 The main focus of research was (and still is) the investigation of the cell membrane and its building blocks, the membrane proteins (and especially the transport proteins).The cell membranes and the proteins were and are being investigated using the most modern physical methods available at the time, including

- X-ray crystallography

- high-resolution electron microscopy

- Spectroscopy

This development was initiated, especially after the retirement of Passow and Ullrich in 1993 and Schlögl in 1996, by the appointment of a new generation of directors, in 1987 by Hartmut Michel (Dept.of Molecular Membrane Biology), in 1993 by Ernst Bamberg (Dept.