Christoph Kratky

Christoph Kratky

Christoph Kratky (born December 25, 1946 in Graz ) is an Austrian structural biologist . He is a full professor for physical chemistry at the University of Graz . From 2005 to 2013 he was President of the Austrian Science Fund FWF .

biography

Kratky graduated from Graz in 1965 and after his military service (1965/66) studied chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. In 1976 he received his doctorate in Jack D. Dunitz's group . This was followed by a post-doctoral stay at Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) in Martin Karplus' group from 1976 to 1977. In 1977 Kratky returned to his hometown to accept an assistant position at the Institute for Physical Chemistry at the University of Graz .

In 1985, Kratky completed his habilitation at the University of Graz in the subject of physical chemistry (habilitation thesis on structural investigations on porphinoid systems). 1987 followed a six-month research stay in the working group for structural molecular biology of the Max Planck Society in Hamburg with Ada Yonath . In 1994 Kratky took on a visiting professorship at the Institute for Organic Chemistry at the University of Innsbruck . Since May 1, 1995, Kratky has been a full professor for physical chemistry at the University of Graz and head of the structural biology group, and since 1998 a full member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

From 2003 to 2005 Kratky was a consultant at the FWF, from 2005 to 2013 President of the FWF. During this time he was also a member of the Governing Board of Science Europe (2011–2013).

In addition, Kratky is a member of the standing committee of the Bunsen Society , the Presidium of the Society of Austrian Chemists and the Life Science Subcommittees of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble .

Kratky is married and has five children. His father was Otto Kratky , professor for theoretical and physical chemistry at the University of Graz.

Research activity

Kratky set up a structural biology working group at the Institute for Chemistry at the Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz and has been leading it ever since. His research interests lie in the interface between chemistry and biology , such as the crystallographic determination of the 3-D structure of biologically relevant molecules . These include, for example, enzymes with potential importance for industrial biocatalysis , B12-binding proteins and enzymes for lipid metabolism. Kratky also devotes himself to the development of novel protein crystallographic techniques, such as the use of krypton and xenon in protein crystallography .

Kratky is the author of 187 publications (original papers and review articles, as of June 2008) in international journals, he has also given lectures. Kratky also holds the rights to two patents (as of June 2008).

Work at the FWF

In 2003, Kratky became a consultant for the Austrian Science Fund FWF, responsible for chemistry and biochemistry. In 2005, Kratky was elected President of the FWF and was subsequently confirmed in office twice. His third and thus final term of office ended in August 2013. As President of the FWF, Kratky led the activities of the Science Fund together with three Vice-Presidents.

Honors

• Sandoz Prize (1987)
• Felix Kuschenitz Prize of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (1986)
• Silver medal from ETH Zurich (1977)
• Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art 1st Class (2013)

Web links

• Christoph Kratky on the website of the University of Graz