The executive board of the Einstein Foundation Berlin has approved the preliminary stage of a new Einstein Center for the development of alternative methods to animal testing in biomedical research. The aim of the planned center is to reduce or replace entirely animal testing in this field. Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have launched the establishment of the “Einstein Center 3R“ (3R: Replace, Reduce, Refine).

The infrastructure and integration of research at the site is being supported during the preliminary preparation stage. For this stage a sum of 522,000 euros has been allocated. In addition to its budget, the Federal State of Berlin is providing the Einstein Foundation a total of 1.35 million euros for the new Einstein Center for this and next year.

The center is being developed in close cooperation with the Berlin Institute of Health, the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR , Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung) and the Robert Koch Institute. In the long term, the center intends to create a research network in Berlin in which joint research on tissue models can be carried out and innovative projects can be developed. Universities – with regard to graduate training – and the public should be sensitized to this topic.