Events

In October 2012 the oldest Biochemistry degree in Germany celebrated its 50th anniversary with a highly successful symposium at the Interfaculty Institute of Biochemistry. 

50th Anniversary Biochemistry

In 1962 Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen became the first university in Germany to offer a degree in Biochemistry. Moreover, its newly-built institute brought about another novelty – it was the first university institute in Germany to host independent research groups. The Biochemistry course was established by Professor Günther Weitzel and began as a program with seven students only. Since then, more than 1700 biochemists have gained their Diploma from the University of Tübingen. Among them are the Nobel laureate Hartmut Michel (Nobel Prize in 1988) and Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (Nobel Prize in 1995).

Since the winter semester 2009/2010 the University of Tübingen offers a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry instead of a Diploma program. Furthermore, in the winter semester 2012/2013 the university introduced a new and broad Master of Science program, taught exclusively in English. The master course is organized by the Interfaculty Institute of Biochemistry (IFIB) and is highly modular and adaptable to the students’ personal preferences. Every year hundreds of applicants go through a competitive admission process, of which 90 bachelor and 35 master students are admitted to the Biochemistry course.

The celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Biochemistry degree began with a champagne reception held at the Museum Restaurant on Friday, October the 12th. The guests were warmly welcomed by the Director of the IFIB, Prof. Thilo Stehle. The evening continued with speeches by Boris Palmer, mayor of Tübingen, and Prof. Leopold Flohé, one of the first Biochemistry graduates from the University of Tübingen.

On the second day, October the 13th, alumni of the University of Tübingen gave insightful talks on a wide range of current research topics in the symposium at the IFIB. The event was opened by  Dr. Herbert Müther, Vice-Rector of the University of Tübingen. At the end of this article is a brief list of the speakers and their topics.

The symposium was complemented by an Alumni Meeting and amusing stories of the good old days. More than 300 alumni and current students participated in the celebrations.

It is clear that the Biochemistry at the University of Tübingen enters its second 50 years with the same well-deserved confidence, exploratory spirit and unabated enthusiasm that it has approached its 50 first years.

 


Symposium Speakers

Albrecht Wendel, University Hospital Tübingen – “Chronicle of a Death Foretold –  from Marquez to apoptosis”

Dietmar Vestweber, Max Planck Institute Münster – “Molecular mechanisms of leukocyte invasion into tissue”

Hans-Dieter Klenk, University of Marburg – “Influenza viruses on the way from animals to human”

Hans-Martin Jäck, University of Erlangen – “How miRNA controls B cells”

Jürgen Behrens, University of Erlangen – “Wnt signaling and colorectal cancer”

Jürgen Bernhagen, University of Aachen –“50 years of Biochemistry Studies: Tübingen meets 50 years of chemokines: the impact of parts 1-4 on inflammation research“

Kai-Uwe Fröhlich, University of Graz – “Yeasts as a model organism for aging, obesity and cancer”

Martin Eilers, University of Würzburg – “Thinking about novel tumor therapies”

Stefan Sigrist, Free University of Berlin – “Shedding light on synapse assembly”

Tina Romies, Free University of Berlin – “Plants in stress”

Ulrike Gaul, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich – “Functional genomic approaches to studying the role of glia in the nervous system”

 

Organisation

Interfaculty Institute of Biochemistry (IFIB)
Prof. Doron Rapaport
Dr. Klaus Möschel
Hoppe-Seyler-Str. 4
72076 Tübingen
Tel.: +49 7071 29-73340