Martina Münch, Minister of Research and Technology, presented the plans for building the Health Campus Brandenburg together with Prof. Oliver Günther, President of the University of Potsdam, Prof. Jörg Steinbach, President of the Technical University of Brandenburg in Cottbus-Senftenberg, Prof. Edmund Neugebauer, Dean of the Theodor Fontane Brandenburg Medical School (MHB), and Prof. Johannes Albes, Head Physician of the Cardiac Surgery Unit at the Immanuel Clinic in Bernau, Professor for Cardiac Surgery at the MHB and spokesperson for a research association in the Health Campus.
Minister of Research and Technology Martina Münch: “The Health Campus will provide assistance to the state of Brandenburg with research on such subjects as illnesses that frequently afflict the elderly. We also want to develop models that enable ill people to stay at home as long as possible and to receive proper care. The networking of universities, extramural research institutions and clinics at the Health Campus will be the only network of its kind in Germany. The Health Campus will also create new opportunities to attract and retain specialists, to improve medical and nursing care in Brandenburg, and to further strengthen the science and technology landscape in the health sector.”
Prof. Oliver Günther, President of the University of Potsdam: “We have found the right structure, in this new joint faculty, to provide an institutional basis for the Health Campus Brandenburg and to create the foundation for internationally competitive research and teaching in the field of health sciences. The faculty complements the services offered by the Charité and takes into account the specific needs of the state of Brandenburg. Geriatric medicine, the nursing sciences, care research, the rehabilitation sciences, and cardiology and physiology will all play a central role. It will also be possible to earn a doctoral degree at the faculty, whether as a medical doctor (Dr. med.) or a more research-intensive doctor of theoretical medicine (Dr. rer. medic.).
Prof. Jörg Steinbach, President of the Technical University of Brandenburg in Cottbus-Senftenberg: “We are very pleased that, after intensive negotiations, the project will begin shortly. The Technical University campus in Senftenberg will receive five more long-term professorships, financed by the state. We will welcome these newly appointed colleagues about one-and-a-half years from now. Nevertheless, this staffing expansion is a major gain for research at out campus, above all in terms of the strategic enhancement of our biotechnology, chemistry and health sciences programs.”
Prof. Edmund Neugebauer, Dean of the Theodor Fontane Brandenburg Medical School: “The motto of the Brandenburg Medical School is “From Brandenburg. For Brandenburg,” which expresses our commitment to securing and strengthening health and patient care in the state of Brandenburg by educating and training new physicians and psychologists. We are pleased that we will form an essential pillar of the Health Campus with our research focus on geriatric health and illness in diseases relevant to the population. We are very pleased with the latest decision by the Cabinet and the State Parliament to provide the Brandenburg Medical School with four professorships. We also see this as recognition of the services that we have provided in teaching, research and patient care for the state. We are happy that – together with the state, two other universities and additional partners – we will be able to develop and expand the Health Campus in the coming years. The launch of the Health Campus will make things different here in the state of Brandenburg, for us in the Brandenburg Medical School as well as the people living here.”
Prof. Johannes Albes, Head Physician of the Cardiac Surgery Department at the Immanuel Clinic in Bernau: “We are not educating ‘barefoot doctors’ for Brandenburg. Medicine has a science-based curriculum for a good reason, and this enables future physicians to support and implement clinical research throughout their entire professional life. The Health Campus, with its broad networking and important research projects, is creating the necessary conditions for this.”
As a joint institution comprised of universities and in cooperation with additional universities and extramural research institutions, the Health Campus will contribute to the improvement of medical care in the state of Brandenburg, strengthen academic research on health in Brandenburg through research associations, and promote practical training and continuing education in the fields of health and nursing. There will also be a broad network of clinics integrated with the campus. An Advisory Board will support the development process and give recommendations for such subjects as the further development of research priorities. In the meantime, the research and development concept and staff planning have been submitted, and the Cabinet and the State Parliament have paved the way for the further development of the Health Campus with their decisions in recent weeks.
The three future affiliated universities – the University of Potsdam, the Technical University of Brandenburg in Cottbus-Senftenberg, and the Theodor Fontane Brandenburg Medical School – already signed their first partnership agreement in June 2016. A two-year pilot program phase focused and continues to focus on such topics as the preparation and coordination of a development and staffing concept, joint regulations for doctoral studies and post-doctoral studies (Habilitation), and a research concept. Another objective is the formation of research associations that concentrate on geriatric medicine and health. A faculty for health sciences will also be established under the aegis of the Health Campus. The aim is to create new and innovative degree programs on current topics in the health sciences, and to develop new medical and nursing care services. The agreement will be signed in the coming weeks.
The Health Campus is being built up step by step. An office was established in Potsdam in 2016 and will serve in the future as the Office of the Dean at one of the affiliated universities. The research associations started up last year, and this year will see the publication of the first job advertisements for a total of 16 professorships, including four for the Brandenburg Medical School. The state provided about € 2.2 million in 2017 and € 3.4 million in 2018, and will provide a total of € 6.6 million as of 2019. The Health Campus is also expected to raise funds from external sources. Up until the professors are appointed, the funds have been used, and are being used, for the development of the research associations as well as the formation of the Health Campus, with events and workshops, and the office in Potsdam.
Press release from the State Chancellery of Brandenburg
Published online by: Jana Scholz
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