Eva-Maria Neher (née Ruhr, born 22 November 1950) is a German scientist in the fields of

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

and

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

. She founded the Göttingen Xlab and has been its executive director since 2000. The Göttingen Xlab is an experimental laboratory for training young people from student to scientist level. She is married to Erwin Neher who is a

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

for his

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, acco ...

. She is the recipient of many awards, including the

Lower Saxony State Prize The Lower Saxony State Prize () has been awarded by the State of Lower Saxony since 2002. From 1978 to 1999 it was called the Lower Saxony Prize (). The award is presented by the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony. The prize has been awarded to persona ...

Biography

Neher was born in

Mülheim Mülheim, officially Mülheim an der Ruhr (, ; ; ) and also described as ''"City on the River"'', is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen. It is ho ...

, Germany. Her initial academic education as an undergraduate in microbiology was from 1969 to 1973 at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. She received her diploma in biology in 1974, earning a PhD on biochemistry from the same university; her thesis was ''Regulation of the biosynthesis of poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate in Alcaligenes eutrophus H 16''. She then worked in the same university as a staff scientist in 1977. From 1977–78 she also undertook postdoctoral research at the

Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry The Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (), also known as the Karl-Friedrich Bonhoeffer Institute (), was a research institute of the Max Planck Society, located in Göttingen, Germany. On January 1, 2022, the institute merged with ...

in the Molecular Biology Department, Göttingen. While at the Charles Stevens Laboratory at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

for post-doctoral work she met Erwin Neher. She worked in his "Young Investigations Lab" and married him on 26 December 1978. Their five children – Richard, Benjamin, Carola, Sigmund, and Margret – were born by 1991. From 1978–1985 she was staff scientist at the Institute for Physiological Chemistry at the Georg August University and then till 2000 she was on maternal leave. During this period she also taught experimental courses in chemistry and biology at the Free Waldorf School, Göttingen. It was here she developed her approach for the Xlab which she founded in 2000, an experimental laboratory for young people. She has been its managing and executive director ever since. Xlab has been housed in a separate building on the North Campus since 2004. When Neher was a professor at the University of Göttingen, she visited Moscow in June 1999. In 2013, she was a participant in the International Education Forum Hi-Tech Show in Moscow.

Awards

Neher has received many awards, including: *Niedersächsischer Verdienstorden (

Lower Saxony Order of Merit The Lower Saxony Order of Merit () is a civil order of merit, of the German State of Lower Saxony. The order was established 27 March 1961. The order is presented in three classes, the highest is the Grand Cross of Merit (Großes Verdienstkreu ...

) in 2002 *GBM-Kommunikationspreis, Gesellschaft für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie e.V. (GBM Communication Award of the German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) in 2005 *Niedersächsischer Staatspreis (

) in 2007 *Honorary professorship, Department of Chemistry, Georg August University, Göttingen in 2009 *

Bundesverdienstkreuz The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first President of the Federal Republic ...

1. Klasse (Federal Cross of Merit First class) in 2009

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neher, Eva-Maria Living people 1950 births German women microbiologists German biochemists German women biochemists German microbiologists Scientists from Mannheim University of Göttingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Göttingen 21st-century German women scientists Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany