Ilme Schlichting (born March 8, 1960) is a German

biophysicist Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...

Academic work

Ilme Schlichting studied biology and physics at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

from 1979 to 1987. She earned a PhD in biology there in 1990. Schlichting pursued post-doctoral studies at the

Max Planck Institute for Medical Research The Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Germany, is a facility of the Max Planck Society for basic medical research. Since its foundation, six Nobel Prize laureates worked at the Institute: Otto Fritz Meyerhof (Physiology), R ...

and at

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in the United States as a Feodor Lynen Fellow. From 1994 to 2001 she was head of a working group at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund. Since 2002 she is director of the department for Biomolecular Mechanisms at the

. Schlichting has studied the structure and operation of biomolecules using

protein crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...

. During her PhD she made important contributions to the understanding of the switch function of the Michaelis complex and hence to the understanding of this

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...

during her doctorate using the Laue method. Recently, Schlichting has been one of the founders of time-resolved protein crystallography at

Free-electron laser A free-electron laser (FEL) is a (fourth generation) light source producing extremely brilliant and short pulses of radiation. An FEL functions and behaves in many ways like a laser, but instead of using stimulated emission from atomic or molecula ...

Awards

*Feodor Lynen Fellowship,

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (german: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung) is a foundation established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Rese ...

, 1990 *Karl Lohmann Prize, 1991 *

Otto Hahn Medal The Otto Hahn Medal (german: Otto-Hahn-Medaille) is awarded by the Max Planck Society to young scientists and researchers in both the natural and social sciences. The award takes its name from the German chemist and Nobel Prize laureate Otto Hahn ...

, 1991 *

Ernst Schering Prize The Ernst Schering Prize is awarded annually by the Ernst Schering Foundation for especially outstanding basic research in the fields of medicine, biology or chemistry anywhere in the world. Established in 1991 by the Ernst Schering Research Found ...

, 1998 * Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize,

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...

, 2000 *Member of the

Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

, 2003 *Carus Medal, 2003 *Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2003 *Cross of Merit of

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

, 2008 *Spiers Memorial Award of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Royal Instit ...

, 2018

References

External links

Extended Curriculum VitaeDepartment for Biomolecular Mechanisms at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research

Ilme Schlichting in the database of renowned scirentists AcademiaNet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlichting, Ilme 1960 births Living people Scientists from Kiel German biophysicists 21st-century German women scientists Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Fellows of the American Physical Society Max Planck Institute directors Heidelberg University alumni Members of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Women biophysicists