The University of Konstanz honours Professor Herbert Jäckle and Dr Heribert Knorr
On Wednesday, 6 July 2016, Dr Heribert Knorr was awarded the title of "honorary senator". At the same time, Professor Herbert Jäckle, director at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, received an honorary doctorate.
The Department of Biology of the University of Konstanz awarded Herbert Jäckle an honorary doctorate. Herbert Jäckle has been one of the most important German evolutionary biologists. His scientific work and his scientific policy decisions have contributed considerably to Germany's becoming a leader in this field of research.
Born in Konstanz in 1949, he studied chemistry and biology in Freiburg. Herbert Jäckle has been a director at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen since 1991. He has been awarded, among other prizes, the Leibniz Prize, the Feldberg Prize, the Otto-Bayer Prize, the Deutscher Zukunftspreis and the German Order of Merit. He was vice president of the Max Planck Society from 2002 to 2014 and cultivated, in great part, the focus on ecology in the University of Konstanz's Department of Biology.
Herbert Jäckle played a decisive role in establishing joint professorships at the University of Konstanz and the Max Planck Society. The research department at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (MPIO) in Radolfzell was able to continue working because of a joint professorship (Professor Martin Wikelski). Now, a second group is also based there: the Chair of Biodiversity and Collective Behavior, headed by Professor Iain Couzin (previously of Princeton University, USA). An important research focus area has flourished as a result of the collaboration between the MPIO in Radolfzell and the University of Konstanz. A cutting-edge research centre on swarm and collective behaviour will be the result of combining top research in the fields of biology and computer and information science. "Herbert Jäckle significantly contributed to the great leap forward that German science has taken, and also to the internationalisation of science, for example, by organising the International Max Planck Research Schools", Martin Wikelski said in his laudatory speech. Wikelski says Jäckles work in the field of promoting young talent should particularly be acknowledged: "Herbert Jäckle has strongly promoted the independence of young researchers."
Dr Heribert Knorr awarded the title of honorary senator
Dr Heribert Knorr worked in the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts Baden-Württemberg (MWK) until his retirement in 2013. He was responsible for the universities in Baden-Württemberg. Heribert Knorr strongly advocated for the University of Konstanz, for example, during the German Excellence Initiative. Rector Ulrich Rüdiger characterised him as "pragmatic, focussed, decisive and assertive. He was highly committed to the University of Konstanz's success. His wise advice was not only very welcome, but, above all, extremely helpful."
Heribert Knorr also played a central role in the establishment of the joint professorships at the Max Planck Society and the University of Konstanz. "Both directors of the MPIO were also appointed as professors at the University. This model of double appointments (director of a Max Planck Institute and professor at a university) is a precedent in Germany and made a scientific re-orientation in the life sciences possible," was one of the reasons for the award of the honorary title.
The title honorary senator is granted in recognition of extraordinary contributions to the University of Konstanz' continual development. Usually the persons honoured have strong personal ties to the University of Konstanz. The rector of the university nominates the person, who may not already be a member of the University of Konstanz, and the university Senate then will need to confirm the suggestion.