At Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU), a new building for the Institute for Lung Health is being constructed. This building will further strengthen Giessen as an international hub for excellent lung research. The completion of the rough construction work was celebrated today by State Secretary of Finance Uwe Becker, State Secretary of Science Christoph Degen, ILH Director Prof. Werner Seeger and UGMLC Chair Prof. Grimminger, along with other guests at the topping-out ceremony.
Quote from State Secretary of Finance, Uwe Becker: "Currently, the researchers at the Institute for Lung Health are scattered across the campus. This will change with the new building. Collaboration at one location under optimal conditions will make Giessen's renowned lung research even more visible internationally and advance it further. At the latest since Corona, it should be clear how important it is for all our lives. The state is investing around 38 million euros for the construction and an additional eight million euros for the initial equipment of the building. In total, Hesse is investing over one billion euros in university construction at the University of Giessen over more than two decades. I am convinced: research pays off!"
Quote from State Secretary of Science, Christoph Degen: "The Institute for Lung Health will bridge the gap between basic research and clinical application with state-of-the-art infrastructure. This is crucial for developing new therapies to combat widespread diseases and pandemics, as the COVID-19 crisis has shown us. With the new institute, the Giessen location will continue and expand its internationally outstanding position in lung research. Thus, the ILH will be a symbol of our innovative power and our joint pursuit of excellent research."
Quote from ILH Director, Prof. Werner Seeger: “The ILH brings together six professorships, three junior research groups, and six technological platforms funded by the ILH itself, as well as 20 adjunct professorships from the Giessen-Marburg-Bad Nauheim lung research campus, all unified under a single coherent research strategy. This strategy aims to learn from nature how lung structural integrity and function are preserved under normal healthy conditions and how they are restored after injurious attacks, such as severe lung infections or the inhalation of toxins. By understanding the molecular and cellular underpinnings of resilience, remodeling, repair, and regeneration, ILH researchers will be able to develop novel strategies for preventing lung diseases and, if natural mechanisms fail, treating lung diseases with the ultimate goals of achieving a cure and promoting healthy lung aging."
Quote from Chair of the University of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center (UGMLC), Prof. Friedrich Grimminger: "The construction of the ILH is the culmination of a success story in Giessen pulmonology that has been ongoing for decades. Starting as a "one-man show" led by a single senior consultant in pneumology, it has now grown into the world’s largest lung research institute, with 26 professorships and hundreds of researchers from 36 nations. Worldwide, millions of patients have benefited from the development of new treatments. On a day like this, we are especially proud and confident about the clinical implications of our scientific efforts. Together with the federal government and the State of Hesse, a unique institution is now on its way to structural perfection. It will be an important asset for the ILH in the coming decades and a home to leading scientists in medical research."
Quote from JLU Vice President Prof. Dr. Alexander Goesmann: "The lung research in Giessen is a decades-long unique success story that we in the JLU presidency are very proud of," emphasizes Prof. Dr. Alexander Goesmann, JLU Vice President for Studies and Teaching. "The fact that JLU has been a constant presence on the German excellence map for years is largely due to the achievements of all scientists involved in lung research—both in their outstanding work in basic research and in terms of new therapies and regenerative therapy approaches. All the more reason we are pleased that the Giessen lung research campus will be completed with the Institute for Lung Health, intensifying university and non-university networking."
Quote from Thomas Platte, Director of the Hessian State Building and Real Estate Agency (LBIH): "I am pleased that under the project management of LBIH, another highly modern research building for lung research, is being built at the Giessen site. Following the already completed Center for Infection and Genomics of the Lung, the Institute for Lung Health is currently being realized, which is tailored to the very special needs of lung disease research and treatment. The new building also presents itself as a visible address for lung research from the outside and harmoniously integrates into the modern and historical architecture of the surroundings. We look forward to the planned completion by the end of 2026."
Questions and Answers:
The new building has a total usable area of around 2,600 square meters. Its expansion is optimized for laboratory use, allowing for flexible design of laboratory and office floor plans. The building has four floors, constructed as a reinforced concrete skeleton: The basement extends into the slope, where the building's technical center will be located. The part of the basement not adjacent to the earth will receive a prefabricated concrete façade. The three floors above have a prefabricated façade made of light and dark painted metal elements.
The Institute for Lung Health is embedded in a network of buildings where scientists focus on lung research. These include the Biomedical Research Center Seltersberg (BFS), the Center for Infection and Genomics of the Lung (CIGL), the Excellence Cluster Cardio-Pulmonary System (ECCPS), the German Center for Lung Research (DZL)—under whose umbrella the ILH will be operated in the future—and the University Hospital.
The financing of the new building with state funds of around 38 million euros is outside the HEUREKA budget, as it is an extramural institute designed as a complement to the German Center for Lung Research. In 2018, Hesse agreed with the federal government to strengthen research into combating lung diseases. With the new institute, the already excellent lung research in Giessen will be further expanded. How timely the topic would become more than a year later due to the Corona pandemic was not yet foreseeable at that time. The global impact of the pandemic has highlighted the importance of further researching lung diseases to save lives and improve the health of those affected.
The federal government finances the operation of the ILH permanently at 75%, and the state of Hesse covers 25%. During the three-year build-up phase and a one-year transition phase, the institute was supported equally by the federal government and the state. The construction and initial equipment are paid for solely by the state.
With the HEUREKA university construction investment program, the Hessian state government has been investing around 900 million euros at Justus Liebig University Giessen since 2008 and, according to current plans, until 2031, totaling over one billion euros with other investment programs.
The handover of the building is currently planned for the fourth quarter of 2026.
See also: Press Release HMdF, March 20, 2025
