Research Institute of Molecular Pathology

Last updated
Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP)
Entrance-area.jpg
Established1985
Research type
Field of research
Director
 Jan-Michael Peters (science); Harald Isemann (administration)
Faculty 15
Staff 280
AddressCampus-Vienna-Biocenter 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Location Vienna, Austria
Website www.imp.ac.at

The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) is a biomedical research center, which conducts curiosity-driven basic research in the molecular life sciences.

Contents

The IMP is located at the Vienna Biocenter in Vienna, Austria. The institute employs around 280 people from 40 countries, of which over 200 are scientists. [1] The working language at the IMP is English. The IMP was established in 1985 and is funded by the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim and research grants. [2]

Research

Laboratory at the IMP. Up to three research groups share a lab to support communication and exchange. IMP-lab.jpg
Laboratory at the IMP. Up to three research groups share a lab to support communication and exchange.

IMP comprises 15 independent research groups performing basic biological research across the following areas: [3]

Publications, awards and honours

Scientists at the IMP publish 60 to 90 papers in international peer-review journals per year: between 1985 and 2021, more than 2,200 research papers were published. 93 patents were filed based on discoveries made at the institute since 1985. IMP faculty was awarded 24 ERC Grants since the establishment of this grant scheme in 2007; about two thirds of the IMP faculty were ERC grantees by 2018. [4] Five IMP faculty members received Wittgenstein Awards since 1996. About one third of the faculty are elected members of EMBO. [5] In 2017, Kim Nasmyth received the Breakthrough Prize in life sciences for work on cohesin that he had done at the IMP. [6] One year later, his former IMP PhD student Angelika Amon was awarded the same prize. [7]

Facilities

The IMP maintains a suite of in-house facilities, maintained in cooperation with the adjacent institutes IMBA and GMI, that provide support and scientific services to the scientists at the IMP. [8] In addition, the Vienna Biocenter maintains a number of shared services jointly through the "Vienna BioCenter Core Facilities" (VBCF). The services offered are available to all Vienna BioCenter scientists and companies, including IMP staff. [9]

History

The establishment of the IMP was a joint venture by Boehringer Ingelheim and Genentech and initiated in 1985. Under the directorship of Max Birnstiel, the first institute building was opened in 1988. [10]

In 1992, three institutes of the faculties of science and medicine of the University of Vienna moved into a nearby building, today's Max Perutz Labs. This created the basis for referring to the area as the "Vienna Biocenter". [11]

In 1993, Boehringer Ingelheim took over the IMP shares of Genentech. Following Max Birnstiel's retirement in 1997, Kim Nasmyth became scientific director.

In 2006, two institutes of the Austrian Academy of Sciences were opened in the vicinity of the IMP: the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) and the Gregor Mendel Institute (GMI). The three institutes cooperate closely by maintaining shared facilities. In the same year, Barry Dickson became the IMP's scientific director.

Since 2013, Jan-Michael Peters is scientific director of the IMP. In late 2016, the IMP moved into its new building, which was formally opened on 1 March 2017. [5]

In 2019, the International Birnstiel Award was established by the IMP. It is awarded annually by the Max Birnstiel Foundation and the IMP, and it targets doctoral students at an advanced stage of their PhD research who have contributed to making an outstanding discovery in their field.

PhD program

The "Vienna BioCenter PhD Program" is an international PhD training program carried out jointly by the four Vienna Biocenter research institutes. Acceptance into the program is competitive and based on a formal selection procedure. There are two selections each year, deadlines are usually in April and November. Participation in the program is a condition for doing a PhD at the IMP. [12]

Building

Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), outside view. IMP-outside.jpg
Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), outside view.

The current IMP building at Campus-Vienna-Biocenter 1 was opened in 2017. It comprises 15,000 square meters of gross floor space and 8,000 square meters of net area, spread over eight levels. [13]

The building contains 3,000 square meters for laboratories and 2,000 square meters for offices; its lecture hall seats up to 280 people. The buildings has six seminar rooms and technical facilities. Some facilities such as cafeteria, but also scientific services, are open to staff from other Vienna Biocenter entities and the IMP building is connected to the neighboring Institute of Molecular Biotechnology building through a bridge. [14]

Split-level architecture blending different floors and functions of the new IMP building. Spit-levels.jpg
Split-level architecture blending different floors and functions of the new IMP building.

Several features of the building refer to biological research: the facade features stripes should resemble DNA bands as seen in gel electrophoresis; the central elevator's glass covers are coated with dichroic foils which are also used in filters for light microscopy. The project costs of 52 million Euros were borne by the IMP's main sponsor Boehringer Ingelheim. [15]

Scientific Advisory Board

In order to maintain a high standard of research, the IMP employs a process of continuous review and feedback. The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), consisting of distinguished scientists, meets once a year and discusses the quality, significance, and main focus of research conducted at the IMP. The SAB is chaired by Dirk Schübeler of Friedrich Miescher Institute. Its other members are Adrian Bird (University of Edinburgh); Norbert Kraut (Boehringer Ingelheim); Ruth Lehmann (New York University); Ruslan Medzhitov (Yale School of Medicine/HHMI); Eva Nogales (University of California, Berkeley). [16]

Funding

The operating budget of the IMP is provided largely by Boehringer Ingelheim. Support comes from grants awarded to individual scientists and projects by national and international funding agencies such as the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Austrian Industrial Research Promotion Fund (FFG), the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF), Zentrum für Innovation und Technologie (ZIT), the City of Vienna, the Austrian federal government, the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP), and the European Union (EU). [17]

Notable people

Group leaders and research areas

Alumni

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Birnstiel</span> Swiss molecular biologist (1933–2014)

Max Luciano Birnstiel was a Swiss molecular biologist who held a number of positions in scientific leadership in Europe, including the chair of the Institute of Molecular Biology at the University of Zurich from 1972–86, and that of founding director of the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna from 1986 to 1996. His research focused on gene regulation in eukaryotes. His research group is sometimes cited as the first to purify single genes, the ribosomal RNA genes from Xenopus laevis, three years before the successful isolation of the lac operon. He is also recognized for one of the earliest discoveries of a gene enhancer element. Birnstiel died in 2014 of heart failure during cancer treatment.

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References

  1. ↑ "IMP at a Glance" . Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  2. ↑ "The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology". boehringer-ingelheim.com. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  3. ↑ "Main Research Areas". The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  4. ↑ "ERC Funded Projects". 22 February 2017.
  5. 1 2 "History". The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  6. ↑ "Breakthrough Prize awarded to Kim Nasmyth".
  7. ↑ "Angelika Amon wins 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences".
  8. ↑ "Welcome to Core Facilities". IMP. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  9. ↑ "VBCF". VBCF. 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  10. ↑ Wirth, Maria (2013). Der Campus Vienna BioCenter. Innsbruck, Wien, Bozen: StudienVerlag. p. 46. ISBN   978-3-7065-5305-6.
  11. ↑ Wirth, Maria (2013). Der Campus Vienna BioCenter. Innsbruck, Wien, Bozen: StudienVerlag. p. 75. ISBN   978-3-7065-5305-6.
  12. ↑ "Home". Vienna Biocenter PhD Programme. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  13. ↑ Peters, Jan-Michael (2024). IMP Advances 2017 - 2024. Vienna: Research Institute of Molecular Pathology. p. 92. ISBN   978-3-200-09679-0.
  14. ↑ Peters, Jan-Michael (2024). IMP Advances 2017 - 2023. Vienna: Research Institute of Molecular Pathology. p. 92. ISBN   978-3-200-09679-0.
  15. ↑ "IMP: New IMP Building: International Research Center Opens in Vienna". LISAvienna. 2017-03-01. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  16. ↑ "Scientific Advisory Board". The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  17. ↑ Peters, Jan-Michael (2024). IMP Advances 2017 - 2023. Vienna: Research Institute of Molecular Pathology. p. 116. ISBN   978-3-200-09679-0.
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