The Department of Biomaterials, founded 2003, will focus on interdisciplinary research on biological and biomimetic materials. The emphasis is on understanding how the mechanical or other physical properties are governed by structure and composition. Research on natural materials (such as bone or wood) has potential applications in many fields. First, design concepts for new materials may be improved by learning from nature. Second, the understanding of basic mechanisms by which the structure of bone or connective tissue is optimized opens the way for studying diseases and thus for contributing to diagnosis and development of treatment strategies. A third option is to use structures grown by nature and transform them by physical or chemical treatment into technically relevant materials (biotemplating). Given the complexity of natural materials, new approaches for structural characterization are needed. Some of these will be further developed in the department, in particular for studying hierarchical structures. Part of these activities have already been started at the Erich Schmid Institute of Materials Science (Austrian Academy of Science, Leoben, Austria) by the small group of scientists moving from Austria to Potsdam in 2003/2004 in order to form the initial nucleus of the Department of Biomaterials.

More information can be found a the homepage of the Department of Biomaterial.