“Molecular Bioenergetics” has been our focus since 1997 when around 20 research groups in Frankfurt am Main, mostly from Goethe University and the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt gathered to address the molecular basis of photosynthesis, of respiration under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, and of coupled substrate or ion transport. Building on earlier successful initiatives in membrane protein research, the late Achim Kröger was the initiator and first speaker of this Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) that was generously funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft over a period of 12 years. During this time, numerous fruitful interactions across department and discipline boundaries have created a unique and highly productive research environment. This resulted in a number of achievements greatly appreciated by the bioenergetics community and made Frankfurt an internationally recognized and leading center in the field of molecular bioenergetics.
Dr. Bernd Ludwig
Professional Experience Since 1992– Professor of Biochemistry, Institute of Biochemistry, Molecular Genetics, Biozentrum, Goethe University, Frankfurt
1983–1992 Assistant Professor, Institute of Biochemistry, Medical University of Lübeck
1983 Habilitation in Biochemistry, University of Basel
1978–1983 Research Associate with Jeff Schatz, Biocenter, University of Basel
1976–1978 Post-doctoral Fellow with Rod Capaldi, University of Oregon, Eugene
Education Background 1973–1976 Ph.D. thesis on plant peroxisomal membrane proteins, Institute of Biochemistry, Philipps University Marburg
1968–1973 Studies in chemistry, Philipps University Marburg
Research Interests Structure and function of membrane proteins
Mechanisms of electron transfer and energy transduction
Cytochrome complexes and terminal oxidases
Dr. Hartmut Michel
Dr. rer. nat. (Biochemistry), University of Würzburg, 1977
Postdoc (Biochemistry), University of Würzburg, 1977 - 1979
Group Leader (Membrane Biochemistry), Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, 1979 - 1987
Habilitation (Biochemistry), University of Munich, 1986
Director, Department of Molecular Membrane Biology, MPI of Biophysics, since 1987
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1988
Adjunct Professor (Biochemistry), University of Frankfurt, since 1988
Ulrich Brandt Is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Bioenergetics at the Centre for Biological Chemistry in Frankfurt am Main. He graduated in biochemistry from the Eberhard-Karls University in Tübingen and obtained his Ph.D. from the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich for his research on specific inhibitors of the mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex and functional aspects of cytochrome c oxidase.
Between 1991 and 1993, Dr. Brandt was a Feodor-Lynen fellow of the Humboldt Foundation in the laboratory of Bernard L. Trumpower at the Dartmouth Medical School, New Hampshire, where he started working in the field of yeast genetics. Late in 1993, he returned to Germany to the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, where he became a Docent in 1994 and a professor of biochemistry in 1996. Since 1997, Dr. Brandt is the Vice-Director of the Centre of Biological Chemistry at the Medical Faculty, Goethe-University. In the same year, he was elected Secretary General of the German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He is also a founding member of the Cluster of Excellence “Macromolecular Complexes” of the Goethe-University.
