Winfried Denk is member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)

High merit for the Martinsried' Max Planck director

May 22, 2013
Dr. Winfried Denk, director of the Department Electrons – Photons- Neurons has been appointed as foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of the USA. The Academy was founded in 1863 and today comprises 2,200 US American members and 400 foreign associates. Up to now, approximately half of the foreign members have been awarded the Nobel Prize. The election as member stands as recognition of outstanding continuous successes in scientific research. The membership in general is a testimonial of excellence in science and is regarded one of the highest decorations a scientist may obtain.

Winfried Denk is known for his groundbreaking work on the development of new imaging methods. In 1990, he introduced the method of two-photon laser scanning fluorescence microscopy. At the beginning of the new century, he developed a three-dimensional scanning electron microscope. Both methods enable completely new insights into biological processes, enhancing by far the research of these processes than before. Both techniques developed by Winfried Denk have thus revolutionized research through imaging methods. Besides others, Winfried Denk was awarded the Kavli-Prize in May 2012, one of the world’s highest honors in the neurosciences.

Winfried Denk, was born in Munich and studied physics at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich (LMU) and later on at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) in Zürich. For his thesis he went to the Cornell University of Ithaca, USA. Subsequently, Winfried Denk worked at the IBM Research Lab of Rüschlikon in Switzerland before heading an independent research group at the Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, USA. In 1999 Winfried Denk was appointed director at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, where he led the Department of Biomedical Optics. On October 1st 2011 the respectable physicist signed the contract as director at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology. The move of his department from Heidelberg to Martinsried will likely be conducted at end of 2014, due to necessary refurbishments of the new rooms at the institute.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS)

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) was founded during the American Civil War on March 3 1863. Since this time the NAS advises the US government concerning scientific questions and carries out scientific investigations. The members of the NAS are leading scientists from different scientific disciplines.

Every year, the NAS elects up to 84 new members, who must be US citizens, and up to 21 external members. New members are elected by the existing members; a self-application is not possible.

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