The Institute for Molecular Biology (IMB) gGmbH is a newly founded Excellence Center for Life Science, funded by the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation, and located in Mainz, Germany. The institute is focusing on Epigenetics, Developmental Biology and DNA repair. It will open its doors in early 2011 with three scientific directors and several independent junior groups. The institutes' concept relies on strong core facilities, supporting all groups and their collaborators with cutting edge technologies in microscopy, genomics, cytometry and proteomics.