Adolphe Merkle Institute
The Adolphe Merkle Institute (AMI) is a research center in Fribourg, Switzerland focused on nanoscience. The institute is named after the Swiss entrepreneur Adolphe Merkle who created the foundation that partially funded the institute. History Dr. Adolphe Merkle, an entrepreneur from Fribourg, established the Adolphe Merkle Foundation in 2007 with the goal of strengthening research and teaching at the University of Fribourg. His contribution of 100 million Swiss francs constitutes one of the most important private donations to support academic research in Switzerland. In 2008, the Adolphe Merkle Institute was founded under its first director, Prof. Peter Schurtenberger, formerly a professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Fribourg and then appointed as the chair of Experimental Physics and Nanoscience at the Institute. He developed the vision of an interdisciplinary institute that focuses on soft nanomaterials and combines fundamental and application-oriented research. In 2010, Prof. Christoph Weder, who joined AMI as the chair for Polymer Chemistry and Materials in 2009, became director, serving until April 2022. The institute appointed Professors Alke Fink and Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser as co-chairs of BioNanomaterials and Michael Mayer as Professor of Biophysics. Prof. Schurtenberger left the institute to establish a new group at the