The institute has around 270 employees,[1] including researchers and administrative staff.
Research Areas
The Institute focuses on
fundamental research in
life sciences, with an interdisciplinary approach based on
chemistry and
biology. The institute is organized into three departments under the broad umbrella of molecular pharmacology:[2]
The institute has many collaborations with national and international universities and research institutes, as well as businesses. Collaboration partners include:
The Institute receives core and external funding. The core funding (Grundfinanzierung) is usually split equally between federal and state contributions.[13] In 2012, the institute had a total revenue of 21 million euros, excluding
DFG fees.[14]
History
The institute was founded in 1992 as a successor to the "Institut für Wirkstofforschung" (Institute for Active Materials Research, also translated as the Drugs Research Institute), an
Institute of the
Academy of
Sciences of the
GDR. The Institut für Wirkstofforschung was founded in 1977 by
Peter Oehme, who also served as its first and only director, and had around 230 employees.[15] After the
reunification of Germany, scientific institutions underwent a period of readjustment to align those in the former east and west.[16] In 1991, the
German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) recommended the founding of an institute focused in the area of molecular pharmacology,[15] which led to the establishment of the institute as it is known today.
The institute was originally located in
Friedrichsfelde in east Berlin, but moved to its current location in
Buch in 2000.
Since the founding of the institute, it has been a member of the
Leibniz Association. The Institute does not have an official English name, and the acronym "FMP" was used heavily. From 2006, the institute was named Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology), though the institute logo still contained the "FMP" acronym. In May 2017, it was renamed back to "Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie" (Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology).