Senatsempfang anlässlich 40 Jahre EMBL , Uhr, Rathaus, Großer Festsaal

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1 Seite 1 von 10 Fre ie u nd Hansestadt Hamburg B e h ö r d e f ü r W i s s e n s c h a f t u n d F o r s c h u n g DIE SENATORIN Senatsempfang anlässlich 40 Jahre EMBL , Uhr, Rathaus, Großer Festsaal Es gilt das gesprochene Wort. Dr Wilmanns, Dr Schumacher Prof Leopold, Prof Dosch, Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to our city, and to our beautiful City Hall our Rathaus! I am very pleased to be able to extend the greetings of the Hamburg Senate to you in the Banquet Hall as well.

2 Seite 2 von 10 In anticipation of this evening s event, I d like to tell you something about this room and about the large paintings you see on its walls. People from Hamburg are familiar with them, of course. These mural paintings were made by the artist Hugo Vogel at the beginning of the twentieth century. They represent various milestones in the history of Hamburg, from the first settlements in the Elbe Valley to the expansion of the port in the age of industrialisation. The painting here on the right depicts the Christianisation of the heathens by Archbishop Ansgar under Charlemagne in about 830. However, it is not clear who is actually standing before him and is being blessed by him certainly not the Teutons, who are standing a considerable distance away.

3 Seite 3 von 10 It is said that a heathen was kneeling before the Archbishop in earlier versions. When the members of the Senate saw this picture, however, they supposedly declared that this could not be historically correct, that this kneeling heathen could not be an early inhabitant of Hamburg. A native of Hamburg would never kneel, neither before the Bishop nor before the Kaiser. His civic pride would forbid this. The artist therefore had to paint over the kneeling figure - this is the legend. This is why we no longer see a kneeling heathen in the final version of this mural painting, and why the Bishop is blessing an empty space. Ladies and Gentlemen, Even if we laugh about this anecdote today, it still has a lot to say about the way our city sees itself, about the pride of the Hamburg business people, and about the great value that has been placed on freedom and independence by this Free and Hanseatic City for centuries. Added to this is Hamburg s traditionally

4 cosmopolitan spirit as a port city, as a proverbial gateway to the world. Seite 4 von 10 It is this very combination that attracts the brightest minds from all over the world. They bring both economic and scientific ideas with them. So it is not surprising that today s Hamburg is not only an economic centre, but also a scientific centre, one that is the home to six powerful state-run universities, a number of private colleges, and many excellent nonuniversity research institutions. The European Molecular Biology Laboratory is one of them. And it was a wise and wonderful decision to establish this branch of the EMBL in Hamburg. Today it is linked with all of the scientific institutions in our city that are active in similar fields. The EMBL is a member of the Centre for Structural Systems Biology. It is also closely involved in all of the activities of the Hamburg research focus on structural studies. It has

5 Seite 5 von 10 its own beamline at the Deutsches Elektronen- Synchrotron, DESY. The EMBL cooperates with the University of Hamburg, the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, the Bernhard Nocht Institute, the Heinrich Pette Institute, the Center for Free Electron Laser Science, and other such institutions. Along with these organisations, it is key to building a bridge between physical and chemical structural research and biology and medicine. The European Molecular Biology Laboratory is a prestigious European research institution that has only a few branches like the one in Hamburg. We are very proud that we have one of them in our city. Having the EMBL in Hamburg for 40 years means 40 years of continuous basic research in the field of molecular biology in our city. This includes the development of biological applications using synchrotron radiation, the development of user-oriented infrastructure and equipment, and the training of highly-qualified young

6 Seite 6 von 10 scientists in the now 60 member nations. The greatest and most visible success was undoubtedly the awarding of the Nobel Prize for medicine to Christiane Nüsslein-Vollhard and Eric Wieschaus in Ladies and Gentlemen, A comprehensive network of former EMBL employees has grown over the course of the decades. Many of them now hold top positions all over the world. And many of them still have bonds to our city and are with us tonight. This is particularly satisfying to me, for it also shows me that the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is absolutely right in the various investments it makes in the Campus Bahrenfeld: in the European Free Electron Laser, for example, in the Centre for Free Electron Laser Science, in the Centre for Structural Systems Biology, in the Centre for Hybrid Nanostructures, in the additional experiment halls for the Petra III radiation source and, not least, in the new Max Planck Institute

7 Seite 7 von 10 for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter. In doing so, we are investing in the future viability of our city and in its international visibility as an outstanding scientific centre. All told, the investments in the Bahrenfeld location, only over the last ten years and still continuing, will amount to a total of 1.7 to 1.8 billion. But the European Molecular Biology Laboratory also invests in the Campus Bahrenfeld in Hamburg and in the scientific work that takes place there. The EMBL is a partner in the CSSB and, with Dr Martin Löw s working group, makes an important contribution to the centre s productivity. Understanding protein-protein interactions, their activities and their structure has always been Löw s main interest. Over the years, Löw and his group have been developing and establishing new tools and a workflow for protein production and quality control of membrane proteins involved in nutrient uptake. Future research

8 projects are also going to benefit from PETRA III. Seite 8 von 10 The fact that the EMBL considers this contribution to the CSSB to be important is shown by the fact that Prof Mattaj personally represents the interests of the EMBL at the membership meetings on a regular basis and also takes advantage of these opportunities to find out about the current progress in the construction of the new building. We are very pleased, that this makes it possible for us to see Prof Mattaj here in Hamburg more and more often. It s a pity that he can t be here with us today. The EMBL has other ways of investing in the success of the CSSB and in productive cooperation with a total of 9 partners in the centre. Dr Mathias Wilmanns, the Director of the outstation of the EMBL in Hamburg, has taken on a demanding responsibility as the first Research Director at the CSSB. For some time now, he has been responsible for the affairs of the centre,

9 Seite 9 von 10 along with his Deputy Research Directors, Prof Dr Chris Meier of the University of Hamburg and Prof Dr Thomas Marlovits of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. This involves a great deal of work: implementing the cooperation contract between the many different partners in the consortium, firmly establishing the committees and the branch, and monitoring the construction of the building under the leadership of DESY. Dr Wilmanns takes on all of this in addition to his actual responsibilities as the head of the EMBL branch and as a scientist and he does this, I hear, brilliantly. Please accept my very special thanks for this, Dr Wilmanns! Ladies and Gentlemen, In the name of the Hamburg Senate, I would like to congratulate the European Molecular Biology Laboratory on its 40th anniversary. We extend our warmest thanks to all of the countries and institutions that are involved for their excellent collaboration!

10 Seite 10 von 10 I hope you will have an interesting anniversary conference, a lovely stay in our city, and now please enjoy our Senate reception!

Empfang anlässlich des ägyptischen Nationalfeiertags 27. Juni 2014, 12:00 Uhr, Residenz des Generalkonsuls, Harvestehuder Weg 50

Seite 1 von 7 Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg Behörde für Wissenschaft und Forschung Zweite Bürgermeisterin Empfang anlässlich des ägyptischen Nationalfeiertags 27. Juni 2014, 12:00 Uhr, Residenz des Generalkonsuls,