AITHYRA has high aspirations. The institute and its founding director Michael Bronstein have set themselves the goal of developing AI-supported approaches to accelerate and transform the life sciences. This approach will trigger a biological revolution in the next decade and is expected to improve human health. AITHYRA will bring together the best of academia, industry and start-ups and unite experts in AI and life sciences in a new way.
“AITHYRA will put Vienna even more in the spotlight worldwide as an important life sciences and AI location and thus also be a flagship for Austria. The establishment of this unique institute proves what can be achieved when the organizations of the Austrian federal government and the City of Vienna work together on a common, progressive vision,” said City Councillor for Economic Affairs Peter Hanke at the symbolic handover of the keys to the institute. “My special thanks also go to the excellent cooperation with the Austrian Academy of Sciences.”
ÖAW President Heinz Faßmann says: “Following the successful foundation of AITHYRA, the institute now has its first home. The Marxbox is located in the vicinity of other excellent ÖAW institutes at the Vienna Biocenter and is therefore in the best of company. The future equipment, including a state-of-the-art robotics laboratory, offers the best conditions. Today we are creating the birthplace of new, outstanding research results.”
As a first step, AITHYRA is moving into around 1,000 m² of laboratory and office space in the Marxbox, with two further floors being planned and equipped to meet the requirements of the new research groups for the next growth phases. The premises in the Marxbox are being made available by the Vienna Business Agency. In order to create optimal structures for the future, the Vienna Business Agency is building a new laboratory and office building for life sciences companies in the immediate vicinity on behalf of the City of Vienna by 2029, into which AITHYRA will move as an anchor tenant.
Anita Ender, Managing Director of AITHYRA, was involved in both the basic design of the Marxbox and the tender for the new life sciences building. “We want to create an exciting and inspiring working environment for a new generation of AI life scientists. I would like to thank the City of Vienna, the Vienna Business Agency and our parent company, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, for making this redesign possible for AITHYRA.”
AITHYRA was launched as an ÖAW institute on the initiative of the non-profit Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation in Mainz, which will provide relevant financial support of 150 million euros over the next 12 years.