About the Institute

About Silverman Hall

By providing a common ground for interdisciplinary research, the Institute will stimulate discoveries in the basic sciences and facilitate advances in the areas of disease prevention, detection, and treatment.

Mission

The mission of the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute (CLP) is to draw together Northwestern’s strengths in chemistry, engineering, biology and medicine, with the goal of fostering a new wave of innovation, and providing both basic and real world scientific outcomes derived from the molecular basis of life.

Vision

Northwestern University’s Chemistry of Life Processes Institute will facilitate scientific breakthroughs at the interface of the chemical, physical, engineering and life sciences.  The Institute will assist diverse groups of scientists focus their efforts on development of the fundamental molecular health science required to understand life processes, from the level of the single molecule to the human being.  These interdisciplinary efforts will strive to improve medical treatment and human health, as well as supporting a deeper understanding of the molecular origins of life.

The Institute’s focus on integrating research and educational activities across many disciplines will be supported by the physical architecture and the management plan.  It will serve as an umbrella, providing support for several new multidisciplinary Centers, each of which will pursue a major area of research and independent funding. 

CLP will support the development of new instruments and technology through Core Facilities, which will enable scientists throughout the Northwestern community to probe living systems as the molecular level. 

A central mission of CLP is education:  the next generation of scientists in each of these areas will be taught how to build effective interdisciplinary collaborations and how to avoid common pitfalls.  The role of team building and cross-training will be an emphasis of CLP’s educational activities at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels.