Bioinformatics in Saarbrücken

The founding of the Center for Bioinformatics Saar (CBI) in 2001 was the result of the acceptance of the concept for a “Virtual Biolab”, which was submitted to the DFG and accepted together with four other concepts among a set of 31 concepts from throughout Germany.

n the years following, the Center was funded by the DFG with about €6.2 million. The success with the DFG initiative had very positive effects on the development of the life sciences and, especially, of pharmaceutics on the Saarbrücken campus.

Since its foundation, the Center for Bioinformatics forms a bridge between the scientifically outstanding Saarbrücken informatics and the life sciences at Saarland University. The Lengauer department and the Lenhof group belong to Faculty 6 (mathematics/informatics). The Helms group belongs to Faculty 8 (chemistry, pharmaceutics, life and material sciences). In 2013, another bioinformatics group with a focus on clinical bioinformatics directed by a full professor was established in Faculty 2 (medicine). This department, directed by Prof. Andreas Keller has enriched CBI with expertise and international visibility in the highly up-to-date research field of “microRNA”, especially on the topic “microRNAs as molecular biomarkers for new effective diagnostics”.

The Center and its research groups are involved in many excellence and model projects at Saarland University, among them the Excellence Cluster “Multimodal Computing and Interaction” (MMCI) and the Graduate School for Computer Science of the German Excellence Initiative, the DFG Collaborative Research Cluster 1027 “Physical Modeling of Non-Steady-State Processes in Biological Systems”, the EU-projects P-Medicine and BLUEPRINT as well as the German Epigenome Program DEEP funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Saarbrücken - A place to study?

Saarbrücken has a quite large fraction of students relative to the number of inhabitants. The diverse and high quality study programs offered, the advantages of the city location and the wide range of cultural activities in the city are reasons for attracting the large student population.

Compared to its size Saarbrücken has many cultural highlights. If you like theatre or if you prefer cinema you'll find your wishes satisfied. The heart of Saarbrücken is well known for its numerous restaurants, especially at 'St. Johanner Markt', the most lively part of the old town. If you like to dance, there a several dancing clubs awaiting your visit, which cover the whole spectrum of different types of music. You can feel the proximity to France almost everywhere and this makes Saarbrücken a special place in the very center of Europe, at which "savoir vivre" is more than just a saying.

The cost of living is quite reasonable in contrast to other big German cities, and the rents are bearable. The city can easily be reached by car, train and plane, since 2001 also with the German high speed train (ICE).