Peter Gruss
Peter Gruss | |
---|---|
Developmental Biology | |
Institutions | Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry Max Planck Society Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology |
Website | www |
Peter Gruss (born 28 June 1949) is a German
Gruss's research has generally covered the topic of
Biography
Gruss grew up in the town of Alsfeld in the German state of Hesse. After gaining his university-entrance qualification (Abitur), he embarked on a degree in biology at
From 1982 to 1986, Gruss was a professor at the University of Heidelberg's Institute of Microbiology. He was on the board of directors of the university's molecular biology institute, the ZMBH, from 1983. During this time, he organised several international molecular biology symposia. In 1986, Gruss was appointed a scientific member and director of the Department of Molecular Cell Biology at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen.
He is honorary professor at University of Göttingen.[4] He is a member of the board at Deutsche Venture Capital, and chairman of DeveloGen.[5]
In early 2015, Gruss has begun to develop the "Siemens Technology & Innovation Council" (STIC), which is an advisory board intended discuss technologies and innovations that will play a significant role for Siemens over the next ten years and beyond. Gruss chairs the council and decides on its orientation.[6][7][8]
Scientific focus
Gruss's work focused on gene regulation processes. He was particularly interested in the genetic and cellular-biological building blocks that switch genetic programmes on and off in tumour viruses and in the course of embryonic development. In experiments on mice, he successfully identified significant controlling genes (known as Pax genes) which regulate the development of various organs. A study of the pancreas which he conducted enabled him to detect genes involved in the development of insulin-producing islets of Langerhans. This also provided the basis for differentiating stem cells in insulin-producing cells.[9]
Work as president of the Max Planck Society
Upon taking office, Gruss was regarded by the press as an "American-style man of action" and an "unassuming high flyer".[10][11][12]
In his inaugural speech, Gruss focused on the financial scope for science: he called for the introduction of a collective bargaining law specifically for the field of science to enable Germany to attract the world's best scientists. He also spoke out in favour of a reliable financial framework: "Only adequate rates of increase – predefined for a lengthy period of time – for the budget of the MPS can guarantee planning security".[13] The institutes were faced with potentially having to make cuts in their budgets after the Society's budget had not been raised as much as requested in past years.
Gruss pointed out on numerous occasions that the appointment of directors at the Max Planck Society involved competing with some of the world's leading research institutions: "Yet we at Max Planck are not competing with the average – we are competing with the Harvards, the Cambridges and ETH Zurichs of this world".[14] He went on to say that Germany was not internationally competitive when it came to pay, but that the Max Planck Society was largely able to offset this disadvantage due to the support it enjoyed from the Max Planck Foundation and thanks to its world-renowned planning security.[15] A first step towards improving the financial conditions for top scientists from overseas was the Freedom of Science Initiative of the German Government, which has offered non-university research institutions new financial freedoms since 2009.[16]
During Gruss's term in office, numerous institutes were reorganised or newly established: The MPI for Research on Collective Goods and the MPI for Ornithology had their status raised from research group to institute; the MPI for History was reorganised to become the MPI for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, while the MPI for Biology of Ageing and the MPI for the Science of Light were newly established.
The Lead Discovery Center was founded as a new subsidiary in Dortmund in 2008 to improve the technology transfer of newly developed pharmaceutical drugs.[19]
The Society's international networking is particularly successful: After the publication of news on the foundation of the Florida Institute, which came to be seen as a "model", the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that the MPS had received requests from Canada and South Korea to establish institutes there.[20] More than 40 per cent of the recently appointed Directors at the MPS are from outside of Germany, and 25 per cent of all Directors in the Max Planck Society are of non-German origin.[21]
In an interview published by
Technology transfer
Gruss championed the cause of transferring his findings into practical application: he co-funded the biopharmaceutical company DeveloGen AG in Göttingen (now part of Evotec) in 1997, together with fellow developmental biologists Herbert Jaeckle (Max Planck Society), Wolfgang Driever (University of Freiburg) and the entrepreneur Herbert Stadler. The company concentrated on developing new treatments for metabolic and endocrinological diseases with a special focus on diabetes.[23]
Awards and distinctions
Gruss has won various awards for his research. In 1994 he was awarded the most highly endowed prize in German science, the
Some of his other awards are[27]
"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2012-01-31.{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)</ref>
- 1992 Feldberg Prize
- 1995 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine
- 1999 Science Prize of the Donors' Association for the Promotion of Science and Humanities in Germany
- 2004 Lower Saxony State Prize
- 2017 Harnack Medal of the Max Planck Society
Memberships
Gruss is a member of various national and international research committees, among others:
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Since 1996: Göttingen Academy of Sciences
- Since 1995: German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
- 1993–1997: President of the International Society of Developmental Biology
Other organisations of which he is a member are:
- 2000–2002: President of the EMBL-Council (and German delegate from 1992 to 2000)
- 2003: Steering Committee of the "National Genome Research Network" of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
- 2006–2008: "Council for Innovation and Growth" of the Federal Government[28]
References
- ^ a b "Professor Peter GRUSS | Jeantet". October 1, 2017.
- ^ "Peter Gruss wird neuer Präsident der OIST Graduate University in Japan". www.mpg.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-09-26.
- ^ "Prof. Dr. Peter Gruss, President of the Max Planck Society". mpg.de. Archived from the original on 2017-03-06. Retrieved 2011-11-26.
- ^ "National Science Scholarship (PhD)". www.a-star.edu.sg.
- ^ "Peter Gruss: Executive Profile & Biography – Bloomberg". investing.businessweek.com. 21 July 2023.[dead link]
- ^ see Peter Gruss sucht für Siemens nach Trends, in: Produktion.de, January 2015 (German)
- ^ "Aufsichtsrat - Siemens Global Website". 2014-11-10. Archived from the original on 2014-11-10. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
- ^ "Siemens-Chef Kaeser darf sich über Millionen-Gehaltsplus freuen".
- ^ Ahmed Mansouri, Marc Hallonet, Peter Gruss: Pax genes and their roles in cell differentiation and development, in: Current Opinion in Cell Biology 8 (1996), Pages 851–857
- ^ Eckart Henning and Marion Kazemi: Chronik der Kaiser-Wilhelm-/Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften 1911–2011 – Daten und Quellen, Duncker und Humblot, Berlin 2011, Seite 32
- ^ http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-22842759.html Jörg Blech, Olaf Stampf: Im Würgegriff der Bürokratie, in: Spiegel 24/2002 (interview with Peter Gruss, in German)
- ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
- ^ Translated from German, see http://www.pro-physik.de/details/physikjournalIssue/1089825/Issue_7_2002.html#1091687Neuer MPG-Präsidente warnt vor Kürzungen, Physik Journal 1 (2002), Nr. 7/8, page 10
- ^ http://www.zeit.de/2008/40/P-Peter-Gruss Andreas Sentker, Martin Spiewak: Denken braucht Freiheit : Peter Gruss sucht als Präsident der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft weltweit nach den klügsten Köpfen, (interview with Gruss)
- ^ http://www.zeit.de/2008/40/P-Peter-Gruss Andreas Sentker, Martin Spiewak: Denken braucht Freiheit : Peter Gruss sucht als Präsident der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft weltweit nach den klügsten Köpfen (interview with Gruss)
- ^ http://www.tagesspiegel.de/wissen/peter-gruss-deutschland-soll-erfinden-nicht-imitieren/1537226.html Peter Gruss: Deutschland soll erfinden, nicht imitieren, Interview mit Amory Burchard vom Tagesspiegel, 16.6. 2009
- ^ Eckart Henning and Marion Kazemi: Chronik der Kaiser-Wilhelm-/Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften 1911–2011 – Daten und Quellen, Duncker und Humblot, Berlin 2011, Seite 33
- ^ Foundation of the Max Planck institute for Intelligent Systems http://www.mpg.de/1157498/intelligente_systeme
- ^ "Lead-Discovery-Center -". www.lead-discovery.de.
- ^ "FORSCHUNG: Elite expandiert ins Ausland". Spiegel Online. 28. 7 July 2008.
- ^ Sentker, Andreas; Spiewak, Martin (25 September 2008). "Forschungspolitik: Denken braucht Freiheit" – via Die Zeit.
- ^ http://www.spiegel.de/unispiegel/studium/0,1518,722935,00.htmlHans-Christoph Keller: Wer stehen bleibt, fällt zurück (Interview mit Gruss vom 24. Oktober 2010)
- ^ (http://www.max-planck-innovation.de), Max-Planck-Innovation GmbH. "Connecting Science and Business Nr. 1/2011". www.max-planck-innovation.de.
- ^ http://www.wissenschaft.de/wissenschaft/hintergrund/173008.html [dead link]
- ^ see his CV with the Max Planck Society http://www.mpg.de/183920/CV_Peter_Gruss.pdf
- ^ "令和5年秋の外国人叙勲 受章者名簿" (PDF). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2012-01-31.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Official CV at http://www.mpg.de/183920/CV_Peter_Gruss.pdf
External links
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