BMLS opens its doors to the general public as part of the open day on Riedberg Campus

The Week of Science on Riedberg Campus from 1-6 June 2014 forms part of the Goethe University’s program to celebrate its 100th anniversary. BMLS opened its doors to the general public as part of the “Open Sunday” on 1 June 2014.
The day started with a wonderful sunny morning and the opening of the University’s new science garden. This was followed by a varied program of activities, including seminars, exhibitions, tours, live music and activities for all ages at the different departments and institutes located on the Riedberg.
Guided tours of BMLS proved very popular.  During the tours a total of 91 visitors were introduced to the building and its laboratories. They learned about the founding of BMLS as part of the Cluster of Excellence Macromolecular Complexes and received an introduction into the ongoing research. The international and highly interdisciplinary institute currently hosts thirteen different research groups with approximately 160 members of 19 different nationalities. Visitors had the chance to see the state of the art electron microscopes and the light microscopes at close hand, learned about the amazing new method of optogenetics and saw what is involved in culturing nerve and other cells in the laboratory. They talked directly to PhD students and postdoctoral scientists about their experiments and many questions were asked ranging from technical details to opportunities for interested students.  All involved are very pleased with the success of this first open day of the institute.