Research

Hauptarbeitsgebiete: Strukturbiologie (Automatisierte Elektronentomographie, Bildverarbeitung, Scanning-Mikroskopie); Struktur und Funktion des Proteasoms und Thermosoms; Untersuchungen makromolekularer Komplexe, welche die Selbstorganisation von Proteinen im Sinne des „Partitioning“ zwischen korrekter Faltung und Degradation von Polypeptidketten regulieren (dem GroE-System in Escherichia coli vergleichbare molekulare Chaperone vom Typ des Proteasoms aus Prokaryoten, z. B. Thermoplasma acidophilum, und Eukaryoten, z. B. Rhodococcus, Thermosomen aus (Hyper-)Thermophilen, wie z. B. Pyrodictium spec., archaeale Tricorn-Protease); Untersuchung der ATPasen der AAA-Familie; bakterielle Membranproteine; Genom- und Proteom-Analyse von Thermoplasma acidophilum

Career

• since 2000 Honorary Professor, Faculty of Physics, Technical University, Munich, Germany
• since 1988 Director, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Head of Department of Structural Biology, Martinsried, Germany
• since 1987 Professor (apl.), Faculty of Chemistry, Technical University, Munich, Germany
• 1984-1987 Professor (apl.), University of Düsseldorf, Germany
• 1983-1987 Group Leader (C3), Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany
• 1978 Habilitation; venia legendi in Biophysics
• 1973-1980 Research Associate, Dept. of Biophysics, University of Düsseldorf, Germany
• 1970-1973 Ph.D., University of Düsseldorf, Germany
• 1967-1969 University of Bonn (Biology, Chemistry, Physics), Germany
• 1966-1967 University of Münster (Biology, Chemistry, Physics), Germany

Projects

• since 2010 Honorary Board Member of the Journal of Electron Microscopy
• since 2008 Co-editor: Encyclopedia of Biological Chemistry, Elsevier
• since 2006 Editor: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
• since 2005 Editorial Board Member: Journal of Microscopy
• since 2003 Editorial Board Member: Trends in Cell Biology
• since 2003 Editor-in-chief: Journal of Structural Biology
• 2002-2010 Editorial Board Member: Current Biology

Functions

• since 2012 Chair of the Council of  the ESFR project INSTRUCT
• since 2008 Scientific Advisory Board of the Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Research Facility (AMMRF)
• 2007-2011 Executive Council of the Protein Society, USA
• since 2006 Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia, University of Madrid, Spain
• 2006-2009 Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland
• since 2005 Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board, Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine, Padua, Italy
• since 2005 Member of Scientific Advisory Board, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, UK
• 2003-2012 Board Member of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), Physical and Biophysical Chemistry Division
• 2002-2010 Member of the Executive Committee of the International Federation of Microscopy Societies (IFSM)
• 2002-2010 Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the NCCR Nanoscale Science, Switzerland
• 2000-2009 Member of the Research Council of the Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
• 2000-2008 Elected Biochemistry/Biophysics Board Member of the German Research Council (DFG)
• 2000-2004 Board Member of the Molecular and Cellular Medicine Board of the Medical Research Council (MRC), London, UK
• 1994-2000 Member of the Expert Group “Nano Sciences” of the Swiss National Science Foundation
• 1992-1998 President of the Committee of European Microscopy Societies (now: European Microscopy Society)
• 1991-1998 Coordinator of the Priority Program “New Microscopic Techniques for Biology and Medicine” of the German Research Council (DFG)
• 1983-1991 Member of the Council of the German Society for Electron Microscopy (DGE); President of the Society 1988/1989

Honours and Memberships

• 2011 Medal of the City of Padua, Italy
• 2010 Foreign Associate US National Academy of Sciences
• 2010 J. M. Cowley Medal, International Federation of Microscopy Societies, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• 2008 Biochemical Analysis Prize, German United Society of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (DGKL)
• 2008 Bijvoet Medal, University of Utrecht, Netherlands
• 2008 Carl Zeiss Lecture and Prize, German Society for Cell Biology
• 2006 Ernst Schering Prize, Schering Foundation, Berlin, Germany
• 2005 Harvey Prize in Science and Technology, Technion Haifa, Israel
• 2005 Medal of the Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
• 2005 Schleiden Medal, German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
• 2004 Felix Hoppe Seyler Lecture and Award (German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
• 2004 Stein and Moore Award, Protein Society, USA
• 2003 I. and H. Wachter Prize, University of Innsbruck, Austria
• 2003 Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland
• 2002 Datta Lecture and Medal, FEBS, Istanbul, Turkey
• 2002 Foreign Honorary Member, American Academy of Arts & Sciences
• 2001 Karl Heinz Beckurts Prize, Beckurts Foundation, Germany
• 2001 Member, German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
• 2001 Prix de la Fondation Scientifique Fourmentin-Guilbert, France
• 2001 Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
• 2001 Prize of the Feldberg Foundation
• since 2000 Moore Distinguished Scholar, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
• 2000 Max Planck Research Award
• 2000 Fellow, Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Germany
• 1998 Otto Warburg Medal, German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• 1988 EMBO Member
• 1982 Ernst Ruska Prize  
• 1981-1982 Heisenberg Fellowship (DFG), Cavendish Lab., University of Cambridge, UK