Medicine

This year, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Duisburg-Essen is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Compared with many medical faculties at other universities, this is a rather young age. Nevertheless, within this relatively short time, the faculty has been able to establish itself on a par with its counterparts in North Rhine-Westphalia. This dynamic process depends on the one hand on the scientific excellence of the researchers, and on the other on a corresponding infrastructure being in place to support the researchers in their efforts. To further develop this infrastructure, the Faculty of Medicine has taken some important steps over the last two years. Core facilities providing access to key technologies for all faculty members have been built up. One of these is the Imaging Centre Essen, which will be fully functional by the end of this year and gives researchers access to the latest imaging procedures. Since mid-2011, a high-throughput sequencing system has been available for genome-wide functional studies. A facility for behavioural phenotyping has also been set up, and work on establishing a biobank got underway last year. The most obvious structural measure of the past two years was accomplished in 2011 with the inauguration of the new medical research building. This puts the Faculty of Medicine in an even better position to conduct highly competitive research projects and acquire the necessary third-party funding for its work.