Sabine Oertelt-Prigione: “We can learn a great deal from differences”

“We can learn a great deal from differences”

Gender-sensitive medicine? Sabine Oertelt-Prigione explains why it is important for a healthier future at the conference in Bremen – and in this interview.

Professor Oertelt-Prigione, you teach gender-sensitive medicine at Bielefeld University. What exactly does this term mean?
It concerns the influence of gender on health and illness. In my research group in Bielefeld, for example, we investigate whether patients’ gender affects the choice of diagnostic procedures and therapies, and what role it plays in doctor-patient communication. To this end, we analyse international studies and conduct our own surveys. Other groups in gender-sensitive research carry out biomedical laboratory research. We focus more on the clinical and social science aspects of the field.

Is gender-sensitive medicine the same as gender medicine, or are there differences?
Essentially, these are two different definitions for similar approaches. I myself prefer gender-sensitive medicine because I find it more precise in German. In medicine, we deal with biological and social sex, and their influence. With the term ‘gender medicine’, the focus seems to be more on gender, even though this aspect is researched far less in medicine than biological differences.

It was not so long ago that scepticism towards gender-sensitive approaches in medicine prevailed. Today, the perception is more positive. Why is that?
One important reason is the improved data. In the 1990s, it was recognised that women are more likely to die from a heart attack because their symptoms do not match the male-dominated textbook description and are therefore frequently overlooked. This finding has since been confirmed by large, long-term studies. Cardiology paved the way for gender-sensitive medicine, but in recent years other fields such as oncology, neurology and infectious diseases have been catching up.

Dieses Modell für geschlechtersensible Lösungen in der ärztlichen Praxis haben Studierende von Oertelt-Prigione entworfen. © AG Geschlechtersensible Medzin Bielefeld

This model for gender-sensitive solutions in medical practice was developed by students at Oertelt-Prigione.

Please illustrate this with an example.
Let’s take oncology: cancer drugs often cause more side effects in women. On the other hand, they are sometimes more effective than in men. Checkpoint inhibitors, however, which trigger the body’s own immune system to fight the tumour, often work better in men.

So gender-sensitive medicine is about more than just women’s health?
Yes, quite clearly. We do not conduct research on women solely for women. In some diseases, men are at a disadvantage; consider osteoporosis or breast cancer, which affects around 700 men in this country every year. In these and other conditions, we are primarily interested in gender-specific differences and the underlying mechanisms. Next, we want to find the appropriate interventions and optimise care. The aim is to learn from these differences in order to improve medicine as a whole.

What role do societal changes play in the shift in perception of your field of research?
Awareness of the differences between people, of diversity, has grown in recent years. The younger generation in particular is committed to this, and that also benefits us. Added to this has been a shift among funding organisations, which are increasingly recognising and financially supporting our research.

At the start of the year, the Federal Ministries of Health and Research announced new funding programmes on women’s health. What do you hope to gain from these?
The Federal Ministry of Health’s programme has a total budget of ten million euros and focuses heavily on gynaecological issues such as endometriosis and the menopause. These topics are fundamentally very important, but somewhat less attractive for my research, partly because the comparison between the sexes plays only a minor role. The Federal Ministry of Research’s programme is more interesting in that regard. The funding pot contains significantly more money for research into new contraceptives, women’s health, but also the gender data gap in clinical trials. The term indicates that many scientific findings are based on studies involving men. It is not uncommon for these findings to be simply applied to women without further scrutiny, which can have fatal consequences. For instance, women react differently to certain active ingredients than men, or they require different dosages. The gender data gap is a topic that particularly interests us in Bielefeld.

You say the problems have been recognised. How is biomedical research addressing them?
Over the last ten years, much has improved. The guidelines issued by funding bodies at both German and European level have been crucial. Today, funding applications must already specify how researchers intend to address the issue of gender. The gender of study participants must be documented, as must that of laboratory animals. Compared to the past, this is already a huge step forward.

@ Privat

The team led by Sabine Oertelt-Prigione (centre) in front of the OWL Faculty of Medicine at Bielefeld University. @ Private

Are young researchers being trained accordingly?
Gender-sensitive medicine is still scarcely embedded in compulsory teaching; we are awaiting the announced amendment to the Medical Licensing Regulations, which would incorporate the topic and thus make its integration into the curricula necessary. At least many German universities offer relevant optional modules and lecture series. There are now professorships at the Charité, in Magdeburg and here in Bielefeld. At these universities, gender-sensitive medicine is also part of the compulsory curriculum.

Research is one thing, but do the findings actually make it into practice?
The guidelines issued by professional associations play a major role in this. We have examined many guidelines and found that most are not gender-sensitive. We will be publishing a study on this in the summer. We are also seeking to engage in dialogue with the professional associations. Obstacles here sometimes include a lack of awareness of the issue, but often also a lack of data needed to make guidelines gender-sensitive.

How did you yourself come across the topic of gender-sensitive medicine?
That was a good twenty years ago during my time as a post-doc in the US. It was rather by chance that I came across the striking gender differences in autoimmune diseases there. I then continued my specialist training in internal medicine and completed a Master’s in Public Health. I actually wanted to become a tropical medicine specialist, but gender-sensitive medicine had really gripped me. I was able to deepen my knowledge at the Charité’s ‘Gender Research in Medicine’ unit, and as a professor in Bielefeld and Nijmegen, I have been able to contribute independently to this field of research for the past ten years.

Do you already have any ideas for your talk at the GDNÄ conference?
I will provide an overview of the current state of research, but also offer practical suggestions for the doctors in the audience. Incidentally, it is not only human doctors who can benefit from the findings of gender-sensitive research; they are also relevant to veterinary medicine. I am very much looking forward to the exchange in Bremen.

Michael Droescher © MIKA-fotografie | Berlin

@ Erasmus University Rotterdam

Sabine Oertelt-Prigione giving a talk in Rotterdam.

About the person

Prof. Dr. Sabine Oertelt-Prigione is an internist, holds a Master of Public Health and is a systemic organisational consultant. In 2021, she accepted the appointment to the newly created Chair of Gender-Sensitive Medicine in the Department of Clinical and Theoretical Medicine at Bielefeld University.

At the same time, she continues to hold the Chair of Gender in Primary and Transmural Care at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, a post she took up in 2017. From 2009 to 2014, Oertelt-Prigione worked as a research fellow at the Charité. In 2015 and 2016, she trained as a systemic organisational consultant at the Artop Institute of Humboldt University in Berlin and qualified as a professor in internal medicine at Charité in 2016.

Sabine Oertelt-Prigione was born in Nuremberg in 1978. She attended the German School in Milan and studied medicine at the University of Milan. As a post-doctoral researcher, she conducted research at the University of California, Davis; she completed her public health studies at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The physician was a member of the EU Commission’s expert groups on ‘Gendered Innovations’ and ‘Gender and COVID-19’. She is a member of the Medical Committee of the German Science Council and the German Medical Association’s Drug Commission.

Further information:

>> Lecture by Prof. Dr. Sabine Oertelt-Prigione on Sunday, 20 September 2026: “The Significance of Gender in Biomedical Research”

>> Personal website at Bielefeld University

>> 134. GDNÄ Conference in Bremen

Kai Brüggemann: “There is considerable interest in the GDNÄ”

“There is considerable interest in the GDNÄ”

He is a company director, president of the Industry Club and managing director of the 134th Conference: Kai Brüggemann on Bremen as a business location and why his company plans to start manufacturing in India in the future.

Dr Brüggemann, you have taken on the role of Executive Director for Economic Affairs for the next GDNÄ conference in Bremen in 2026. What appeals to you about this role?
I am impressed by the magnificent history of the Society of German Naturalists and Physicians. It has existed for more than two hundred years and brings together the crème de la crème of the scientific world. What I also like is the interdisciplinary focus and the motto of this year’s conference: ‘Knowledge creates benefits, utilising science’. Science and business should be brought together – that is something Germany urgently needs right now.

What responsibilities does your GDNÄ role entail?
I would like to raise the profile of this wonderful society a little. Many have never heard of it and are thrilled when they learn about its history and current activities. I noticed this again when I announced the GDNÄ meeting at the Bremen Industry Club. There was great interest and I’m sure quite a few members will be there in the autumn. We could perhaps deepen engagement by holding an information event beforehand, to which the GDNÄ could contribute with a lecture by a renowned scientist on a topical subject. Experience shows that such events attract many members.

@ Industrie-Club Bremen

With the Industry 4.0 Future Workshop, the Industrie-Club Bremen is organising an ideas competition in which young people from Bremen’s universities present their ideas in three-minute pitches. A cash prize will be awarded for the best pitch. All participants will benefit from feedback from experienced entrepreneurs and executives based in Bremen.

You have been President of the Bremen Industry Club since 2019. Could you please give us a brief introduction to it?
We bring together people who are active in Bremen’s business community: entrepreneurs, managers, as well as commercial lawyers and other service providers. We organise events, many of which sell out quickly. Popular formats include training courses such as ‘AI for Executives’, lectures by experts from politics and academia, and the ‘ICB on tour’ series, which takes us to members’ companies. As representatives of the manufacturing sector in Bremen and the surrounding area, we occasionally comment cautiously on political issues.

How is the Bremen economy faring in these turbulent political times?
As a strongly export-oriented, globally networked economy, it is suffering from US tariffs and supply chain disruptions resulting from armed conflicts. This affects practically all key sectors: automotive, aerospace, ports and logistics, and Bremen’s long-established food industry – just think of the coffee roasters. Fundamentally, however, we have a stable economic base here with hidden champions in the SME sector, an increasingly digital focus and interesting start-ups.

You are the managing director of Deharde GmbH, a supplier to the aerospace industry in the Bremen region. How is your company faring?
We plan to expand our existing partnership with a company in India’s Silicon Valley, in Bangalore, and to explore further opportunities for collaboration. In Germany, we can no longer produce high-tech components for customers like Airbus cost-effectively and are suffering from a shortage of skilled workers. That’s not an issue in India. Some of the country’s universities have reached world-class standards and are training large numbers of outstanding engineers. In Germany, by contrast, interest in STEM subjects has been declining for years – that’s going to cause us problems.

You’ve worked in Austria, Switzerland and various places in Germany, but have always kept your home base in Bremen. How did that come about?
It has to do with the family. My wife and children have always said: ‘You can work wherever you want, we’re staying here.’

@ Deharde GmbH

Accompanied by a team from the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), DLR Director General and current GDNÄ President Prof. Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla visited the supplier Deharde GmbH in Varel (the photograph was taken in 2024).

In September, many GDNÄ members will be coming to the meeting in Bremen. What can visitors look forward to?
A city where business and science work well together. A world-class scientific landscape with three renowned universities and the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence, the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and several Fraunhofer Institutes. We are also proud of our free-fall tower for experiments in weightlessness at the Centre for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity at the University of Bremen – the only one of its kind in Europe. Speaking of the university: anyone who still has the image of a red ‘cadet factory’ with questionable scientific standing in mind will be surprised. Our university was first designated a ‘University of Excellence’ in 2012 and is currently reapplying for the title. The science city of Bremen has so many attractions and we look forward to showing them to the GDNÄ.

Dr Kai Brüggemann, President of the Bremen Industry Club and Economic Director of the 134th Conference of the GDNÄ.

About the person

Dr Kai Brüggemann studied industrial engineering and obtained his doctorate in mechanical engineering. Before taking up his current position as Chairman of the Management Board at Deharde GmbH in Varel, he served as a member of the Executive Board at DB Fernverkehr AG in Frankfurt am Main and as Managing Director of ÖBB Technische Services in Vienna. Prior to that, he spent a total of almost twenty years in senior positions at Airbus in Bremen and Hamburg, interrupted by a two-year stint at the Swiss company RUAG Aerospace. Kai Brüggemann has been a board member of the Industrie-Club Bremen since 2012 and its president since 2019. He will hold the GDNÄ post of Managing Director for Economic Affairs until the 134th meeting of the Natural History Society from 17–20 September 2026.

@ Industrie-Club Bremen

Every second Friday in November, the Industrie-Club Bremen invites its members and guests to the traditional Roland Dinner at the Old Town Hall. Here is a glimpse of the banquet hall, with club president Kai Bremen at the lectern.

Further information:

>> Industrie-Club Bremen

>> Deharde GmbH

>> 134. GDNÄ Conference in Bremen

Petra Schwille: ‘Understanding the basic principles of life’

“Understanding the basic principles of life“

Petra Schwille is a star in the field of synthetic biology. At the GDNÄ meeting in Bremen, she will report on her search for the essence of life.

Professor Schwille, you will be explaining to your audience at the GDNÄ meeting in Bremen how simple living systems can be. The topic is probably not quite that simple. How much prior knowledge is needed to understand it?
Anyone who has a rough idea of how a cell works and is familiar with the term “protein” will understand the lecture well. In it, I will describe my research and report on the latest results from my laboratory.

Where are you currently in your search for the minimal biological system?
We, that is, my team and I at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, have created a functioning artificial system for cell division. Of course, cell division is only one aspect of life – we are not yet able to replicate metabolism, growth, reproduction, evolution and other characteristic life processes. The only system known today that encompasses all these processes is the cell. Rudolf Virchow defined it in the 19th century as the smallest unit of life from which all living systems arise. That is the paradigm on which our work is based. We still find it very helpful, even if it ultimately leads to a dead end, because somehow the very first cell must have come into being at some point.

Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie © MPI für Biochemie/ Susanne Vondenbusch

The Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry is located on the Martinsried campus. Within walking distance are the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, facilities belonging to Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and the Biotechnology Innovation and Start-up Centre.

How can we imagine your artificial system?
It consists of an artificial cell envelope and currently five bacterial proteins and the externally supplied energy source adenosine triphosphate, or ATP for short. The cell envelope is of great importance here – a membrane that delimits the cell to the outside and is involved in many cellular processes inside. It is composed of various lipids and proteins. The fuel for every cell is ATP, which stores energy chemically and also ensures autonomous processes in our body cells. These are processes that do not require light, heat or other external energy sources. In our laboratory, bacterial proteins cause the membrane vesicle to divide. They accumulate at the equator of the cell and contract like a belt – so tightly that two vesicles are eventually formed.

What are the next steps on the way to a bonsai cell?
Next, we want to get our model system to produce ATP independently and maintain its own metabolism. We also want to introduce DNA and thus achieve the transfer of information during cell division. The aim is to use inanimate components such as proteins and biological membranes to create an artificial cell that is clearly visible under the microscope and exhibits more and more aspects of life. We are pursuing this goal together with a team led by biochemist Bert Poolman from the University of Groningen in the MetaDivide project. To this end, we were able to secure an ERC Synergy Grant from the European Research Council at the end of 2024 – with funding of five million euros. MetaDivide aims to provide us with a new understanding of the basic principles of life.

The aim of the MetaDivide project is to enable a synthetic cell the size of a bacterium to divide independently.

The motto of the 2026 GDNÄ meeting is ‘Knowledge creates benefits – utilising science’. So, the question is: what are the benefits of your research?
It serves to gain knowledge. Perhaps it will help us better understand how life on Earth began, or perhaps it will give us a key to finding extraterrestrial life. If one day we understand in detail how the simplest cells produce energy, it could mean an abundance of renewable energy. It is also conceivable that it could provide impetus for medicine and materials science. But this is all still speculation, and what happens in our laboratory is pure basic research.

What fascinates you about it?
Even as a child, I wondered where life came from and how all living things are connected. I then studied physics and philosophy as a minor, but basically lost sight of my original questions during my studies. My interest was reawakened during my doctorate with Manfred Eigen, the Nobel Prize winner in chemistry from Göttingen, who was intensively engaged with questions about the evolution of life at the time. He had an interesting project on single-molecule detection that needed to be assigned in order to better understand and quantify the incredibly complex processes in biological systems. To this end, I was able to develop a method that is still in use today. Even back then, in the mid-1990s, I dreamed of a living system that was not so complex, that had only the truly essential properties – and was perhaps even capable of evolution. That would be the breakthrough.

Is the homunculus, the artificially created human being, appearing on the horizon? How do you deal with the philosophical questions raised by your research?
I am glad and happy that I am free to explore what life is and what it is not. I am interested in scientific explanations. And ultimately also in humility towards inanimate nature. The difference between animate and inanimate nature is not that fundamental. We should not morally exaggerate life, give it a halo.

Your husband is a Protestant pastor. What does he say about this?
He is interested in social and human issues and cares about relationships between people and their relationship with God. We have a clear division of labour in this regard.

Is God important to you?
Not in the sense of a particular religion. It’s more a feeling that there is a driving force behind everything that develops in time and space – from the universe to human life. And one day I would like to understand this force better and perhaps even be able to quantify it.

Prof. Dr. Petra Schwille, physicist and director of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry.

About the person

Petra Schwille was born in Sindelfingen in 1968 and grew up in Heilbronn. She studied physics and philosophy at the Universities of Stuttgart and Göttingen and received her doctorate under Nobel Prize winner Manfred Eigen at the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell University, she returned from the USA in 1999 to the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry, where she headed her own junior research group. In 2002, she accepted a position as Chair of Biophysics at the Biotechnology Centre of the Technical University of Dresden. Since 2011, Petra Schwille has been Director at the MPI for Biochemistry in Munich-Martinsried, where she heads the research department ‘Cellular and Molecular Biophysics’. In 2012, she also became an honorary professor at the Faculty of Physics at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. Petra Schwille has received many awards, including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize from the German Research Foundation in 2010, the Otto Warburg Medal in 2022 and the Manfred Eigen Prize in 2023. She is a recipient of the Bavarian Maximilian Order and the Cross of Merit First Class of the Federal Republic of Germany. In addition to her scientific activities, Petra Schwille speaks at cultural events on scientific, philosophical and social issues and is involved in mentoring young scientists.

Further reading

>> Website of Petra Schwille’s ‘Cellular and Molecular Biophysics Research Department’

Fraunhofer Medal for Michael Dröscher

The GDNÄ Secretary General is honoured for his services to the Fraunhofer Society.

The Fraunhofer Society honors Professor Michael Dröscher with the Fraunhofer Medal 2026. The Secretary General and Treasurer of the Society of German Natural Scientists and Physicians was honored in early 2026 for his outstanding services to the Fraunhofer Society. As a representative of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Donors’ Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany), Michael Dröscher served for 25 years on the jury for the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize, the highest award given by the application-oriented German research organization. He gave the Fraunhofer Society important impetus and, as chairman of several scientific societies, persistently advocated for closer integration between science and industry, writes Fraunhofer President Professor Holger Hanselka on LinkedIn.

The Fraunhofer Society is one of Germany’s leading organisations for application-oriented research. Nearly 32,000 employees at 75 institutes and independent research facilities in Germany generate an annual financial volume of 3.6 billion euros. Of this, 3.1 billion euros is attributable to Fraunhofer’s core business model, contract research.

This year, the Fraunhofer Society is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the death of its namesake, Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787-1826). The Munich scholar was equally successful as a scientist, inventor and entrepreneur.

The Fraunhofer Medal was designed on 6 March 1987 to mark the 200th anniversary of Joseph von Fraunhofer’s birth. The front features a portrait of Fraunhofer, while the back shows a view of his birthplace, Straubing.

Michael Dröscher, Secretary General and Treasurer of the GDNÄ.

Further reading:

>> Tribute by Professor Holger Hanselka, President of the Fraunhofer Society

>> Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

Fraunhofer Medal

Michael Dröscher: “We still have lots of good ideas”

“We still have lots of good ideas”

Michael Dröscher, Secretary General and Treasurer of the GDNÄ, talks about new momentum for the society, highlights of the meeting in Bremen and his own plans for the future.

Professor Dröscher, we are conducting this interview at the beginning of 2026. You have long been responsible for the Society of German Natural Scientists and Physicians: for eleven years as its Secretary General and for nine years as its Treasurer. Where does the GDNÄ stand today?
Not only are membership numbers stable, we can even hope for growth. This positive trend is by no means a given. Most scientific societies today are struggling with declining membership numbers and often lack young talent. This was also the case for us for a long time.

What led to the turnaround?
The decisive factor was the founding of the GDNÄ’s Young Network, known as jGDNÄ for short. The network is open to scientists and medical professionals up to the age of 32 and is developing splendidly. The first self-organised congress took place in Heidelberg in June 2025, and the next one is planned for 2027. The young members are very committed and are bringing new momentum to our venerable society.

GDNÄ-Tagung 2024 in Potsdam © MIKA-fotografie | Berlin

Michael Dröscher with young participants at the GDNÄ conference in Potsdam in 2024.

How do they manage that?
For example, they are active on our LinkedIn channel, which operates under the name “Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte” (German Society of Natural Scientists and Physicians). I recommend that all members take a look and become followers. We also owe the jGDNÄ a debt of gratitude for bringing us the attention of YouTuber and author Jacob Beautemps, whom we awarded the Oken Medal in December for his outstanding contributions to science communication. The young members are currently in the process of establishing regional structures, with groups in Aachen, Heidelberg, Bochum and Greifswald. Together, we have drafted rules of procedure that define the rights and obligations of the jGDNÄ. The rules are to be adopted at the next meeting in Bremen.

What motivates these young people?
I believe they sense that we are happy to have them here. We give them a lot of freedom and involve them wherever possible. For example, representatives of the jGDNÄ always attend board meetings. Many appreciate the contact with established GDNÄ members and take advantage of the opportunities for further training. For example, we are currently developing a pilot project on medical communication with two-day workshops for our young people. The format fits in well with the theme of Science Year 2026, “Medicine of the Future”.

Most members are older than 32. What are your arguments for keeping this group in the GDNÄ? And for attracting new members from this age group?
There are a number of good arguments. Every membership fee, every donation and every bequest supports young people in the natural sciences and medicine, whether in our school programme or in the jGDNÄ. The contributions finance our small but highly efficient office, which makes our many activities possible in the first place. I am thinking, for example, of the Lorenz Oken Medal award ceremony at the Science Forum in Stuttgart, which was very well attended and raised our profile among important target groups . With our website and videos of lectures at the meetings, we contribute to science communication – all of which, of course, costs money. In addition, our members benefit directly from discounts, for example at the meetings and when subscribing to our association’s journal, the Naturwissenschaftliche Rundschau. They are also invited to our regional meetings, which we now want to offer more frequently.

In the auditorium of the 2024 conference in Potsdam: Martin Lohse, Michael Dröscher, and Paul Mühlenhoff (from left to right).

A regional meeting took place in Leipzig in the summer of 2025. What happens next?
The Leipzig meeting was a good start. On 13 March, we will continue the series in Bremen; the invitations have been sent out recently. Our scientific director for the next GDNÄ meeting, Professor Michal Kucera, will give a lecture on his climate science research and discuss it with the participants. The event will be hosted by the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Bremen. Further regional meetings are in the planning stage.

The 134th GDNÄ meeting will take place from 17 to 20 September. How far along are the preparations?
The programme (pdf) is set, and preparations are in full swing. Once again, we have some fantastic lectures and a superb accompanying programme. One highlight is sure to be the public lecture by Professor Ben List, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, on the evening of 19 September. The public is also invited to attend the lecture by Professor Thomas Zurbuchen from ETH Zurich on the subject of aerospace. He will speak on the eve of the opening, when we will also be hosting the popular Science Slam “Science in 5 Minutes”. The Bremen Senator for Science will give a welcoming address at the opening event. We have once again organised a programme for school pupils, with around 100 pupils from the region and around 50 students taking part. A poster exhibition is planned in the foyer, with prizes for the two best posters. Speaking of which, we will once again be awarding the Alexander von Humboldt Medal for outstanding services to the GDNÄ, and the Society of German Chemists will be presenting the Liebig Medal. The jGDNÄ is organising a student café on its own for the first time. It will be a compact gathering, with all events taking place on one level. The Congress Centre is only a ten-minute walk from the centre of Bremen. One more thing: this time, the closing speech will really be given on Sunday lunchtime so that everyone can get home on time.

It will be your last meeting as Secretary General. Why is that?

I am approaching eighty and am gradually retiring from my honorary positions on boards of trustees and other committees of scientific institutions. My position as GDNÄ Secretary General will be taken over by Professor Stefan Buchholz, with whom I have attended many events over the past few months. I will remain GDNÄ Treasurer until the end of 2027. My term as Chairman of the Administrative Board of the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research will also last until then. After that, I look forward to spending more time with my family and enjoying a more peaceful life.

How do you see the future of the GDNÄ?
As I said, the trend is positive – now we must do everything we can to ensure that it continues. The GDNÄ has held its own in the world of science for 204 years, experiencing heyday and weathering crises. Today, even large scientific societies are fighting for the attention of the public, which does not make things any easier for us. But we have many good ideas that we would like to implement and for which we need funding. As treasurer, I will therefore never tire of appealing to the generosity of our members. It is money well spent, and I vouch for that with my name.

Michael Dröscher, Secretary General and Treasurer of the GDNÄ.

About the person

Professor Michael Dröscher has been treasurer and board member of the GDNÄ since 2017 and its secretary general since 2015. He was born in Kirn an der Nahe in 1949, studied chemistry in Mainz and also completed his doctorate there. He then took up a position as a research assistant at the University of Freiburg and, at the age of just 31, qualified as a professor in macromolecular chemistry. He continued his academic career first as a private lecturer and, from 1988, as an adjunct professor at the University of Münster.

Michael Dröscher is even more interested in the application of scientific results than in basic research, which is what led him to industry. He started in 1982 as a laboratory manager and in 1984 as a department head at Hüls AG in Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia. He remained at Hüls and its successor companies, Degussa-Hüls and Evonik-Industries AG, for 27 years in various roles. In 1997, Michael Dröscher was appointed managing director of the then newly founded Hüls subsidiary Creavis Gesellschaft für Technologie und Innovation mbH. Five years later, in 2002, Michael Dröscher became innovation manager at Degussa AG, which later became part of Evonik.

Michael Dröscher was also involved in professional associations, including as Chairman of the German Bunsen Society (2005 to 2006) and, from 2010 to 2011, as President of the German Chemical Society and Manager of the CHEMIE.NRW cluster.

He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in Mülheim and has been a member of several boards of trustees and advisory boards of the Max Planck Society, the Leibniz Association and university institutes.