Vision

Biological resource centers are instrumental for the future advancement of science, public health and bioeconomy. The Leibniz Institute DSMZ meets the challenges of the limited knowledge of microbial biodiversity and its functional implications, the demand for appropriate model systems for basic research, and the shortage of innovative novel bioproducts. With its comprehensive collections of biomaterials and its unique expertise in the areas of cultivation, identification, taxonomy/phylogeny and conservation, the DSMZ also plays a key role for the translation from basic research to applications of biodiversity.
The supply, investigation and utilization of biodiversity are the guidelines of the DSMZ.

Strategic elements are

• user-oriented extension of culture collections and their optimized distribution
• access to novel bioresources by innovative cultivation approaches and cryoconservation techniques
• provision of a Digital Collection: free accessible well-structured digital information about living organisms (genomic, biochemical, physiological and biogeographic data for bioresources)
• expand the research program in systems and evolution, functional diversity and symbiosis/pathobiology
• implementation of novel state-of-the-art services including microbial diversity analyses of complex natural samples, comprehensive genome sequence analyses and functional genomics
• establishment of a dedicated course and training program