Friday, July 29, 2016

Honorable Guest at Materials Congress 2017: Robert Huber, Nobel Laureate (1988 – Chemistry)




Prof. Robert Huber will be sharing his research experience and will provide insights in the field of Materials Science & Bio-materials at 9th World Congress on Materials Science and Engineering. 
About Robert Huber
How light becomes life: Robert Huber helped to decipher the process of photosynthesis – and was honoured with the 1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his efforts. During the 1980s scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Bavaria, achieved a pioneering breakthrough: a team working with Robert Huber made a decisive contribution to gaining an understanding of photosynthesis, the process that enables plants to feed themselves and at the same time produce oxygen.
Outstanding reputation
During the 1970s Robert Huber built up a department in Martinsried that specialised in the X-ray structure analysis of proteins. The department’s outstanding reputation also attracted the young biochemist Hartmut Michel, who moved from the University of Würzburg to Martinsried in 1979. When Michel was able to crystallise a membrane protein complex for the first time, the expertise of Huber’s department became extremely important. This was because as a crystal the membrane protein complex could be subjected to detailed X-ray examination, which finally made it possible to gain an understanding of its role as a reaction centre in photosynthesis.
Extraordinary breakthrough
In 1985 Robert Huber, Hartmut Michel and Huber’s long-term colleague Johann Deisenhofer finally succeeded in determining the three-dimensional structure of one of these reaction centres for the first time. It therefore became possible to understand the photosynthetic light reaction as well as numerous ways in which proteins function. Today Huber is also contributing his knowledge to two biotechnology firms that, among other things, are committed to research into active ingredients for new medicines and the struggle against diseases like multiple sclerosis. At the same time, the scientist has remained true to his institute in Martinsried: the professor emeritus is head of the Structure Research group at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, one of the largest institutes of the internationally renowned Max Planck Society.
Biography
20 February 1937: born in Munich
1956 to 1963: studied chemistry at the Technische Universität München (TUM)
1963 to 1972: research and teaching at TUM (1968: habilitation; from 1976: adjunct professor; since 2013: emeritus of excellence)
1972 to 2005: director of the Structure Research department at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich
Since 2005: director emeritus and head of the research group on Structure Research at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry
 Source: Research in Germany


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