Prof. Dr. Beate Koksch
Freie Universität Berlin
Institut für Chemie und Biochemie
Organische Chemie
Professor
Peptidic Materials and Therapeutics with Unnatural Building Blocks
Room 0.02
14195 Berlin
Speaker of the Center for Supramolecular Interactions CSI
2012-2014: Speaker of the Graduate School "Macromolecular Bioscience"
2012-2018: Speaker of the DFG Research Training Group "Fluorine as Key Element"
Leipzig University; Leipzig, Germany: PhD in Biochemistry awarded on November, 06, 1995
Leipzig University; Leipzig, Germany: Diploma in Chemistry awarded on July, 12, 1991
Technical University of Leuna-Merseburg; Merseburg, Germany; Undergraduate study from September, 1986 to February, 1988
Highschool Pforte Schulpforte, Germany 1984 – 1986
Research Experience
Since 2 / 2023 Freie Universität Berlin,
University Professor, W3, Organic Chemistry
Since 05 / 2004 Freie Universität Berlin,
University Professor, W2
Organic Chemistry / Natural Product Chemistry
02 / 2004 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
Assistant Professor (offer declined)
2000 – 2004 Leipzig University
Assistant Professor
10 /02 – 3 / 03 The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
02 / 02 – 03 / 02 Research Associate
07 / 01 – 02 / 02 Collaboration with Prof. Carlos F. Barbas, III
03 / 00 – 09 / 00 The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
Research Associate – Post-Doctoral Fellow
Supervisor: Prof. Carlos F. Barbas, III
03 / 99 – 03 / 00 The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Supervisor: Prof. M. Reza Ghadiri
1995 – 1999 Leipzig University
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Supervisor: Prof. K. Burger
1991 – 1995 Leipzig University
Graduate Research Fellow
Thesis Supervisor: Prof. H.-D. Jakubke
07 / 93 – 07 /94 Technical University Munich
Research stay
Supervisor: Prof. K. Burger
1990 - 1991 Leipzig University
Diploma Thesis
Thesis Supervisor: Prof. K. Schultze
03 / 90 – 06 / 90 BellFlavorsand Fragrances, Miltitz, Germany
Industrial training
HONORS AND AWARDS SCHOLARSHIPS / FELLOWSHIPS / GRANTS
Short-term visiting professorship at University of Padova, Italy, 2023
ACS 2021 National Award for Creative Work in Fluorine Chemistry
Fellow of the European Academy of Science (since 12/2017)
Central Teaching Award of Freie Universität 2017 (together with Prof. Dr. Christoph Schalley) for the project:
“Molecular diversity - emergent properties in chemical reactivity networks”
Publication Award of the GDCh working group “Fluorine Chemistry” on “Discovery and Investigation of Natural Editing Function against Artificial Amino Acids in Protein Translation“, GDCh Wissenschaftsforum, Berlin / Germany (September 13, 2017)
Georg Thieme publisher’s award (2002)
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Research Fellowship (4/99 – 9/00)
Lessing medal in Gold (1986)
FELLOWSHIPS / GRANTS (Current and Completed)
DFG – Four-Year Grant (2022-2026); PI, DFG-RTG 2662 “Polyelectrolytes” Subproject A2: “Glycosaminoglycans and their interaction with amyloid-forming peptides”
BMBF GO-BIO second funding period (2021-2023) together with Dr. Chaitanya K. Thota Topic “Peptid Hydrogele”
DFG – Four-Year Grant (2021-2024); PI, DFG-Sonderforschungsbereich (CRC) “Dynamic Hydrogels”; Subproject C2: “Rationally designed mucin-like glyco and peptide hydrogels”
BMBF GO-BIO initial (2020-2021) together with Dr. Chaitanya K. Thota Topic “Peptid Hydrogele”
DFG – Four-Year Grant (2019-2023); PI, DFG-Sonderforschungsbereich 1349 „Fluorspezifische Wechselwirkungen“, Subproject A4: „Steuerung von Peptid-Protein-Wechselwirkungen und Proteinfaltung durch fluorspezifische Wechselwirkungen“
DFG – Four-Year Grant (2019-2023); PI, DFG-RTG 2473 “Bioactive Peptides – Innovative Aspects of Synthesis and Biosynthesis” Subproject B1: “Bioactive β- and ɣ-peptides”
DFG – Four-Year Grant (2018-2022); PI, DFG-Sonderforschungsbereich 1114 „Scaling Cascades in Complex Systems“, Subproject B3 “Multilevel coarse graining of multiscale problems”
EU-ITN – Four-Year Grant (2014-2018); PI,
DFG – Four-Year Grant (2014-2018); PI, DFG-Graduate School “Fluorine as key element” Subprojects C3 and C4
DFG – Four-Year Grant (2012-2016); PI, DFG-Sonderforschungsbereich 765 „Multivalency as organisational and functional principle“, Subproject A5
DFG - Three-Year Grant (2010-2013); PI
Topic: “Study of the structure and induction of structure formation in amyloidogenic model peptides”
DFG – Four-Year Grant (2009-2012); PI, DFG-Graduate School “Fluorine as key element” Subprojects D2 and D3
DFG – Four-Year Grant (2008-2011); PI, DFG-Sonderforschungsbereich 765 „Multivalency as organisational and functional principle“, Subproject A5
DFG - Three-Year Grant (2006-2009); PI
Topic: “Importance of electrostatic interactions and metal ion complexation for peptide and protein folding”
DFG - Three-Year Grant (2006-2009); PI
Topic: “HIV entry inhibitors” (Follow-up project)
DFG - Three-Year Grant (2005-2008); DFG-Research Group „Formation and Stability of b-sheets“, Subproject 10C
Topic: „Structural and kinetic characterization of intermediates of misfolding and aggregation of proteins“; PI
DFG - Three-Year Grant (2005-2008); Graduiertenkolleg 788 “Hydrogen bonds and hydrogen transfer“
Topic: „Studies of the influence of fluoralkyl substituents on the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds in peptides”; PI
DFG - Two-Year Grant (2002-2004); PI
Topic: “HIV entry inhibitors”
Volkswagen Foundation - Two-Year Grant (2002-2004); PI
Topic: “A bi-directional peptide switch: a-helical coiled coil interactions versus b-sheet formation”
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
- From 2024: Executive Committee Member of the European Peptide Society (EPS)- "Communication Officer"
- 2020-2022: Member of the Expert Council of the Student Research Opportunities Programx (StuROPx) in the Berlin University Alliance (BUA)
- Since 2020: Member of the Founding Board of the DFG funded Research Building “SUPRAFAB” at FU Berlin
- 2019-2021: Member of the central advisory board for “Quality Assurance in Education” at FU Berlin
- Since 2019: Member of Executive Board of the DFG Collaborative Research Centre CRC 1349 “Fluorine Specific Interactions”
- Since 2019: Expert reviewer for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
- Since 2018: Fellow of the European Academy of Science
- Since 2018: Mentor for young female professors in the via mento Program of the University Kiel, Germany
- Member of the International Advisory Board for the 23rd International Symposium on Fluorine Chemistry – 9th International Symposium on Fluorous Technologies, Québec City, Canada, July 18-23, 2021
- 2018: Head of organizing committee of the 8th Peptide Engineering Meeting, PEM8, November 8-10, 2018, Berlin, Germany
- Since 2018: Member of the Ethics Council of FU Berlin
- 2017-2024: Member of the evaluation committee for the Liebig Medal of the GDCh
- 2016-2017: Member of Organizing Committee of the 150th Anniversary Celebration of the GDCh and the GDCh Wissenschaftsforum, Berlin 2017
- 2016-2020: Member of the Editorial Board of “Cell Chemical Biology”
- Since 2014: Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of ACS “Medicinal Chemistry Letters”
- Organizer of the 10th German Peptide Symposium, March, 7-10, 2011, Freie Universität and Technische Univerität Berlin, Germany
- 2009-2012: Speaker of the Interdisciplinary Initiative “Centre for Supramolecular Interactions” at Freie Universität Berlin
- Since 2009: Member of the “Expert/inn/enbeirat Gleichstellung“, Freie Universität Berlin
- 2008-2009: ERASMUS coordinator for the Institute of Chemistry, Freie Universität Berlin
- 2006-2015: Member of the “Zentraler Frauenrat”, Freie Universität Berlin
- 2006-2011: Member of the “Akademischer Senat”, Freie Universität Berlin
- Head of the Scientific Organizing Committee for the 2nd Sino-German Frontiers of Chemistry Symposium, Bejing, China, October 2008
- Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee for the 1st Sino-German Frontiers of Chemistry Symposium, Kloster Seon, Germany, July 2006
- Evaluator for in depth study courses for the ZevA Hannover, 2005
- Expert evaluator in the chemistry and life science panel for the International Marie-Curie Fellowship evaluation, Brussels, May, 2004
- Member of the Organizing Committee of the 4th German Peptide Symposium, March, 21-24, 1999, University Leipzig, Germany
MEMBERSHIPS
- Fellow of the European Academy of Science
- Max-Bergmann-Kreis e.V. (For the Advancement of Peptide Chemistry Research)
- German Chemical Society,
- American Chemical Society, Fluorine Division
