Rolf Sprengel

“Modern science is a product of centuries of intense human activity, empowered by curiosity, freedom of expression and exchange of scientific results and novel ideas between people of different cultures and nations. The information exchange and intensive collaborations between scientist of different nations and cultures is an essential prerequisite for successful progress in Science and is an essential step for the long lasting peaceful interaction of people from different cultures. In our times today, we must reject divisive forces in play and promote inclusiveness for the betterment of all. The Science Bridge initiative is an ideal initiative that exclusively promotes cross-cultural interaction and projects for the well-being of humanity, so that we may all work together to conquer the different human diseases that affects everyone.”

Rolf Sprengel received his Diploma and PhD from the Heidelberg University for his research in the lab of Heinz Schaller on prokaryotic expression vectors in 1984. After one year as postdoctoral Thyssen foundation fellow doing cloning avian hepatitis viruses in Schallers’ lab  he did his German Academic Exchange service (DAAD) sponsored postdoc in the lab of the Nobel Laureat Harald E. Varmus at the UCSF. 1987 Rolf Sprengel joined the Junior Research Group from Hans Will at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich to continue his studies on hepatitis B fellow viruses. 1988 Rolf Sprengel switched his research interest. He moved back to Heidelberg and worked from now on as a Neuroscientist in the lab of Peter H. Seeburg;  from 1988 – 1996 at the ZMBH doing cloning of many  CNS receptors and from 1996 -2015 at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg.  In 2001 Rolf Sprengel received a call from the Max Planck Society as independent group leader in Peter Seeburg’s Max Planck Department for Molecular Neurobiology.  In the research group of Rolf Sprengel numerous mouse lines where developed and studied together with Per Anderson from the University of Oslo, Nick Rawlins from Oxford and the Nobel Laureate Bert Sakmann in order to investigate molecular mechanism of learning and memory.  In 2011 Rolf Sprengel was invited as Guest Professor of the University of Oslo and in 2014 he did a three month sabbatical at the KIST in Seoul South Korea. After the Department for Neurobiology closed down in 2015, Rolf Sprengel moved his Max Planck Research group to the Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Heidelberg where his research focuses on mouse models with learning impairments and interaction of neuronal-astroglial ensembles. With these projects Rolf Sprengel is part of two local Collaborative Research Centres from the German Research foundation and an active collaborator of the Letten Centre at the University of Oslo.

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