Sebastian Bonhoeffer (born 1965 in

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) is a German biologist at the

ETH Zürich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ra ...

and Director of the Collegium Helveticum.

Life and Works

Bonhoeffer studied cello in Basel under

Heinrich Schiff Heinrich Schiff (; 18 November 1951 – 23 December 2016) was an Austrian cellist and conductor. Early life Heinrich Schiff was born on 18 November 1951 in Gmunden, Austria. His parents, Helga (née Riemann) and Helmut Schiff, were composers. H ...

and physics in Munich und Vienna. In 1995, he did his doctorate with Martin A. Nowak under Robert May at the Institute of Zoology at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

on the

population dynamics Population dynamics is the type of mathematics used to model and study the size and age composition of populations as dynamical systems. Population dynamics is a branch of mathematical biology, and uses mathematical techniques such as differenti ...

and evolution of viral diseases. He worked as a

postdoctoral fellow A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

at the University of Oxford and

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a Private university, private Medical research, biomedical Research university, research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and pro ...

. In 1998, he was appointed junior group leader at the

Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research The Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) is a biomedical research institute founded in 1970. Based in Basel, Switzerland, the FMI is affiliated with the University of Basel and the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Resear ...

in Basel. In 2001, Sebastian Bonhoeffer was awarded a research professorship by the

Swiss National Science Foundation The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF, German: , SNF; French: , FNS; Italian: ) is a science research support organisation mandated by the Swiss Federal Government. The Swiss National Science Foundation was established under private law b ...

ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

. He has been Professor of

Theoretical Biology Mathematical and theoretical biology, or biomathematics, is a branch of biology which employs theoretical analysis, mathematical models and abstractions of living organisms to investigate the principles that govern the structure, development ...

at the Department of Environmental Systems Science and since 2005 and serves as Director of the Collegium Helveticum since 2020. Sebastian Bonhoeffer's research concerns the evolution and

population biology The term population biology has been used with different meanings. In 1971, Edward O. Wilson ''et al''. used the term in the sense of applying mathematical models to population genetics, community ecology, and population dynamics. Alan Hasting ...

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

and

viruses A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are found in almo ...

. He develops and analyses mathematical and computational models for the dynamics of infectious diseases. For example, he developed population-dynamic models of viral infections, which allowed important insights into pathogenesis and treatment of

HIV infection The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a preventable disease. It can ...

. More recent work deals with the development and spread of

antibiotic resistance Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from antimicrobials, which are drugs used to treat infections. This resistance affects all classes of microbes, including bacteria (antibiotic resis ...

. Group alumni include

Tanja Stadler Tanja Stadler is a mathematician and professor of computational evolution at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich). She’s the current president of the Swiss Scientific Advisory Panel COVID-19 and Vize-Chair of the Department of ...

, Martin Ackermann, and Marcel Salathé. Sebastian Bonhoeffer is an elected member of the

European Molecular Biology Organization The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 2,100 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

and international honorary member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. Sebastian Bonhoeffer is married to musician Hanna Weinmeister and they have two children.

References

External links

Sebastian Bonhoeffer
on the website of the Collegium Helveticum

on the website of ETH Zürich

Interview with Sebastian Bonhoeffer in ETH News.

Interview with Sebastian Bonhoeffer in ETH Globe. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonhoeffer, Sebastian Academic staff of ETH Zurich Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1965 births Living people 21st-century German biologists Scientists from Tübingen