Laboratory work place Berlin
Editorial by Peter H. Seeberger, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces and Professor at the Freie Universität Berlin
The right workplace is important. This is true in all sectors, even when their requirements differ hugely depending on the activities they involve. For instance, the IT sector is perfectly happy with a corner table in a trendy coffeehouse for turning ideas into reality. In the biotechnology and analytics sectors, on the other hand, workplace requirements are disproportionally higher and more varied, and hence the startup costs. Basically, parent biotechnology companies need four things: a sound, patent protected technology base covering a need; highly trained staff with great technical expertise and the necessary self confidence; investment funds; and, finally, suitable rooms for research, services, and production. The universities and research institutes are an important think tank. They provide excellently trained young scientists, some of whom muster the courage to become entrepreneurs. Substantial funding sources are available for complex and high risk disincorporations in the biotechnology sector.
The apparently trivial question of space often sways the decision in favour of the location for a disincorporation. The building and upkeep of suitable laboratories is costly, and their requirements differ greatly depending on their speciality. Buildings offering a wide range of flexible areas and special laboratories are rare. The Science City Berlin Adlershof has become established as a top location because it can provide excellent laboratories and offices of various sizes and for various requirements. The proximity to a major university and many service providers directly on the doorstep have now ensured that a “critical mass” of companies is now drawing top scientists from all over the world to an attractive location with good traffic connections here in Berlin.
The new vaccine company Vaxxilon with its core team from Korea, India, and the USA had scrutinised various locations in Germany and elsewhere before ultimately deciding on Adlershof. This location fulfils all conditions for a successful start.
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Peter H. Seeberger
Following professorships at the MIT (Cambridge, USA) and ETH Zürich, the author assumed in 2009 the posts of Director at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam and Professor at the Freie Universität Berlin. His research group has given birth to several disincorporations in the USA and Germany.