Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials Dresden commemorates its 10th anniversary

On May 14, 2012, the Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials Dresden celebrated its 10th anniversary. The interdisciplinary center brings together researchers of the Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V. (Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research, IPF) and the Institute of Material Science of the Technische Universität Dresden (TUD/IfWW) striving to develop novel materials for medicine and technology based on the gain of knowledge in biology.

In the 10 years of its existence, the Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials Dresden has achieved international renommée and substantially contributed to the establishment of further initiatives such as the DFG Research Centre and Cluster of Excellence Regenerative Therapies Dresden, the Dresden International Graduate School of Biomedicine and Bioengineering, the BMBF Innovation Centre for Molecular Bioengineering B CUBE, and to numerous national and international collaborative projects. Research beyond the borders of institutions and disciplines, a key aspect of the institutional strategy of the Technische Universität Dresden, has already become an inherent feature of daily work at the Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials.

Highlights of the ceremonial act were, in addition to greeting speeches by leading representatives of the Saxon State Ministry of Science and the Fine Arts, the Technische Universität Dresden, and the Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, seminal lectures by Prof. Kai Simons, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden and by Prof. Peter Fratzl, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam.

In addition, two prizes for excellent theses were awarded for the first time; The Outstanding Biomaterials Thesis Awards 2011 of the Association of Supporters of the Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials Dresden was presented to Dr. Britta Trappmann (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA) honouring her thesis at the University of  Cambridge, UK. The prize for the Best Thesis of the Max Bergmann Centre  2011 was awarded to Dr.-Ing. Sascha Heinemann, Technische Universität Dresden, Institute of Material Science.