In the main area of research into life, a variety of disciplines such as medicine, molecular and cell biology, biophysics, nuclear chemistry and biotechnology are cooperating to determine the molecular/cellular mechanisms of diseases and thus create the basis for the development of new therapies, improved drugs and other vital substances.

Work at Jülich concentrates on the neurosciences and aims at exploring complex processes in the central nervous system on all levels of their interaction, at understanding their organization and function, identifying dysfunctions and developing new diagnosis and treatment approaches. The neurosciences are intended to provide an insight into the structural and functional organization and development of the normal and the diseased human nervous system and enable the targeted development of new techniques in biomedicine as well as new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for frequently occurring neurological, neuroophthalmological and psychiatric diseases. The resulting activities range from the structural analysis of proteins and receptor molecules through the elucidation of molecular mechanisms of signal transmission up to the morphological and functional analysis of small neuronal clusters and complex neuronal systems. An essential prerequisite for the investigation of molecular and cellular processes and their representation by non-invasive imaging techniques is the synthesis of new radiotracers and the development of highly specialized hardware and software.

The R&D project on biotechnology is focused on the development of biotechnological processes for manufacturing pharmaceutical products and fine chemicals. Relevant work "from gene to product" comprises both basic research and application-oriented developments up to the bioreactor stage. In order to selectively improve the synthesizing activity of different biological systems (protein design, metabolic engineering), extensive studies are required concerning the structure and function of enzymes as well as metabolism and its regulation. Furthermore, reaction and process engineering work is performed for optimum use of the enzymes, microorganisms and animal cell cultures.