Professor Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker
DFG President from 1998 to 2006
born on 26 July 1941 in Frankfurt/Main
Research area: Biochemistry
Since 1980: Full Professor of Biochemistry, University of Munich
Short Vita
1960 - 1965
Study of chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich
1965 - 1968
Doctorate, Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
1968 - 1972
Postdoctorates, University of California in Berkeley and Karolinska Institute, Stockholm
1972 - 1977
Assistant, then DFG Visiting Professor, Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne
1977 - 1980
Associate Professor, Institute of Biochemistry, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Since 1980
Full Professor, Institute of Biochemistry, University of Munich
1984 - 1997
Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Munich Gene Centre
1987 - 1993
Vice President of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
1998 -2006
President of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Positions in Scientific Societies and Boards
1984 - 1987
Expert Member of the Enquete Commission of the German Parliament
Since 1988
Member of the Scientific-Technical Advisory Council of the Bavarian State Government
Since 1988
Member of the Academy of Natural Scientists/Leopoldina
Since 1989
Member of the International Science Committee of the National Academy of Science in Beijing, China
Since 1993
Member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Since 1994
External Vice President of the Academy of Natural Scientists/Leopoldina in Halle
Since 1997
Member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences
Since 1998
Ex officio - Vice President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Since 1998
Member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
2000 - 2004
Member of the European Life Science Group of EU Commissioner Philipe Busquin
2000 - 2003
Member of the National Ethics Board
2003 - 2004
Chairman of the European Heads of Research Councils (EUROHORCs)
Prizes and Distinctions
1992
Bavarian Order of Merit
1994
Arthur Burckhardt Prize
1996
Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
1999
Dr. honoris causa, Veterinary University of Vienna, Austria
1999
Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and the Arts
1999
Zimmermann Prize for Cancer Research
Further Memberships
Arthur Burckhardt Foundation, Stuttgart - Board of Trustees;
Aventis Foundation, Strasbourg - Board of Trustees of the Karl-Winnacker Fonds;
Bayer AG, Leverkusen - Supervisory Board;
Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities,
Berlin - Full Member of the Biowissenschaftlich-medizinischen Klasse;
Braunschweig Prize - Member of the Jury; Burda Foundation "Prometheus", Munich - Board of Trustees; Evangelical Academy Tutzing - Board of Trustees;
Eppendorf Young Investigator Award, Hamburg - Selection Committee;
Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie, Paris ;
Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation, Ladenburg - Board of Trustees;
Harvard Medical School - Visiting Committee, Board of Overseers;
Institute of Medicine - National Academy of Science, Washington;
Institute Technology-Theology-Natural Sciences (TTN) - Honorary Chairman;
Herbert Quandt Foundation, Bad Homburg - Board of Trustees;
KWS Saat AG - Supervisory Board;
MediGene, Martinsried bei München - Chairman, Board of Trustees;
Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried bei München - External Scientific Member;
Deutsche Telekom Foundation, Bonn - Board of Trustees;
Deutsches Museum, München - Board of Trustees.
Main Research Fields
Virus/cell interaction
Mechanisms of gene expression in higher cells
Prionic diseases (including BSE)
Major Publications
Gene und Klone, Eine Einführung in die Gentechnologie, Verlag Chemie (1984)
From Genes to Clones, VCH Publishers (1987)
Am Faden des Lebens, Piper Verlag (1993)
Wissens-Werte (H. Zehetmair, Herausgeber), R. S. Schulz (1995)
Viren, Die heimlichen Herrscher, Eichborn Verlag, Frankfurt (1999)
Das Genom (Eichborn Verlag), Frankfurt 2002, revised and extended new edition
