University

Groundbreaking Ceremony for the CRIS

Research on Inflammation of the Skin

The University of Lübeck is continuing to expand its top-level research facilities. With the groundbreaking ceremony on 15 July, construction begins on a new building for research into chronic inflammatory skin diseases and the development of new treatments. Construction of the Center for Research on Inflammation of the Skin (CRIS) was approved by Germany’s most important scientific advisory committee, the Council of Science and Humanities, in 2017.

In the future, 140 scientists from six institutions and two clinics will research and develop new treatments for chronic inflammatory skin diseases. The federal and state government are investing a total of 30 million euros in the new centre. Gebäudemanagement Schleswig-Holstein AöR (GMSH) is in charge of construction, with completion scheduled for summer 2022.

State Secretary for Science Dr. Oliver Grundei, GMSH Director Frank Eisoldt, University President Prof. Dr. Gabriele Gillessen-Kaesbach, Vice President Prof. Dr. Enno Hartmann, Prof. Dr. Detlef Zillikens, Director of the Clinic for Dermatology and the CRIS spokesperson, and Prof. Dr. Christian Sadik, Managing Senior Doctor of the Clinic for Dermatology and Managing Director of the CRIS, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new building.

Cutting-edge technology for improved diagnosis and treatment

“As former Chancellor of the University of Lübeck I have been able to follow the project from the initial concept to the decision of the Council of Science and Humanities and today’s groundbreaking ceremony,” said State Secretary for Science Dr. Oliver Grundei. With a bit of luck, I will also be able to take part in the topping out ceremony and the official opening of the CRIS, which is no everyday occurrence in politics. In accordance with the motto for this year’s Day of German Unity, “Courage Unites”, the University of Lübeck’s CRIS centre will combine several buildings in the future to create a research campus.”

The start of construction represents a great success for the university and another major step forward for research in Lübeck. “Obtaining funds for the CRIS is a high point in the more than decade-long, ongoing work of the university to create a centre for research into inflammatory skin diseases. The CRIS will provide many of the Lübeck-based researchers who are involved in the excellence cluster ‘Precision Medicine in Inflammation’ with greatly improved research infrastructure in the future,” said Prof. Dr. Enno Hartmann, Vice President of the University of Lübeck.

Professor Dr. Detlef Zillikens, the CRIS spokesperson, added: “The CRIS will bring all scientists who are researching skin inflammation at the Lübeck Campus under one roof. The simultaneous provision of cutting-edge technology will make research in this area even more competitive internationally, with the aim of creating better diagnosis and treatment for patients with chronic inflammatory skin diseases.”

Prof. Dr. Christian Sadik, Managing Director of the CRIS, said: “The CRIS means that, for the first time in Germany, inflammation research has its own home. The CRIS and its high-tech infrastructure will open up completely new possibilities for skin research in Germany, and cement the position of the University of Lübeck as one of the leading international centres for skin research.”

“Following the CBBM and the BMF, the CRIS is another major addition to research excellence and teaching here in Lübeck. We have managed to make the best possible use of the limited space for construction on the campus to create a highly modern, interdisciplinary centre with cross-discipline research possibilities, from which science and research will benefit, and which points the way to the future for the University of Lübeck,” says GMSH Director Frank Eisoldt.

The federal and state governments are investing a total of over 57 million euros.

The scientific goal of the CRIS is to shed light on the mechanisms that lead to skin inflammation and to develop innovative and curative approaches to treatment. For this purpose, the CRIS was founded by working groups from the university’s departments for medicine, biology and physics. The plan is to integrate the centre into the new research facility and equip it with key, cutting-edge technologies. The federal and state governments are investing a total of over 57 million euros in the building complex, which will also be home to the Centre for Medical Structures and Cell Biology (ZMSZ).

The complex will consist of five floors, plus a technology floor on the roof, and a basement. The ground and first floor of the CRIS will be for carrying out tests on subjects, while the second to fourth floors will contain laboratories of 80-120 square metres in size. These laboratories will be adaptable to different research conditions in terms of both technology and layout without needing to change the basic structure. Animals will be kept in the  basement. The CRIS will have usable space of 3,048 square metres.

The atrium, designed as an interior space, will ensure plenty of daylight for all areas of the building in use. A central area will link the CRIS and the ZMSZ and house the central communication zones such as the kitchen and meetings rooms. This will help to promote interdisciplinary communication and dialogue among the scientists from the various disciplines. Externally, the two centres will have different colours: The CRIS will have a golden facade, the ZMSZ a silver one.
The impressive 38-metre wide and 80-metre long new complex will be organically integrated into the existing campus in the vicinity of the Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM) and the Center for Biomedical Research (BMF).

Details on the research complex
Building contractor: Federal State Schleswig-Holstein
Contractor’s representative: Gebäudemanagement Schleswig-Holstein AöR
Architect: agn Niederberghaus & Partner GmbH
Start of construction: July 2019
Scheduled completion: summer 2022
Number of floors: five (plus basement and technology floor)
Dimensions: 38 metres wide, 80 metres long

Details on the Center for Research on Inflammation of the Skin (CRIS)
Usable space: 3,048 square metres
Construction cost: approx. 24.61 million euros

Details on the Centre for Medical Structures and Cell Biology (ZMSZ)
Usable space: 4,784 square metres
Construction cost: approx. 33.45 million euros