Figure: Grand Opening of the Rhoda-Erdmann-Haus. From left to right: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Grimm, , President of the HU, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. Sabine Kunst, Steffen Krach, and Prof. Regula Lüscher Foto: Ralph Bergel

The life sciences Campus North of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) is further expanding its visibility and identity. The structural composition of the campus, located near the Charité, is one major contributing factor. Since spring 2016, the site boasts an impressive research building: the Rhoda Erdmann House for molecular and cell biologists from the HU. It was inaugurated along with its renovated neighbouring building on 11th October 2016 after three years of construction. The Institute for Biology from the Faculty of Life Sciences at the HU will make good use of it.

51 labs and measuring rooms in the “Green Amoeba”

The new building expands the spatial boundaries of the Institute on Campus Nord. This helps to facilitate communication not just within the Institute itself, but also within the Faculty. The choice of location helps to reinforce the close integration between the life sciences and the Charité University of Medicine and neighbouring research institutions.

Due to its amorphous shape and its green metal façade, the Rhoda Erdmann House on Philippstraße has also been given the name of the “Green Amoeba”. Eight professors and three junior research groups now have a new workplace equipped with 51 laboratories and measuring rooms.

About Rhoda Erdmann

The new research building for the Institute for Biology is named after Rhoda Erdmann (1870 - 1935). She was a biologist, cell research, and was the co-founder of experimental biology in Germany. From 1903 to 1908, she studied zoology, botany and mathematics at universities in Berlin, Zurich, Marburg and Munich. She was one of the first women in Germany to earn a doctorate after female candidacy officially became possible in 1900. After completing her doctorate, she worked at the Institute for Infectious Diseases under Robert Koch. As a result of the poor working conditions for female scientists in Germany, she left for the USA in 1913, and worked at the Rockefeller Institute in New York, and later at Yale University. In 1919, she returned to Berlin, and qualified in zoology in 1920. In 1923, she joined the Faculty of Medicine, and was named Associate Professor in 1929. She was the first woman to lead a scientific institute.

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