The Eijkman Institute is the most prestigious and internationally acclaimed research institution ever established in Indonesia. From its foundation in 1888 as a Research Laboratory for Pathology and Bacteriology, the Institute has had a long and proud scientific tradition. Here, Christiaan Eijkman as its first Director, carried out most of his early work which resulted in the great discovery of the relationship between vitamin B1 deficiency and beri-beri; in recognition of his fundamental work, upon which the modern concept of vitamin is based, Eijkman won a Nobel Prize in 1929. The research laboratory was subsequently designated the Central Medical Laboratory and later, at its 50 years commemoration, the Eijkman Institute.

At its peak early last century, the Eijkman Institute became a famous world centre for tropical medicine, but was closed in the 1960s amid the economic hardship following the Indonesian struggle for independence.

The Eijkman Institute has been revived as a response to the urgent need of Indonesia for a biomedical research institute capable of tapping the substantial growth of knowledge and technological development in molecular cell biology in recent years; the development that has led to considerable advances in medicine and biotechnology, with all the associated industrial and commercial implications. Biotechnology is a high priority area in the Indonesian science and technology development policy. And the foundation of fundamental research activities in molecular biology is an essential requirement for a successful national biotechnology development program.

The initiative to revive the Eijkman Institute as a medium to establish a research institution of an international standing in molecular cell biology was conceived in the office of the Indonesian Minister for Research and Technology.