In the presence of Christian Gaebler, Berlin Senator for Urban Development, Construction, and Housing, Dr. Ina Czyborra, Senator for Science, Health, and Care, and Prof. Dr. Julia von Blumenthal, President of HU Berlin, and Prof. Dr. Heyo K. Kroemer, Chairman of the Executive Board, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new Optobiology Center took place on August 26, 2025. The Optobiology Center is being built in Berlin-Mitte on the HU Berlin grounds as the centerpiece of the new Life Science Campus. The new building will offer the most modern facilities for cutting-edge interdisciplinary research in the field of optobiology. Photobiology, microscopy, and neurobiological optogenetics will be combined in the new competence center.
Optobiology covers exciting areas of research with great potential for the future. A particularly fascinating example is optogenetics, a groundbreaking technology that can be used to develop innovative neurological therapies. For example, with optogenetics it has already been possible to partially restore the vision of a blind patient. The research at the new optobiology center aims to learn from the biology of light control, understand its mechanisms and use it for applications in a variety of biological and medical research areas.
UniSysCat group leader Prof. Peter Hegemann (HU Berlin) played a major role in the application for the construction of the new optobiology center. Hegemann is considered one of the co-founders of optogenetics. In addition to Peter Hegemann, UniSysCat scientists Prof. Athina Zouni (HU Berlin) as well as Dr. Patrick Scheerer (Charité) and Prof. Christian Spahn (Charité) are involved in the new competence center.
Laboratory and office workspaces for 110 scientists are now being built on an area of around 3,800 square meters. The new building will create an infrastructure that enables excellent basic research while also building bridges to practical applications.