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Leading research institutions launch Health + Life Science Alliance Heidelberg Mannheim
EMBL is one of the seven founding partners of the "Health + Life Science Alliance Heidelberg Mannheim" which aims to establish the Rhine-Neckar region as an international leader for biomedicine and technology
Following two decades of close cooperation, seven of the most prominent scientific research institutions in the Rhine-Neckar region launched the Health + Life Science Alliance Heidelberg Mannheim in September 2022. The participating institutions are the Heidelberg University, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, the Central Institute of Mental Health (ZI) and the two university hospitals in Heidelberg und Mannheim.
The partners are united in the goal of expanding common priorities in health research, bolstering life science research, and intensifying transfer of technologies and research outputs into industry and society. They aim to create a new leading cluster with the potential for creating sustainable value, together with strong partners from industry and the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, and to create an internationally competitive hub for biomedical technology.
EMBL General Director Edith Heard said: “Heidelberg is internationally known as a city of science. Here and in the general the Rhine-Neckar area, research and knowledge are promoted and appreciated, within and beyond academia and industry. It´s an honour to see EMBL continue to be an important part of the region´s scientific future.”
Expanding excellent research in the region
On 22 September 2022, the alliance celebrated its launch with a kick-off event in the presence of Baden-Württemberg’s State Premier Winfried Kretschmann. It included a presentation on the current status of and further development plans for the alliance. In addition, initial results of projects enabled by its funding as an Innovation Campus were shown.
State Premier Winfried Kretschmann pointed out that the alliance represents a unique research and development network with significant effects on healthcare infrastructure. He thanked all participants for their commitment to putting scientific innovations into practice and specifically highlighted the importance of life sciences and collaborative research for a healthy society and economy.
The state of Baden-Württemberg has committed to financially supporting the first stage of the structural development of the research alliance with €10.7 million. Furthermore, in 2021, three pilot projects of the partners already received funding worth €40 million in the context of the Innovation Campus. These include the creation of joint high-tech platforms and the advancement of the use of artificial intelligence in the life sciences.
Embedded in a network of start-ups and companies in the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, the Health + Life Science Alliance Heidelberg Mannheim seeks to further expand its excellent research, along with translation and transfer, by linking outstanding university and non-university research centres with the university’s medical faculties and the university hospitals.
