Building the Multiscale Imaging Centre

Photos

August 2017: The basement and the lift shaft have now been prepared, and the water and electricity mains for the building have been laid.
© CiM - Manfred Thomas

July 2017: The foundation stone for the Multiscale Imaging Centre is laid! The coordinators at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence are delighted, as are some of the group leaders who will be doing research in the new building, as well as the Deans of the Faculties involved.
© WWU - Christina Heimken
A time capsule is filled with daily newspapers, coins and building plans by representatives of the Ministry of Science of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the City of Münster, Münster University, the Construction and Real Estate Management Authority for NRW and the Gerber architectural practice …
© WWU - Christina Heimken
… and is then deposited in the foundation walls of the new building.
© WWU - Christina Heimken
The Multiscale Imaging Centre (MIC) is being built at the heart of the natural and life sciences campus of the Münster University in Röntgenstraße.
© CiM
May 2017: Now it can really get going! Building permission has been granted and first stone laying is scheduled for 7 July 2017.
© CiM - Sylwia Marschalkowski
The building site was first searched thoroughly for unexploded bombs from World War Two – luckily, none were found.
© CiM - Sylwia Marschalkowski
The construction site sign has already been up for some while.
© CiM - Sylwia Marschalkowski
February 2017: A touch of snow on the new building site
© CiM - Doris Niederhoff
This is how the Multiscale Imaging Centre will look when it is finished. In an area of 5,700 m2 with state-of-the-art laboratories, approximately 260 staff members will undertake research together under one roof. The construction costs, around 63 million euros, will be covered by the federal government, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Münster University.
© Gerber Architekten

In the Multiscale Imaging Centre (MIC) that is scheduled to be completed in 2019, researchers will be bringing together a broad spectrum of biomedical imaging processes to be used in studying the behaviour of cells in organisms. The building gives a structural basis for the long-term establishment of the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence research concept at the university.

News 13.01.2017: Building work begins on MIC
News 11.04.2014: Science Council approves new research building in Münster

Science for the Public

Research is facinating: The Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence wants to pass on knowledge in a way that everyone can understand. The researchers do this through multimedia content on this website, in the form of events and in dialogue with the media.

Samples from the desert in her luggage

Lulit Tilahun Wolde, a visiting academic from Ethiopia, is working in a research group at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence. She brought microorganisms with her that can survive in one of the hottest regions on Earth. She wants to find out how modifications in RNA enable the microorganisms to survive.

“We do research to cure cancer in children and adolescents”

Pediatrician Prof. Claudia Rössig is convinced of the chances for the immunotherapeutic treatment of children with cancer. Her research group at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence is aiming to modify patients’ T cells in such a way that they can systematically recognize or destroy cancer cells in solid tumours, or at least keep them in check.

Mechanisms of artery formation

During angiogenesis, new blood vessels are formed from existing ones. Research teams at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence have shown that the Notch signalling pathway influences the sprouting of new blood vessels and the formation of arteries. Two studies have appeared in the latest issue of “Nature Cell Biology”.

Extra time for junior research group leaders

The junior research groups at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence have demonstrated convincing work with their research. After three and a half years, group leaders Dr. Milos Galic and Dr. Sebastian Rumpf are receiving financial support for a further two years.

“Together, we can understand the big picture”

Dr. Britta Trappmann develops engineered tissue models for research into the growth of blood vessels. Other scientists at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence are already showing an interest in her platforms. The reason is that they can then study angiogenesis in 3D in a very well controlled environment.

“The way bones heal is fascinating”

Trauma surgeon Prof. Richard Stange investigates how bones heal. As the new Professor of Translational Regenerative Medicine at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence, he combines basic research with clinical work. His aim is that research results should always benefit the patient as far as possible.

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