Freiburg Professor ranks among best young scientists
World Economic Forum includes biotechnologist Wilfried Weber on list of world’s 40 outstanding young researchers
Prof. Dr. Wilfried Weber, professor of synthetic biology at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Freiburg and the Cluster of Excellence BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, has been named one of the world’s 40 best and most promising young scientists. Each year the World Economic Forum selects researchers under 40 years of age who have distinguished themselves by their creativity, leadership qualities, and great potential. The “Young Scientists” hail from all natural sciences disciplines and push the limits of science and technology. In addition, their research exerts a positive influence on society.
Prof. Dr. Wilfried Weber
(Source: Thomas Kunz / University of Freiburg)
Weber was born in 1974 and completed the trinational degree program in Biotechnology organized jointly by the Universities of Strasbourg, Basel, Freiburg, and Karlsruhe. He earned his doctorate at the Institute of Biotechnology at ETH Zurich. Since 2009 he has served as professor of synthetic biology at the University of Freiburg. Weber is also a principal investigator at the Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine, a member of the editorial board of the journal Molecular Biosystems, and joint founder of BioVersys AG, a biopharmaceutical company in Basel. In his research, he takes an interdisciplinary approach at the crossroads between synthetic biology and materials science, with the aim of developing materials for biomedical practice. These materials can interact with their environment, for instance by perceiving signals of a disease and reacting with a therapeutic response. In this way, these materials facilitate the administration of drugs or provide quick evidence of medicinal residues in foods. Moreover, they enable scientists to study signalling processes inside animal and human cells. Weber is currently receiving more than 1.49 million euros in funding for his interdisciplinary research projects with a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).
Click here for more information on the World Economic Forum and a webcast of the awards ceremony:
www.weforum.org/sessions/summary/celebrating-2013-young-scientists