Tiefensee appoints new President of the University of Jena

Minister of Science Wolfgang Tiefensee appointed Prof. Dr Andreas Marx as President of Friedrich Schiller University Jena today and presented him with the certificate of appointment with fixed-term civil service status. The President's term of office lasts six years and ends on 1 August 2030. The election by the University Assembly of the University of Jena took place on 9 April.

Tiefensee congratulated: "Professor Marx is an internationally renowned scientist who also has extensive experience as a science manager. With his successes as a researcher and his experience with the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments – not least as Vice Rector and member of the Senate of a University of Excellence – Professor Marx will make a significant contribution to the further profiling and development of the University of Jena. Our goal remains to position Jena at the forefront of the German university landscape."

In particular, this involves the desired award of a new Cluster of Excellence and the subsequent recognition of the University as a University of Excellence. However, Tiefensee went on to say that the new President also has other important tasks ahead of him, such as the development of skilled professionals, the strengthening of technology transfer, the building infrastructure and the internal restructuring of the University.

The new President is counting on committed colleagues. "I want to inspire the people at the University and support their own initiative to the best of my ability. In the coming years, I look forward to contributing to further raising the profile of the already excellent University of Jena and further strengthening it in teaching, research and as a partner for business, politics and society. Despite the financial challenges that lie ahead of us, I see great opportunities to further advance the University of Jena, especially in the subject areas of science and teaching transfer to strengthen the economy, climate protection and the cohesion of society," said Prof. Marx. Andreas Marx wants to have discussions with the state government in order to reduce the University's continuing large structural deficit.

Andreas Marx, born in Lübeck in 1968, studied chemistry in Freiburg im Breisgau, Sussex (UK) and Bochum. He received his doctorate from the University of Basel in 1997. This was followed by a two-year research stay at Nagoya University in Japan. In 2003, he completed his postdoctoral lecturing qualification ('Habilitation') in organic chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Bonn. Andreas Marx has been Professor of Organic and Cellular Chemistry at the University of Konstanz since 2004. From 2007 to 2021, he was spokesperson for the Graduate School "Chemical Biology" as part of the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state governments. From 2010 to 2013, he was Vice Rector for Research and Young Sciencists at the University of Konstanz.

Andreas Marx has received several international awards for his research, including the František Šorm Memorial Medal of the Czech Academy of Sciences in 2017 and membership of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. In 2013 and 2021, he twice received an "ERC Advanced Grant" from the European Research Council (ERC), a highly endowed funding line aimed at established cutting-edge researchers. His "achievements in research and its implementation in industrial practice" were honoured with the Karl Heinz Beckurts Prize in 2014.

Friedrich Schiller University Jena is a University rich in tradition and strong in research with a broad range of subjects. Its cutting-edge research is bundled in the Light, Life and Liberty profiles. It is closely networked with non-university research institutions, research-based companies and renowned cultural institutions. With over 17,000 students and more than 10,000 employees, the University plays a key role in shaping Jena's character as a cosmopolitan and forward-thinking city.