The IMP - a Portrait

The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) is a basic biomedical research center sponsored largely by the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, and located in the Campus Vienna Biocenter (VBC). The IMP opened its doors in 1988 under the directorship of Max Birnstiel. Kim Nasmyth succeeded Max Birnstiel as director in 1997, and since 2006 the IMP has been directed by Barry Dickson.

In 1992, three institutes of the Faculties of Science and Medicine of the University of Vienna moved into the building next door, and have recently been restructured as the Max F. Perutz Laboratories (MFPL) under the directorship of Graham Warren. The campus has also recently been enriched by two new institutes of the Austrian Academy of Sciences: the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA), directed by Josef Penninger, and the Gregor Mendel Institute (GMI), directed by Magnus Nordborg. The IMP and IMBA together form the IMP-IMBA Research Center, which includes shared state-of-the-art scientific services. The IMP enjoys close scientific interactions with all of its partners at the VBC, an runs a joint international PhD program together with these institutes.

The IMP's primary goal is to conduct innovative basic research in the molecular life sciences. Over the years, the IMP has rapidly established a strong international reputation, reflected in the numerous national and international awards bestowed upon its scientists, and the many key research papers published in top-ranking scientific journals each year. The IMP attracts researchers from all over the world, almost all of whom move on after several years to leading scientific positions elsewhere in Austria or abroad. This constant turnover gives the IMP a young, dynamic and international spirit, and the flexibility to continually hire promising new scientific talents and expand its research activities into exciting new directions.

Currently, the IMP is organized into 14 independent research groups, headed by 5 senior scientists, 7 junior group leaders, and 2 IMP fellows. Their research spans a broad range of topics, including computational and structural biology, cell and developmental biology, epigenetics, neurobiology, immunology, and disease mechanisms. The unifying theme is the desire to understand complex biological phenomena at the molecular and cellular level. This research is motivated primarily by sheer intellectual curiosity, but such understanding can also ultimately help Boehringer Ingelheim to develop novel drugs that can better treat human diseases.

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