Max Delbrück Center

What does it take to turn Max Delbrück Center research into a startup? Meet Klaas Yperman, our very first Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Yperman has won a Helmholtz Enterprise grant to develop a roadmap for turning compounds discovered in the Lewin lab into a drug to treat neuropathic pain.

The Max Delbrück Center has once again been awarded the “audit berufundfamilie” certification – an acknowledgment of our commitment to supporting employees through all stages of their lives, whether caring for children or aging parents.

About one thousand science enthusiasts took part in Max Delbrück Center events during Berlin Science Week 2025. Visitors learned that sharks do indeed feel pain, experienced single-cell research first hand, enjoyed a concert and exhibitions. Scroll through our photo gallery below for a few highlights.

During Berlin Science Week, more than 200 researchers, animal welfare officers and managers, journalists, communicators and experts on openness on animal research met at the first-ever EARA conference at the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin-Buch.

According to a ranking by Clarivate, Friedemann Paul and Nikolaus Rajewsky are among the most Highly Cited Researchers in the world. Both made the list repeatedly. Germany ranks fourth of countries and regions, behind the U.S., mainland China and the U.K.

During project week “Expedition Proteins” at the Gläsernes Labor, students immerse themselves in protein research – isolating samples, loading gels and visiting a real structural biology lab. The week-long workshop gives them a hands-on glimpse into how scientists explore life’s molecular machinery.

A collaboration led by Max Delbrück Center and University of Bath has uncovered how ancient viral DNA controls a gene linked to placenta development and pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening pregnancy disorder. The research, published in “Genome Biology,” could help identify pre-eclampsia risk much earlier.

For a healthy brain and nervous system to form in the embryo, chemical and mechanical signals must precisely guide cell development. Annette Hammes investigates the factors that can disrupt this finely tuned system – to enable the early detection, and potentially the prevention, of brain malformations.