Bavarian Minister of the Interior Joachim Herrmann visits the Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin
Joachim Herrmann, Bavarian Minister of State for Sport and Integration, recently visited the Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin (MPZPM) in Erlangen to learn about the new era of research culture heralded by its opening. The minister gained insights into the international significance of the MPZPM during his visit and learned more about the collaborative center's research work at the interface of physics and medicine.
"All cooperation partners of this center, the Max Planck Society (MPG), the Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), and the University Hospital Erlangen (UKER), have invested considerable funds and established new chairs and research groups in order to significantly advance basic research in physics in Erlangen." With these words, Prof. Vahid Sandoghdar, initiator of the center and Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL), praised the close cooperation and commitment of the participating institutions in his introductory remarks. This had already been demonstrated in the concept phase, he said. With an investment volume of 60 million euros from the Free State of Bavaria, largely due to the personal commitment of Joachim Herrmann, the building was successfully inaugurated in September 2024. There are now four Alexander von Humboldt Professors conducting research at the internationally recognized science center, Sandoghdar added, with room for further groups. He stressed Erlangen’s reputation as a medical city, with the MPZPM, introducing physical concepts at the basic research stage to the interface of physics and medicine when they had not previously existed in this form.
During the tour of the 5,700-square-metre building, Adrian Toma, construction coordinator of the MPZPM and Head of building technologies, explained just how sophisticated the highly technologized center is. Herrmann visited scientific laboratories and met their leading scientists, including Prof Kristian Franze (Neuronal Mechanics), Dr Jona Kayser (Cellular Evolution) and Prof Tomohisa Toda (Neuronal Epigenomics), who explained their pioneering methods and research goals.
Prof Franze, a board member and one of the five scientists responsible for the center's management, showed Herrmann nerve cells under a confocal laser scanning microscope. He explained how his team's research is helping uncover how the human nervous system is formed. He made the new discovery that neurons growing during development or regeneration after injury are also guided by physical signals, and not exclusively by biochemical signals as was previously assumed: “Just as we find it easier to walk on a firm, tarmac road than in the soft sand on the coast, nerve cells grow better in stiffer tissue than in soft tissue.”
In Prof. Toda's lab, Herrmann learned more about research methods that focus on gene regulation and nuclear mechanics in order to investigate brain aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases. The researchers want to understand why aging is the main risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases
The Core Facility Lab-on-a-Chip is one of the three central service units at the MPZPM, and the Minister gained an insight into the chip manufacturing process in its clean room laboratory for photolithography.
Kayser explained to the minister how cutting-edge technologies are used to measure the physical properties of cells. His team wants to decipher their role in urgent clinical challenges, such as the development of therapy resistance in cancers. The scientists hope to use these findings to advance the development of innovative, physics-based treatment strategies, including mechanical immunomodulation and evolution-based adaptive cancer therapy.
"We are working in an entirely new and exciting field of research at this center. We are not only looking to make groundbreaking insights here, but also to promote a new type of science education that introduces physicists to medicine and medical professionals to the importance of physics," said Prof Vasily Zaburdaev, spokesperson for the MPZPM, summarizing the MPZPM’s aspirations for science education at the center. "The research visions and challenges we are facing are quite unique. And while we as group leaders have an idea of what needs to be done to achieve these goals, we would not be able to go down this path without the energy, creativity, and enthusiasm of versatile and inquisitive young scientists," the physicist continued.
In his subsequent conversation with students, the minister commented on issues such as infrastructure and mobility in the Erlangen-Nuremberg metropolitan region, while also addressing the concerns of young scientists regarding disinformation in public discourse. "We take the issue of disinformation very seriously and I, as Minister of the Interior, am working intensively with my own specific government agencies. This is also a challenge for the entire scientific community. Together, we must take decisive action to counter this development and bring science closer to the people," Herrmann said. He expressly praised the courage scientists have repeatedly shown in taking a public stance and steering the focus to fact-based content. The minister expressed his admiration for the research carried out at the MPZPM.
Photo @ Susanne Viezens
