max planck institut für biophysikalische chemie

The Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer Institute) is one of the largest of the approximately 80 institutes constituting the Max Planck Society and is unique with respect to its history and interdisciplinary research. It clearly demonstrates the research potential that can be generated by operating at the interfaces of the classical scientific disciplines: physics, chemistry, and biology. The unifying vision has been to characterize biological processes in a quantitative manner, as was already reflected in the focus of several of the founding departments on reaction mechanisms and dynamics. However, the fields of neurobiology, biochemistry and molecular biology were also represented at the outset, thereby ensuring that the institute would contribute to and exploit the dramatic advances in biology-related technology and knowledge of the next 30 years. As a natural and desirable consequence, the current research spectrum of the MPIbpc is very broad, encompassing fields such as spectroscopy and photochemical kinetics of molecules in crystals, liquids and gases; the structure and dynamics of biological macromolecules; cellular architecture; analysis of protein functions through computer simulations of atomic motion; RNA processing and transport; release mechanisms of neurotransmitters and hormones; molecular mechanisms of cellular signal transduction; improved spatial and temporal resolution of 3D light microscopy; molecular genetics; and processes underlying development and differentiation as well as the regenerative potential of invertebrates and mammals. This combination highlights the multidisciplinary approach of the institute, which has been confirmed with numerous acknowledgements and awards.