Max Planck Director from Potsdam Appointed at Oxford University
One year Visiting Professorship
Max Planck Director Peter H. Seeberger will be the first German researcher to hold the Newton-Abraham Visiting Professorship at the University of Oxford, for one year starting in October 2021.
Seeberger thus joins the ranks of renowned and highly distinguished researchers from the fields of chemistry, biology and medicine - including four Nobel Prize winners. Seeberger is the 42nd visiting professor to receive this honor since 1980. "I look forward to meeting new colleagues from all scientific disciplines and working with them to tackle projects ranging from fundamental chemistry to more translational projects concerning sustainability such as the use of biowaste to produce new materials," says Peter H. Seeberger. During the time of his tenure of the professorship, he will continue to fulfill his duties as Director of the Department Biomolecular Systems at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam.
Prof. Mark Brouard, Head of the Department of Chemistry (University of Oxford) says: "We are delighted with Peter H. Seeberger’s appointment as the next Newton-Abraham Visiting Professor. He will bring world-leading skills in the automated green synthesis of carbohydrates and drugs and create synergies."
Background information on the Visiting Professorship
The University of Oxford has appointed one Newton-Abraham Visiting Professor per year since 1980. The name derives from biochemists Sir Edward Penley Abraham and Guy Newton. Abraham investigated the therapeutical potential of the antibiotic penicillin and worked with Newton in the discovery of the antibiotic cephalosporin. Among the best-known previous Newton-Abraham professors are four Nobel Prize winners: Konrad E. Bloch (1981), James Watson (1993), Jean-Marie Lehn (1999) and Richard Schrock (2012).
