Laboratory

Laboratory of the INM-1: Quality Management System certified according to ISO 9001:2015

In December 2017, the quality management system of the INM-1 was audited and successfully certified by TÜV Rheinland. The institute is developing a 3D-model of the human brain which considers cytoarchitecture, connectivity, molecular structure as well as genetics and brain function.

The establishment of a quality management system according to the standard ISO 9001: 2015 and the successful certification creates transparency and ensures confidence in the scientific results of the laboratory work of the institute. This is done by the standard-compliant use of defined processes and by means of controlled documentation of the laboratory methods, which regulates creation, testing, release, revision and archiving. In addition to the regulated objective agreement for the organization, a procedure for continuous improvement and the necessary risk assessment has been established.

The establishment of the quality management system in the INM-1 was and will be supported by the staff unit Quality Management of the Forschungszentrum Jülich, headed by Dipl.-Ing. Hartmut Prast.

The scope of the certificate covers the area "Provision of experimental and scientific information for the study of the structure and organization of the brain using laboratory methods".

"The system is carried by the employees involved and lived in everyday laboratory work," says laboratory manager Markus Cremer. "The process-oriented approach greatly facilitates and improves the training of new employees, students and apprentices."

Regarding the institute's activities in the European Human Brain Project (HBP) even better standardization and metadata documentation is also important. In the HBP, the accumulated knowledge of brain research is systematized to be integrated into the most comprehensive model of the brain so far. With approximately 500 participating scientists in 19 European nations, it is one of the largest neuroscience projects worldwide. Prof. Katrin Amunts, Director of the INM-1 and the C. and O. Vogt Institute of Brain Research at the University of Düsseldorf, is also Chair of the Science and Infrastructure Board of the HBP since 2016.