Celebrating a new startup:
The University of Hohenheim puts the new phytomedicine building into service. [18.11.11]
Think tanks, modern laboratories and large refrigeration rooms: Local building authority hands over the €5 mil. lab / Former lab to be used by students as workspace
Wed., 16 Nov. 2011, starting at 1:00 p.m., Otto-Sander-Straße 5, Stuttgart.
Press photos available after 3:00 p.m. at www.uni-hohenheim.de/presse.
Built at record speed: The planning started at the beginning of 2010 and already today the university building authority and the University of hohenheim are celebrating the inaguration of the new €5 mil. lab for phytomedicine. Construction was made possible by funding from the federal and state govenments as part of an economic booster programme. The moving-in phase is expected to last until Christmas. Afterwards, the former building, which is in a state of disrepair, is expected to be renovated, creating space for offices and around 120 workspaces for students.
The new building in Otto-Sander-Straße is flooded with light. Both the east and west sides are composed mostly of glass, whereas the north and south fassades are covered in elegant metal braidwork. The fact that the windows are triple-glazed means that the building is also equipped with the latest in energy-efficiency.
Research which will be carried out in the new building is essential to the work done in Hohenheim. "Phytomedicine is to agricultural science what mathematics is to engineering", says the President of the University, Prof. Dr. Hans-peter Liebig. Scientists in this field are concerned with all of the various aspects of providing healthy conditions within which plants can thrive by treating them for illnesses and protecting them from pests.
The complex will encompass about 730 sq. metres, the majority of which is dedicated to laboratories. Each department will have two large labs at its disposal, in addition to specialised service labs, which can be used by all researchers, such as a shielded electrophysiology lab, two dark rooms, one weighing room, a centrifugal chamber and a safety cabinet.
The ability to cool is especially important in the field of phytomedicine. That is why two large refrigeration rooms are located in the basement. Special refrigeration units can also be used for temperatures of -80°C. The new building also has a refrigerated lab with an air temperature of 4°C where scientists can extract proteins, DNA, RNA and other various metabolised plant products.
Think tanks and structured workflow
Researchers from the center are especially proud of their "think tanks", where the computers in the west wing which are used to analyse data basked in sunlight. The light also passes through to the laboratories which are located on the other side of a glass wall, thus providing natural light for the numerous workspaces.
"For me, the best aspect of the new building is the fact that our workflow will be much more structured. We were involved in the planning of the complex right from the very beginning and we were able to express and realise our wishes", says Prof. Dr. ralf Vögele, the director of the institute.
Planned for the old building: offices and 120 workspaces for students
The moving-in phase is expected to be finished by Christmas. Then the old building will be refurbished and new offices will be made available to researchers from the old laboratories on the first floor. Researchers working for four different professors in the fields of herbology, entomology, phytopathology and virology will soon be at work here.
On the ground floor, students will have access to 120 workspaces, the funding for which was provided by the programme Hochschule 2012.
Text: Klebs, Transl.: O'Mealy