Dear Colleagues, Dear Guests,

on January 30, 2020 the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Life Sciences hosted the 16th edition of the Research Festival for Life Sciences. Also this year we were pleased about the very good participation in the Leipzig event for young scientists.

The form of scientific presentation shall offer a platform to all young life science scientists and physicians from the Leipzig scientific landscape for the presentation of their research results and scientific exchange. The number of almost 200 submissions illustrates the importance and appeal of this multidisciplinary scientific communication platform.

The event lives above all through the committed cooperation of all supporters, without whom this festival would not have been possible. Nine institutions and institutes took part in the funding of the Research Festival this year, laying the foundation for feasibility. These includes the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Life Sciences of the Leipzig University, the Center for Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BBZ), Leipzig; the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), Leipzig; the Innovation Center Computer Assisted Surgery (ICCAS), Leipzig; the Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) Adiposity Diseases, Leipzig; the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences Leipzig, the Collaborative Research Center 1052 “Obesity Mechanisms“, Leipzig and the University Hospital Leipzig. The Research and Transfer Service Department presented and advised on the diverse offers of our university for young scientists with an exhibition stand.

In 17 lecture sessions, 32 experts were deployed to enable an assessment, but also improvement of the submitted research work with their qualified feedback. The valuable knowledge and experience of the experts contribute significantly to the quality of the Research Festival for Life Sciences. This year again, the best poster speakers were awarded with the prestigious Research Festival Leipzig awards.

We would like to thank the organizing team and all partners for their dedicated cooperation for making the 16th Research Festival for Life Sciences possible. At the same time we are looking forward to welcoming you to the 17th Research Festival of Life Sciences 2021 in the coming year. You will find all information on this in due course on our website.