The Max Delbrück Center welcomes Martin Keller
Coffee or tea? “Coffee!” Berlin or Bavaria? “Evergreen Colorado!” Speed or precision? “Speed!” With an either-or round during his inaugural visit to the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin-Buch on February 18, 2026, Professor Martin Keller sent a clear message: he appreciates speed and clarity. In many situations, it is more important to make a decision than to endlessly weigh options, only to ultimately do nothing, he said.
After about 30 years in the United States – most recently as Director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado – Keller returned to Germany in 2025, serving as President of the Helmholtz Association since November of last year. He is currently traveling to all 18 Helmholtz centers to learn more about their diverse research priorities and the people behind them. As snow fell outside, he met with staff, including during a fireside chat held in one of our auditoriums. For many employees at the Max Delbrück Center, it was their first opportunity to meet him in person and to ask questions.
Draußen Schnee, drinnen Kaminfeuer – zumindest virtuell: Martin Keller im Gespräch mit unseren Vorständinnen Maike Sander und Kirstin Bodensiek sowie Juniorgruppenleiterin Melissa Birol, Nachhaltigkeitskoordinator Christian Panetzky, Doktorand Daniel León Perinán, Kseniia Choni von Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Moderation: Tabea Rauscher, Kommunikation.
Das Demonstrator Lab dient als Testfeld für technische Innovationen, mit denen sich die biomedizinische Forschung umweltfreundlicher betreiben lässt. Ralf Streckwall erklärte, wie die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse bei allen Gebäudesanierungen des Zentrums helfen können.
Wissenschaftliche Exzellenz braucht exzellente Verwaltung: Der Tag begann mit einer Würdigung der MDC Superstars, Mitarbeitenden aus Finanzen, Strategie und Bau, die 2025 mit besonderen Leistungen zum Erfolg des Zentrums beigetragen haben.
“I am here to ensure the right framework conditions are in place so that you can do your jobs,” he told our community. Together with Scientific Director and Vice President of Helmholtz Health Professor Maike Sander and Administrative Director Kirstin Bodensiek, he met with experts in construction, finance, and strategy; discussed different approaches to molecular prevention with researchers; gained insight into the center’s strategic initiatives and its efforts to foster entrepreneurship; listened to doctoral researchers and postdocs share their perspectives on career development; and toured key laboratories and Technology Platforms across the campus.
His conclusion: “At the Max Delbrück Center, the foundations for the medicine of the future are being laid: Excellent basic research and cutting-edge technologies work closely together – with the clear ambition of rapidly translating scientific insights into concrete applications and thereby creating tangible societal value. The systemic, cross-disease approach opens up new avenues for prevention and therapy by identifying disease processes even before symptoms appear and enabling targeted prevention at the molecular level. In this way, it builds the basis for more precise, predictive, and preventive medicine – a central goal of the Helmholtz Association.”
