Rudolf Magnus Institute
Vondellaan 94
The German pharmacologist Rudolf Magnus laid the first stone of the building in front of you — From 1963 onwards, David de Wied, better known as the inventor of the 'learning pill', a medication said to prevent ageing, expanded the former Pharmacological Laboratory into a research institute for the Faculty of Medicine. Sadly, he died before he was able to actually work in the building. After the institute moved, students lived in the building during the 1990s. In the end, the building was turned into the remarkable private office complex in front of you.
The German pharmacologist Rudolf Magnus laid the first stone of the building in front of you. Thanks to his excellent international reputation, he managed to convince the Rockefeller Foundation to give him a large sum of money for the construction of a new laboratory. In those days, conducting experiments was not yet common practice in science. To Rudolf it was not enough to simply describe organisms’ life functions, as many of his colleagues did. According to him, experimenting with the function of cells, tissues and organs was real science. He passed away in 1927.
