Dr. Christian Grumaz

Please tell us what fascinates you most about research.

There are so many reasons why I enjoy working in research. But one thing that really fascinates and motivates me in research is that it is literally a never-ending story. Every time you test your carefully prepared hypotheses and you think you will get your “final” answer or solution, you will also get a bunch of new questions raised alongside it, even if you do get it. So with our scientific curiosity we will never stop improving our knowledge and trying to solve all kinds of scientific puzzles. This is simply fascinating to me and keeps me passionate about being a researcher.

What makes research done at Bosch so special?

After just a few days of working at Bosch, I felt completely overwhelmed by the vast multitude of disciplines with leading experts all united in one single place. This condensed knowledge, combined with the leading visionary strategists and highly professional project leaders constantly interacting with our business units who know the true market’s needs best, is key for pushing successful innovations. In our team at SPF Healthcare Solutions (HCS), we are exchanging knowledge between experts in biology, chemistry, physics, microsystems technology, simulation, electronics, mechanical engineering, and material engineering – I simply cannot imagine a more stimulating research environment all in one place.

What research topics are you currently working on at Bosch?

The basic principle of our research work in the HCS team is the synergistic combination of microsystems technology with biological & biochemical system design. We automatize and miniaturize diagnostic workflows, which usually run in medical laboratories with many manual steps and on many different devices. Simply speaking, we put a large and well-equipped laboratory onto a small chip (Lab-on-Chip). In this way, we are laying the foundation for more personalized medical diagnostics at the point-of-care, i. e. where it is needed most.

What are the biggest scientific challenges in your field of research?

As we are working on a highly sensitive, novel-class biosensor that is able to target single biomolecules, we also had to develop a strategy for modifying and controlling them in an extremely accurate way for the sensing process. In physics and mathematics, the formulas describe clear dependencies and unambiguous equations, usually with known variables. However, many of our working tools are enzymes following the rules of biochemistry, usually with many unknown variables. In the majority of cases, the catalyzed reactions (almost) never reach 100% and equations to identify optimal conditions are rare, which means that they have to be tested experimentally in laboratories. As a result, the biggest challenge we will always have here is to get as close to 100% as we can.

How do the results of your research become part of solutions "Invented for life"?

Our healthcare solutions provide the highest standards for the robust and fast diagnosis of many different diseases, such as a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Every time a diagnostic result appears on the screen of our Vivalytic system, the physician can treat it accordingly and the patient comes closer to a healthier life. If that’s not truly invented for life…