistry databases worldwide. We then went to the BRICS Metabolome Unit, to the Data Science in Biomedicine department and to an exchange with the BRICS scientists. Like the life sciences as a whole, BRICS is closely interconnected with the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures.

Many thanks to Prof. Christoph Jacob, Prof. Dieter Jahn and all participants for the many impressions and exciting topics from research and teaching.

My visit to Faculty II clearly showed that interdisciplinary, exchange and cooperation are an essential part of the spirit of TU Braunschweig. That’s definitely the way to go and important to strengthen in the future.

In the Medicinal Plant Garden: with Prof. Heike Bunjes, Prof. Conrad Kunick, Prof. Stephan Scherneck and Prof. Ute Wittstock. Picture Credits: Kristina Rottig/TU Braunschweig.

In the Pharmaceutical Technology Lab: Prof. Heike Bunjes reports about teaching contents. Picture Credits: Kristina Rottig/TU Braunschweig.

Prof. Henning Menzel shows an experimental setup for electrospinning polymers. Picture Credits: Kristina Rottig/TU Braunschweig.

In the driving simulator of the Institute of Psychology: Prof. Mark Vollrath outlined research approaches in traffic psychology. Picture Credits: Kristina Rottig/TU Braunschweig.

In the Botanical Garden: with Prof. Robert Hänsch presents the giant water lily. Picture Credits: Kristina Rottig/TU Braunschweig.

Well connected even with a distance: The BRICS team. Picture Credits: BRICS/TU Braunschweig.Auch mit Abstand gut vernetzt: Das Team des BRICS. Bildnachweis: BRICS/TU Braunschweig.