text: MPI-Marburg is scheduled to expand with a new  [http://www.uni-marburg.de/synmikro/synmikro?set_language=en Department for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO)], in collaboration with the Max Planck Society and the University of Marburg. The new department will serve as a research centre for SYNMIKRO with about 100 scientific positions expected to be made available. A grant of about 21 million Euro has been allocated for the period of 2010-12 alone.