The Technische Universität Darmstadt (TUD) is one of the leading technical universities in Germany with an international reputation not only for mechanical engineering, the integration of natural and engineering sciences but also for its unusually strong commitment to the humanities and social sciences. The Philosophy Department, the Forum for interdisciplinary Research (FiF) and the Office for Interdisciplinary Studies of Nanotechnology (nanoOffice) maintain close collaborations with faculty from physics, bioinformatics, and biology, especially regarding the establishment of Synthetic Biology as a major research area of the TUD. TUD is a Member of the Organisational Team of Platform “Research and Policy” and makes major contributions to that Platform.