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The InfectoGnostics Research Campus opens

With a festive kick-off event, the InfectoGnostics Research Campus officially started its work today. In the next 15 years, the 36 partners from science, medicine and industry will work together to develop new methods in infection diagnostics. The goal is to develop marketable procedures for fast, on-site analysis.

The challenges facing the research campus are varied and demanding. Fast, on-site analysis system are not only needed in hospitals. The other objectives of InfectoGnostics include the detection of germs in food production and livestock and fighting malaria and tuberculosis pathogens in developing countries. To this end, the partners, along with the University of Jena and its hospitals as well as non-university research institutions such as the Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT), the Hans Knöll Institute (HKI), the Fraunhofer Institute of Applied Optics and Precision Engineering as well as leading providers of medical diagnostic and analytical techniques are pursuing a long-term research strategy. Education and youth development are key components.  
On Monday, all participating partners met for the first time to further develop the future research agenda and launch the first projects. In these projects, the latest scientific findings from the fields of optics and photonics, molecular biology and microfluidics will be expeditiously transferred into user-friendly diagnostic and analytical methods.  "Here there is a immense need, especially in cases of sepsis, where every delay of one hour increases mortality by 5-10%," says Prof. Michael Bauer, infection specialist from the University Hospital Jena. To achieve the fastest possible progress, the work within the research campus is oriented toward the entire innovation chain and value-added chain and combines academic research with industrial research. "I am pleased that science and industry continue to grow closer together in such an important field at InfectoGnostics. Thuringia is thereby expanding its Germany-wide leadership in the field of infection research," explains guest of honour Christoph Matschie, Thuringian Minister of Education, Science and Culture, during the ceremonial kick-off event at the ZAF. 

Before the end of this year, the research campus will move into its home in the university’s own Centre for Applied Research (ZAF) at Max-Wien-Platz in Jena. There are approximately 1,000 square metres of laboratory and office space available to InfectoGnostics here and in the adjacent Institute of Physical Chemistry at the University of Jena. "With the research campus, we are creating a place where researchers from different institutions can exchange ideas and work together. This creates fertile ground for the concepts to flourish, which will be implemented later by the company, and possibly also by start-ups, in the form of products," said Prof. Dr. Jürgen Popp, spokesman for InfectoGnostics, Scientific Director of the Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT) and Director of the Institute for Physical Chemistry at Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
In addition to funds from the BMBF, the InfectoGnostics Research Campus is also funded with resources from the Free State of Thuringia. A further portion of the required budget is financed by the participating partners from research and industry. A total of 111 million is to be invested in the research campus in the next 15 years.

Background of the Federal Government’s “Research Campus” funding initiative
An essential objective of the Federal Government’s high-tech strategy is to promote cooperation between partners from science and industry. The new Research Campus funding initiative will be a further step in encouraging medium to long-term cooperations focusing on strategic partnerships in application-oriented basic research. Innovative and future-oriented partnerships between universities and non-university research institutions with companies will develop the technologies and services of tomorrow and beyond, all in one place.