New center for innovative plastics opened: A milestone for Würzburg!

New center for innovative plastics opened: A milestone for Würzburg!

On May 8, 2025, the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (JMU) inaugurated two innovative buildings on the Hubland Campus South: the new research building “Center of Polymers for Life” (CPL) and a new internship building for the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy. These projects are part of the university's strategy to position itself as a leading location for research and teaching in Bavaria.

The new CPL research building will focus on the development of new plastics for medical applications. In particular, he will promote tailor-made implants and develop artificial tissue models. These models are intended to replace animal testing in pharmaceutical and cancer research. Interdisciplinary collaboration between the disciplines of chemistry, medicine, materials science, biology, computer science and engineering will play a central role here. The CPL will create around 60 jobs and is home to the newly founded Institute for Functional Materials and Biofabrication (IFB), whose upcoming managing director is Prof. Dr. Jürgen Groll is. Loud uni-wuerzburg.de The budget for the construction is around 29.6 million euros, with 11.4 million euros coming from the federal government.

Progress in research and training

The Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy's internship building will accommodate up to 500 students and is an important addition to maintaining the quality of teaching in the Chemistry Center, which has been in operation since 1965. The building, with construction costs of around 58.8 million euros, was fully financed by the Free State of Bavaria. It aims to provide necessary alternative space during the renovation or new construction of the central building. An additional laboratory building is also planned to support this renovation.

The opening of the new buildings was celebrated by Science Minister Markus Blume, who also presented a High-Tech Agenda plaque. He highlighted the importance of these investments for the scientific community. The total investment for the two new buildings amounts to approximately 95 million euros. University President Paul Pauli emphasized the importance of these innovations for research and teaching and referred to the JMU's strong positions in international rankings. In the “World University Ranking by Subjects”, the JMU ranks third in Bavaria in the life sciences and is among the best 11% worldwide, while in research quality it is ranked 16th worldwide and first in Germany.

Innovations in the CPL

The CPL building comprises four floors with a usable area of ​​around 1,560 square meters. The investment in laboratory space and technical infrastructure is significant, as around 64% of the space is used for research work. In addition, the building is connected to nanosystems chemistry via an underground connection, which promotes the efficient exchange of materials and ideas between the different research areas.

The innovative architecture comes from Telluride Architektur from Munich. During the tour at CPL, advanced 3D printers and polymer scaffolds for medical applications were presented that could revolutionize future research in biological materials science. These technologies represent the next stage in the development of products that will be used for regenerative therapies such as cartilage and bone.

Mayor Christian Schuchardt and Dean Leane Lehmann also emphasized the strengthening of the university location and highlighted the faculty's scientific innovative strength. The combination of research, development and high-quality teaching makes the University of Würzburg a pioneer in science.