State Visit by Minister Kaweh Mansoori
Marburg is standing strong for business, research and the future
Marburg is an internationally renowned centre for research, innovation and business. It owes its success to the cooperation between the town, the universities, the MaxPlanck Institute and pharmaceutical companies. On the occasion of Minister of State Kaweh Mansoori's visit to Marburg, the stakeholders emphasised the importance of the location for the region, the state of Hesse and the world. Their message to the Minister was that support from Wiesbaden is important to ensure optimal development.
`Marburg is a strong location where it is good and pleasant to live. This is supported by the excellent cooperation between the city, the university and the pharmaceutical industry,' said Lord Mayor Dr Thomas Spies. We are in close contact, we network, we support each other and we work together to create the best possible conditions for the future,' says Spies. But we can't do everything on our own. We need support. Support from Wiesbaden to further strengthen and promote the innovation location.
Marburg is a centre for life sciences and biopharmaceuticals for future-oriented developments. The location is characterised by innovative strength, international competitiveness and a dynamic research landscape. In this university town, top research and business work hand in hand to advance new technologies, train experts, promote the start-up scene and enable sustainable innovation. Kaweh Mansoori, Hessian Minister of State for Economics, Energy, Transport, Housing and Rural Areas, visited the university city to get a first-hand look at the life science and pharmaceutical sites and to talk to representatives from business, research and the city administration. The stakeholders took the opportunity to emphasise the importance of Marburg to Minister of State Mansoori and to lobby for appropriate support from the state.
As an internationally renowned location, Marburg is important not only for the region, but also for the economic strength and future of the state of Hesse - as an employer and production centre. That is why it is important to set the course for the future and ensure competitiveness in good time,' said Marburg's Lord Mayor Spies. Those involved see great potential in Marburg as a centre of innovation, in the existing cooperation and in the expansion of cooperation with the state of Hesse.
`As a university, we take responsibility for our region and act as an innovator for various forward-looking projects. And we need a federal state that stands behind us and seizes this unique opportunity with us to expand Marburg as a beacon for cooperation between different areas and disciplines,' emphasised Prof. Dr. Thomas Nauss, President of Philipps University Marburg. He outlined the forward-looking research topics at the Centre for Synthetic Microbiology (SynMikro), where the university is working with world-class research partners such as the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology. Nauss also focused on the network of cooperation in the region: from the Start-Up-Factory and StartMiUp to the Life-Science-Funnel, the Regional Management of Central Hessen and the Central Hessen Research Campus, in which the three Central Hessen universities work together.
Prof. Dr. Tobias Erb, Director and Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Synthetic Metabolism at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, gave an insight into the institute's research and current developments in the field of innovation and research transfer. He talked about several projects and start-ups in the life sciences, such as the Microbes4Climate excellence cluster, in which the university and the Max Planck Institute have reached the final round of the federal and state government's excellence strategy. The aim is to discover and develop microbial-based processes for the conversion of CO2 and its use in a sustainable recycling economy. The final decision in the Excellence Strategy will be announced in May.
CSL Innovation also highlighted the requirements for its work in the research and development of future-oriented medicines. Our goal is to enable our patients to lead as symptom-free a life as possible through the use of modern biotechnological methods,' said Martin Vey, Managing Director of CSL Innovation GmbH. In order for the economic region of Marburg/Central Hessen to remain competitive and innovative in the long term, we need a welcoming innovation ecosystem that attracts international talent and is attractive for founders in the life sciences industry," Vey continued. The prerequisites for this are in place with strong partners in the form of universities, research institutes, politics and industry, which act as drivers in turning innovative ideas into successful therapeutic products and applications. This should also be supported by public funding in the long term," concluded Vey.
According to Pharmaserv, the operator of the pharmaceutical park, good accessibility also plays an important role in the long-term success of the location. For this reason, Pharmaserv is hoping for support from the government so that the cycle path to the pharmaceutical park can be completed as quickly as possible and the public transport system expanded. We see a trend away from the car. Younger employees in particular often no longer have a driving licence. This makes it all the more important for our competitiveness in recruiting young professionals that we are well connected to the city by public transport and a cycle path,' says Peter Michael Weimar, Managing Director of Pharmaserv GmbH. In addition, the site is focusing on renewable energies in order to become more sustainable, energy-efficient and, in the long term, climate-neutral. However, this also requires substantial investment and skilled workers.
In addition to support for the development of infrastructure, the business representatives in their discussion with Kaweh Mansoori said that what is needed above all is funding and the reduction of bureaucracy in order to be able to survive in the long term in the face of national and international competition. Closer cooperation between the various ministries on issues and projects that fall under different jurisdictions would also simplify communication channels and speed up processes. Stakeholders also called for greater cooperation with schools. After all, as Marburg has repeatedly shown, an international location also needs an open-minded attitude - and that includes international school, training and study programmes.
What I have seen here today is really impressive. And the fact that so many people are sitting here together, pulling in the same direction even though they come from different areas, is both remarkable and a strong signal,' said Minister of State Kaweh Mansoori. He also sees great potential in Marburg and reiterated his support for the development process in Marburg. I always stress how important it is not only to look to the future, but to shape it,' said Mansoori. And I can see that this is happening here in Marburg. I am happy to take note of your concerns and look forward to continuing our dialogue. I promise to come back to Marburg.`
(Source: Press release City of Marburg)