In the context of this year’s day of the biosciences, the University of Regensburg confers the honoris causa to Prof. Dr. Peter Hegemann for his outstanding work on photoreceptors and their implications in Optogenetics.
The honor for the biophysicist and Member of the Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin is based on his recent scientific impact in the field of Photobiology.

His main areas of interest are the photoreceptors and other light sensors in green algae, whose understanding can create implications in other research fields such as Optogenetics. One method is to incorporate light sensitive ion channels (Channelrhodopsins), which are usually guiding the algae to places with optimal light, into selected neurons of membrane slices or living animals. Those ion channels can then be activated by light to study their function.

Prof. Dr. Peter Hegemann gets now awarded with the honorary doctorate by his former academic institution, the University of Regensburg.

Source: University of Regensburg, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Peter Hegemann Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
Institute of Biology, Experimental Biophysics
Email: Hegemann(at)rz.hu-berlin.de