Research at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut
Research activities at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI) focus on the areas of medicine and the life sciences in which Nobel Prize winner Paul Ehrlich carried out his groundbreaking work at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Already at that time, Paul Ehrlich dealt with both fundamental and applied research questions working e.g. on the theory of antibody formation and the determination of antisera efficacy, respectively. In 1899, the "Institute for Serum Research and Testing" moved from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main, where it was renamed the "Royal Institute for Experimental Therapy". Today’s PEI is the direct successor to the Frankfurt institute.
From its earliest days, the PEI addressed scientific questions in the field of biomedicines, for which it is the competent German testing agency to this day. Biomedicines include vaccines for human and veterinary use, immunobiological and biotechnological medicinal products, blood products, cell and gene therapy medicinal products, and tissue.
The research programme of the PEI outlines the current research topics and aims of the institute.
The further development of the research infrastructure, the support with respect to grant application or research project management, the development of education programmes, the preparation for internal and external evaluations, and the response to research-dependent inquiries are coordinated by the Research Manager in cooperation with the internal Research Working Group and in consultation with the President of the PEI.
Based on the corresponding requirements of the German Science Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), the PEI has implemented guidelines for the safeguarding of good scientific practice and the handling of scientific misconduct at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut ("Richtlinien zur Sicherung der guten wissenschaftlichen Praxis und zum Umgang mit wissenschaftlichem Fehlverhalten am Paul-Ehrlich-Institut").
The PEI has commission Prof. Dr. Hansjörg Schild (Institut für Immunologie, Universitätsmedizin, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany) as ombudsman in all questions regarding the principles of good scientific practice.