15 years of interdisciplinary cutting-edge research into soft matter
Jena Centre for Soft Matter (JCSM) celebrates anniversary with festive event
Researchers investigate functionalised polymer nanoparticles in a test tube in a JCSM laboratory.
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Published: | By: Katja Bär
The Jena Centre for Soft Matter (JCSM) at Friedrich Schiller University Jena is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a festive event on 17 November 2025. Since its foundation in 2010, the JCSM has developed into a central engine for interdisciplinary research, innovation and scientific networking in Jena and Thuringia.
»Today, the JCSM is an important catalyst for collaboration between natural, life and material sciences with a focus on polymers«, says Prof Dr Ulrich S. Schubert, Director of the JCSM. »Our research forms the basis for many successful collaborative projects, spin-offs and innovative applications—from nano-medicine, new excipients for the formulation of active ingredients, self-healing polymers to sustainable material development. Over the past 15 years, more than 120 million euros in funding has been raised from the German Research Foundation, the German government, the EU and industry«.
Platform for collaboration and innovation
The Centre was founded in 2010 as the first cross-faculty and cross-institutional Research Center at the University of Jena. With currently 59 members from the fields of Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Medicine, Computer Science and Pharmacy as well as members from non-university research institutions such as the Leibniz-HKI and the Leibniz-IPHT and the Helmholtz Institute HIPOLE Jena, the JCSM pools expertise in the research of so-called »soft matter«. This includes polymeric, colloidal and biological materials whose structural and functional properties enable a wide range of applications—for example in medical technology, Pharmacy or nanotechnology.
»The JCSM is exemplary for the excellent networking of basic research and application in Jena«, emphasises Prof. Dr Andreas Marx, President of Friedrich Schiller University Jena. »Thanks to its success, it provides impetus that visibly strengthens our position in the Excellence Strategy competition.«
Programme with welcoming speeches, research insights and keynote speech
The anniversary will be celebrated on Monday, 17 November 2025, from 14:00 in the Centre for Applied Research (ZAF), conference room and atrium, Philosophenweg 7, 07743 Jena.
The welcome address by Prof Schubert and greetings from the Thuringian Ministry of Education Science and Culture and the university management will be followed by presentations on the collaborations within the JointLab for Polymers Jena-Bayreuth and selected spin-offs that have emerged from the JCSM—including SmartDyeLivery GmbH, PolyTives GmbH and NGP Polymers GmbH.
The first part of the poster session and an exchange of ideas will be followed by the keynote lecture from 4 pm, which is being organised jointly with the German Chemical Society (GDCh), the collaborative research centres 1278 »PolyTarget« and HIPOLE Jena. Prof Dr Rainer Haag from the Free University of Berlin will speak on the topic »Im Dreiklang der Naturwissenschaften zum Erfolg—The Triad of Science as the Key to Success«.
Afterwards, a poster session, lab tours and a snack will provide space for scientific exchange and discussion.
Information
Registration is requested de by e-mail to katja.gattung@uni-jena.de or via the website at https://www.jcsm.uni-jena.de/1254/formular-zur-teilnahme-an-der-veranstaltung-15-jahre-jcsm. de
Ulrich S. Schubert, Prof. Dr
Chair of Organic Chemistry II