Renée Schroeder (born 18 May 1953, in João Monlevade,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

) is an Austrian researcher and university professor at the Department of Biochemistry at the Max F. Perutz Laboratories of the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

and the

Medical University of Vienna The Medical University of Vienna (MedUni Wien, German language, German: ''Medizinische Universität Wien'') is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It is the direct successor to the faculty of medicine at the University of Vienna, foun ...

Life

Renée Schroeder was born on Brazil where her father worked as an electrical engineer. They left Brazil when she was 14.Renée Schroeder
wien.gv.at, Retrieved 26 July 2016 Her research is in the field of biochemistry, especially on RNA (

ribonucleic acid Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule that is essential for most biological functions, either by performing the function itself (non-coding RNA) or by forming a template for the production of proteins ( messenger RNA). RNA and deoxyr ...

). From June 2001 to November 2005, she was on the Bioethics Commission, launched by the Austrian government. From 2005 to 2010, she was Vice-President of the Fund for Scientific Research and in 2010 member of the Council for Research and Technology Development since September. She has also repeatedly been critical of the Austrian education and research policy. In particular, she criticized discrimination against women within the university structures, so she is particularly involved in the promotion of

women in science The presence of women in science spans the earliest times of the history of science wherein they have made substantial contributions. Historians with an interest in gender and science have researched the scientific endeavors and accomplishments ...

. This long-lasting commitment earned her the 2001 Special Honor Award "For Women in Science", donated by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

and the company L'Oreal, and in 2007, she was awarded the Vienna Women's Prize (''Wiener Frauenpreis''). Schroeder also spoke frequently about the church and religion as well as about women and their worldview. In 2003, Schroeder was elected the second woman member of the Division of Mathematics and the Natural Sciences of the

Austrian Academy of Sciences The Austrian Academy of Sciences (; ÖAW) is a legal entity under the special protection of the Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every fi ...

. In May 2012, Renée Schroeder resigned from the Academy, to protest the lack of promotion of excellence and the high proportion of Catholic German Student Fraternity members in the Academy. On September 1, 2022, she was appointed honorary senator at the

because of her "outstanding commitment to the university and to the fulfillment of its scientific tasks."

Awards & Honours

* 1984: Theodor Körner Prize * 2001: Special Honour Award "For Women in Science" * 2002: Austrian Scientist of the Year (elected by the Austrian Science Journalists). * 2003:

Wittgenstein Award The Wittgenstein Award () is an Austrian science award supporting the notion that "scientists should be guaranteed the greatest possible freedom and flexibility in the performance of their research." The prize money of up to 1.5 million euro make i ...

* 2005: Prize of the City of Vienna for Natural and Technical Sciences * 2006: Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria * 2007: Vienna Women's Prize (''Wiener Frauenpreis'') * 2011: Eduard Buchner Prize * 2012: Austrian Science Book of the Year 2012 Award, category Medicine and Biology, for ''Die Henne und das Ei. Auf der Suche nach dem Ursprung des Lebens'' (The Hen and the Egg. In search of the origin of life) * 2015: Golden Decoration of Honour for Services to the Province of Vienna * 2017: Austrian Science Book of the Year 2017 Award for ''Die Erfindung des Menschen: Wie wir die Evolution überlisten'' (The invention of man: How we outwit evolution) * 2022: Honorary senator (''Ehrensenatorin'') at the

''Three Honorary Senators at the University of Vienna''
in the University of Vienna Media Portal, September 2, 2022.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schroeder, Renee Living people 1953 births Academic staff of the University of Vienna Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization Theodor Körner Prize recipients Austrian biochemists