A lab for our future



Scientists, designers, technology experts, and lab associates unite to shape state-of-the-art laboratory environments and a new culture of innovation at Novartis research.

Imagine a future where Novartis scientists, once separated by discipline or geography, work together seamlessly in real and virtual space. Imagine a new generation of open and flexible laboratories that can adapt to meet changing team and project needs. Imagine integrated information technology systems that rapidly connect scientists to data, supplies and each other at the touch of a screen.

Connecting a diverse scientific network
At the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) in Basel, the future is now. Around 1000 associates learned about an exciting global initiative called Lab of the Future (LOTF) at special events on the Basel Campus last June. Guests toured three custom-made laboratory models, saw first-hand how LOTF can support individual and team creativity, and gave feedback on laboratory designs and IT solutions that will connect Novartis scientists around the world for improved collaboration.

Novartis established the LOTF initiative to define future laboratory environments and support a new sociology of innovation in drug discovery across all research sites. This sociology is represented by a distinct network of scientists, dynamic space and cultural diversity. According to Trudi Haemmerli, Head of Global Research Operations, “LOTF is about scientists from different groups working together across sites and across sciences, supported by tools for communication and collaboration.”

An unmatched research environment
Basel will be home to the premier version of LOTF. The next-generation laboratories will be installed in Fabrikstrasse 22 by the end of the year. The space will be unlike anything in industry. In the new Campus building, at least a century of tradition will be broken when chemists and biologists – scientists from two essential but historically separate disciplines of discovery – begin working on projects side by side. The diversity of scientists on each floor will also reflect the overall strategy of Novartis research where experts in molecular pathways (see “Pathway explorers: the hunt for new drug targets” in the April/May edition of live) will be joined by specialists in disease areas to form a center for the discovery of new and innovative disease targets.

"We aim to make the space of NIBR laboratories one that reflects and sustains discovery."
Mark Fishman, President NIBR

LOTF in Basel wasn’t determined by management and designers alone, but designed and implemented through high and constant user involvement. Throughout the process, creativity was balanced by practicality as theory met healthy criticism. “At first I was rather skeptical,” recounts Klemens Hoegenauer, a research investigator in Global Discovery Chemistry, “but as it pans out in reality, I think the Lab of the Future is an attractive concept.”

Evolving innovation for patients
The installation of multi-space research environments at Fabrikstrasse 22 is a first step in an evolving process. Outlining the strategic launch of the initiative, Markus Dobler, Global Project Leader, explains: “Future iterations of LOTF will be rolled out globally at the new Novartis R?&?D center in Shanghai, in further new buildings in Basel and Cambridge as well as in retrofitted spaces at all NIBR sites. In the coming years, our scientists will be better supported to make breakthrough innovations that ultimately help patients.”