Engineering molecular systems is a new field of research that has the potential to make groundbreaking innovations that can broadly benefit society. The field includes synthetic biology and medicine, materials science, organic electronics, and new environmental technologies. Breakthroughs are expected in the field of developing new types of carbon-based materials, from molecular machines with a wide range of applications, in regenerative medicine and from the development of vaccines or cells with tumour-fighting properties.This research could likewise advance diagnostics, sensor technology, clean and renewable energies, and the development of new data processing algorithms.

A number of institutes of Heidelberg University as well non-university research institutions – among them the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research – are involved in the Flagship Initiative’s interdisciplinary work. The Flagship also strengthens the link between Fields of Focus I (Molecular Foundations of Life, Health, and Disease) and II (Patterns and Structures in Mathematics, Data, and the Material World), thereby fostering scientific exchange beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries within the university itself.