Extension 1 - Medicine and Science

The Biozentrum was founded in 1971 with the vision of establishing an interdisciplinary research institute for molecular and cell biology. Since then, researchers have been working there on basic biomedical research. There are currently 515 employees in 32 research groups. The institute is a leading international biomedical research centre. In addition to numerous other scientific prizes, the Biozentrum also received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1978. The microbiologist Werner Arber was awarded the prize together with two other researchers for the discovery of restriction enzymes. These are bacterial enzymes that recognise and cut DNA at specific points. These enzymes are widely used in molecular genetics.

The 73-metre-high new Biozentrum building was opened in 2021, 50 years after the institute was founded. It is therefore one of the university's newest buildings. It has 16 upper floors and three basement floors, including lecture halls, research laboratories and seminar rooms equipped with the latest technology. The entrance hall is open to the public and the Bacell's restaurant in the building can be used by anyone. It is open from Monday to Friday from 11:30 to 13:30, and students get a discount. There are also two works of art in the interior of the Biocentre. One of the installations is a station of the ‘Vita Parcours (Life Science)’ by Basel artist Christoph Büchel. Vita-Parcours (https://www.zurichvitaparcours.ch/Finder#) are sports courses that are distributed throughout Switzerland and are free to use. One of the six stations, which are distributed around the Biozentrum, is located in the interior of the Biozentrum. The building also houses the work ‘Beautiful Steps #16’ by Bernese artists Lang and Baumann. The ladder, which is almost 10 metres long and hangs from the ceiling, is an impressive representation of the relationship between the volume of space and people. The other ‘Beautiful Steps’ installations can be seen in other buildings around the world (https://langbaumann.com/).

... Next up is the Anatomical Museum.

The Anatomical Museum of the University of Basel was founded in 1824. Today, one part of the permanent exhibition contains dissected bones and organs. Another part of the exhibition includes prostheses and implants that are used to replace damaged body parts.

The highlight of the museum is the oldest anatomical specimen in the world, a skeleton from 1543, which was prepared by the anatomist and surgeon Andreas Vesalius from the corpse of an executed criminal. The original purpose of the museum was to collect illustrative material for medical teaching in one place, and some of these old specimens are still part of the museum's collection today. Today, the museum is open to the public (https://anatomie.unibas.ch/museum/). The entrance fee for students is five francs and also includes admission to the Pharmacy Museum.

... Next up is the Novartis Campus

The pharmaceutical industry in Basel has a long history and originated from the paint industry. Originally, Basel was the ideal location for chemical companies because the Rhine could be used as a trade route and unfortunately also as a disposal site for chemical waste. There were also weaving mills for fashionable silk ribbons in the Basel region, and these ribbons had to be coloured before they could be sold. Today, Novartis and Roche are the largest and best-known pharmaceutical companies in Basel and Switzerland. The Roche campus is located on the northern side of the Rhine (Kleinbasel) in Basel, where the two Roche towers, the two tallest buildings in Switzerland, stand imposingly. The Novartis Campus in Basel is mainly home to meeting rooms and laboratories. 8,000 people work here, pursuing the common goal of developing innovative medicines and treatments for patients. The campus has also been open to the public from Monday to Friday since 2022. There are numerous public restaurants here. In addition, the architecture of the Novartis Campus is top class, as each building was designed by a different world-renowned architect. The Novartis Campus is located on the Grossbasel side (southern side of the Rhine) on the French border. If you want to take a nice walk, you can cross the French border on foot at the Novartis Campus on the Rhine promenade, then cross the Dreiländerbrücke from France to Germany and return to Switzerland on the other side of the Rhine(https://www.alltrails.com/de/route/switzerland/basel-city/rheinweg-mittlere-brucke-dreilanderbrucke). In this way you were in three countries within two hours and saw the Dreiländereck, i.e. the point where Germany, France and Switzerland meet.

... right next to it is the Novartis Pavilion.

The Novartis Pavilion is a public exhibition venue in Basel. The interactive exhibition ‘Wonders of Medicine’ shows the steps involved in the development of medicines and also addresses controversial topics relating to healthcare. The curators insist that it is not a museum, and the name of the Basel pharmaceutical companies does not appear anywhere in the exhibition. The modern architecture of the building is spectacular. The Novartis Pavilion was designed by Italian architect Michele De Lucchi on the principles of sustainability and future-orientated thinking. That is why the building was constructed from many renewable raw materials. In addition, small solar cells are attached to the façade of the pavilion. These produce so much electricity during the day that an impressive spectacle of light illuminates the Novartis Pavilion every evening at sunset.

... Now it's off to the University Hospital Basel. You can either walk there or take tram 11 in the direction of Aesch and get off at the University Hospital. 

The University Hospital Basel is the largest healthcare institution in north-west Switzerland and also a major employer in the region with around 8,000 employees. It has close links with the University of Basel and provides treatment and medical research at the highest level. Historically, the monasteries were responsible for the care of the sick in Basel. When the University of Basel was founded in 1460, the medical faculty was established, and it was subsequently the first medical faculty north of the Alps. In 1842, the Bürgerspital was converted into a municipal hospital connected to the university. This hospital was already on the same site as the university hospital today. The next expansion of the university hospital is underway, with the construction of a new Clinical Centre 2, which began in January 2024. It's behind the existing Clinical Centre 1, which you're standing in front of right now.

... now walk towards the Pharmacy Museum.

The Pharmacy Museum of the University of Basel was founded in 1924. It provides information about the history of medicines and their manufacture and is unique in Switzerland. It has one of the oldest and most important collections of objects from the history of pharmacy, including historical medicines, laboratory utensils and a large collection of pharmacy ceramics. The memorial plaque to Paracelsus is particularly special. Paracelsus was appointed city physician of Basel in 1527. He was the first to use alchemically produced medicines and became internationally famous as a result. People in Basel are still very proud of Paracelsus today, even though he was refused a professorship at the University of Basel at the time and subsequently left Basel.

Admission costs five francs for students and with one ticket you can visit the Pharmacy Museum and the Anatomy Museum of the University of Basel on the same or the following day.

... You have now reached the end of the extension on medicine and science. Please return to the starting point.