Scientists at the IMP publish 60 to 90 papers in international peer-review journals per year: between 1985 and 2017, more than 2,000 research papers were published. 93 patents were filed based on discoveries made at the institute since 1985. IMP faculty was awarded 17 ERC Grants since the establishment of this grant scheme in 2007; about two thirds of the IMP faculty were ERC grantees by 2018. Five IMP faculty members received Wittgenstein Awards since 1996. About one third of the faculty are elected members of EMBO. In 2017, Kim Nasmyth received the Breakthrough Prize in life sciences for work on cohesin that he had done at the IMP. One year later, his former IMP PhD student Angelika Amon was awarded the same prize.
Facilities
IMP maintains a suite of in-house facilities, maintained in cooperation with IMBA, that provide support and scientific services to the scientists at IMP. In addition, the four research institutes of the Vienna Biocenter maintain a number of shared services jointly called "Vienna BioCenter Core Facilities". The services offered are available to all Vienna BioCenter scientists including IMP staff.
History
The establishment of the IMP was a joint venture by Boehringer Ingelheim and Genentech and initiated in 1985. Under the directorship of Max Birnstiel, the first institute building was opened in 1988. In 1992, three institutes of the faculties of science and medicine of the University of Vienna moved into a nearby building, today's Max F. Perutz Laboratories. This created the basis for referring to the area as the "Vienna Biocenter". In 1993, Boehringer Ingelheim took over the IMP shares of Genentech. Following Max Birnstiel's retirement in 1997, Kim Nasmyth became scientific director. In 2006, two institutes of the Austrian Academy of Sciences were opened in the vicinity of the IMP: the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology and the Gregor Mendel Institute. The three institutes cooperate closely by maintaining shared facilities. In the same year, Barry Dickson became the IMP's scientific director. Since 2013, Jan-Michael Peters is scientific director of the IMP. In late 2016, the IMP moved into its new building, which was formally opened on 1 March 2017.
PhD program
The "VBC PhD Programme" is an international PhD training program carried out jointly by the four Vienna Biocenter research institutes. Acceptance into the program is competitive and based on a formal selection procedure. There are two selections each year, deadlines are April 30 and November 15. Participation in the program is a condition for doing a PhD at the IMP.
Building
The current IMP building at Campus-Vienna-Biocenter 1 was opened in 2017. It comprises 15,000 square meters of gross floor space and 8,000 square meters of net area, spread over eight levels. The building contains 3,000 square meters for laboratories and 2,000 square meters for offices; its lecture hall seats up to 280 people. The buildings has six seminar rooms and technical facilities. Some facilities such as cafeteria, but also scientific services, are open to staff from other Vienna Biocenter entities and the IMP building is connected to the neighboring Institute of Molecular Biotechnology building through a bridge. Several features of the building refer to biological research: the facade features stripes should resemble DNA bands as seen in gel electrophoresis; the central elevator's glass covers are coated with dichroic foils which are also used in filters for light microscopy. The project costs of 52 million Euros were born by the IMP's main sponsor Boehringer Ingelheim.
