Over the last decades, biology has developed from a mainly descriptive to a more analytical science. New connections with physics, chemistry, mathematics, and medicine have been forged, while theoretical biology has become a discipline in its own right. At German universities, however, centers for research and teaching in the theoretical biosciences are still rare.

To help fill this void, the Federal Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Technology has created the Innovationskolleg Theoretische Biologie at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Supported by a special grant which is administered by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Innovationskolleg Theoretische Biologie (ITB) at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has been founded to overcome this deficit. The ITB is rooted in two departments of the Humboldt-Universität, the Medizinische Fakultät und Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät I, and maintains close relationships to the Freie Universität (FU), the Technische Universität (TU), the Max-Delbrück-Centrum, the Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Genetik, and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. Through its structure and organization, the ITB is well suited as a meeting place for scientists who seek to collaborate with theoretical biologists. The ITB will thus allow theoreticians to get critical feedback from experimental researchers and, in turn, foster new experimental projects to test fundamental theories.

Three professorships have been established within the ITB:

• Molecular and Cellular Evolution (Hanspeter Herzel)
• Evolution of Organismic Systems (Peter Hammerstein)
• Computational Neuroscience (meanwhile terminated; formerly led by Andreas V.M. Herz)

In additon, several junior research groups have been established:

• Neural Computation (meanwhile terminated; formerly led by Laurenz Wiskott)
• Theoretical Neuroscience (Richard Kempter)
• Theoretical Systems Biology Group (meanwhile terminated; formerly led by Markus Kollmann)
• Systems Biology of Molecular Networks (Nils Blüthgen)
• Regulatory Networks in Prokaryotes (Ilka Axmann)
• Metabolic Network Analysis (Ralf Steuer)
• Computational Neurophysiology (Susanne Schreiber)

All research topics are not only connected through their relation to the general theory of evolution but also through the mathematical methods used. Intensive collaborations within the ITB are fostered by having the offices of the research groups under one roof. Close cooperation with scientists from the various experimental laboratories in Berlin are another essential part of the scientific concept.

Following a long tradition in biophysics teaching at the Humboldt-University, the ITB also stresses the importance of theory courses and seminars. Already early in their studies, biology and biophysics students are exposed to unifying theoretical concepts and learn to apply mathematical methods in their research work. Joint supervision by experimentalists and theoreticians, both during course work and diploma research will promote theoretical as well as experimental competence. An introductory course in theoretical biology is offered to first-year students. The lecture also provides a platform for advanced courses on special research topics covered by the ITB. Lectures by guest scientists, round-table discussions, and the ITB colloquium complete the program. A "Berlin Seminar for Theoretical Biology" is being planned and will serve as a discussion forum for interested scientists from the greater Berlin area.