Bochtler receives Pienkowski Award

The Stefan Pienkowski Award of the Faculty of Physics, Warsaw U., Poland, went in 2005 to Matthias Bochtler, a protein crystallographer holding a Group Leader position in the International Inst. of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, supported jointly by the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics. The Award was established to promote research in natural sciences that is of particular importance for the scientific community in Poland, and to commemorate Prof. Stefan Pienkowski, a prominent experimental physicist of the first half of the XXth century, also interested in the use of X-rays in structural studies, founder of the Warsaw school of physics. The Award recognizes achievements in broad experimental physics, including applications in chemistry and biology. Matthias is a physicist by education but he received his PhD in chemistry (1999) for biostructural work on proteasome model HslV, carried out with Robert Huber in Martinsried, Germany. Matthias came to Warsaw in 2001 and in this short span of time he not only created a young, vibrant, and competitive protein crystallography group, but has also marked his position by an outstanding record of achievement and publication. Among his accomplishments are crystal structure determinations of novel amidases and their inhibitors. The citation on the Diploma highlights “Dr. Matthias Bochtler’s achievements in crystallographic studies of protein structure”. The award ceremony was held in connection with a Symposium, during which Matthias presented a lecture about “Physics in Biology: Protein Crystallography”.

Mariusz Jaskolski, Poznan