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In the 20th year of its existence, Dr. Klaus-Michael Weltring has transferred the long-standing management of the Gesellschaft für Bioanalytik Münster e.V. to Dr. Kathleen Spring. With the human biologist he knows that the function is in good hands. She studied in Greifswald, received her doctorate in Montréal, worked at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster and has been working as a project manager at Bioanalytik Münster for three years. "I am certain that she will continue to drive forward the expansion and positioning of Münster as a successful nanobioanalytics location of international format," the 66-year-old explained to his successor on his departure.

The Board of Directors, consisting of representatives of universities, research centers, companies and transfer institutions, honored Weltring's untiring and highly motivated commitment to Münster and bioanalytics on an international level with many words of praise. Weltring was the outstanding driving force behind Münster's development as one of the leading international bioanalytics locations for many years. His work included the promotion of numerous projects on site as well as participation in new EU projects and intensive involvement in networks. These include the NanoMikroWerkstoffePhotonik.NRW cluster, the Working Group of German BioRegions and the German Platform NanoBioMedicine, of which Weltring is the spokesman.

Today, with the Center for Nanotechnology (CeNTech), the Center for Soft Nanomaterials (SoN) and the Nano-Bioanalytik-Zentrum (NBZ), Münster presents itself as the largest nano location in Germany. Due to the participation of researchers and companies in many European projects, this location is also visible throughout Europe and receives corresponding attention. "The joint commitment of all important players in Münster over such a long period of time is exemplary for a successful and sustainable technology location development in the German high-tech scene", he summarizes the work of the association, which was founded on November 8, 2000. In this association, the universities, the city, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce and entrepreneurs are jointly committed to developing Münster into one of the leading nanobiotechnology locations in Europe.

Spring will continue the contacts to researchers and companies that have grown over time as well as stable connections to European research institutions and companies. The Grenoble-Münster axis, created in 2005 as part of the EU Network of Excellence "Nano2Life", has been a pioneering collaboration for the establishment of nanobiomedicine in Europe over the past 15 years. "Through this commitment, we have not only raised 1.5 million euros in funding for our members, but also opened up new trends for researchers and companies in the Münsterland region at an early stage," Weltring cites one of many examples of what has been successfully achieved in recent years.

Dr. Kathleen Spring is looking forward to her management's field of responsibility: "Identifying future developments and securing them for the location in the long term are also focal points of my future work. As a technology scout and head of the 'Life Science' think tank in the 'Enabling Networks' project of Münsterland e.V., I want to work with researchers and entrepreneurs from the region to further develop the topic of nanobioanalytics in the direction of personalized molecular diagnostics." The question is how the comprehensive analytical competence in Münster can be used for the medical trends of prevention, personalization, digitization and smart home care and how this can be implemented in company start-ups and jobs. The major investments in the Science Park - CeNTech, NBZ, SoN and MIC (Multiscale Imaging Centre) - as well as those in the neighbouring Research Campus East of the Medical Faculty of the University of Münster provide the ideal interdisciplinary environment for these future topics.