Curriculum Vitae

Curriculum Vitae

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Position:

Full Professor (C 4) of Plant Physiology and Evolutionary Biology and Head of the corresponding Department in the Institute of Biology (Faculty of Natural Sciences), Kassel, Germany


Research Interests:

  • Evolutionary biology of plants and other organisms; plant development (metabolism and proteomics); cell-wall structure and function (phytohormones)
  • Growth-promoting methylobacteria (plant-microbe symbioses)
  • Molecular systematics and evolution of aquatic annelids (DNA-barcoding)
  • History and philosophy of the life sciences (evolution vs. creationism)
  • Public understanding of science (numerous TV-interviews, public lectures etc.)


Textbooks (in German):

  1. Kutschera, U. (1995) Kurzes Lehrbuch der Pflanzenphysiologie. (UTB 1861) Quelle & Meyer Verlag, Wiesbaden (442 S., 213 Abb., 42 Tab.)
  2. Kutschera, U. (1998) Grundpraktikum zur Pflanzenphysiologie (UTB 2026) Quelle & Meyer Verlag, Wiesbaden (167 S., 125 Abb., 7 Tab.)
  3. Kutschera, U (2001) Evolutionsbiologie. Eine allgemeine Einführung. Parey Buchverlag, Berlin ( 284 S., 104 Abb., 2 Tab.)
  4. Kutschera, U. (2002) Prinzipien der Pflanzenphysiologie. 2. Auflage. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg Berlin, (348 S, 241 Abb., 42 Tab.)
  5. Kutschera, U. (2004) Streitpunkt Evolution. Darwinismus und Intelligentes Design. Lit-Verlag, Münster. (310 S., 53 Abb.)
  6. Kutschera, U. (Hg.) (2007) Kreationismus in Deutschland. Fakten und Analysen. LIT-Verlag, Münster (370 S., 18 Abb.)
  7. Kutschera, U. (2008) Evolutionsbiologie. 3. Auflage. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (312 S., 202 Abb.)
  8. Kutschera, U. (2009) Tatsache Evolution. Was Darwin nicht wissen konnte. Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, München (340 S., 103 Abb.)


Significant recent publications (Review articles):

  1. Kutschera, U., Niklas, K. J. (2004) The modern theory of biological evolution: an expanded synthesis. Naturwissenschaften 91, 255 – 276.
  2. Kutschera, U., Niklas, K.J. (2005) Endosymbiosis, cell evolution, and speciation. Theory Biosci. 124, 1 – 24.
  3. Kutschera, U. (2006) Acid growth and plant development. Science 311, 952 – 953.
  4. Kutschera, U. (2008) From Darwinism to evolutionary biology. Science 321, 1157-1158.
  5. Kutschera, U. (2009) Symbiogenesis, natural selection, and the dynamic Earth. Theory Biosci. 128, 191-203.
  6. Kutschera, U. (2009) Struggle to translate Darwin´s view of concurrency. Nature 458, 967.


See complete list of publications

 

Academic career:

1955Born in Freiburg i. Br., Germany
1975 - 1981University of Freiburg (B.S. in Biology and Chemistry)
1979 - 1981University of Freiburg (Institute of Biology I, M.S. in Zoology). Topic of M.S. thesis (in German): "Reproductive behaviour and parental care in freshwater leeches (Hirudinea)"
1981 - 1985Research assistant, Institute of Biology II, Ph.D. (i. e., Dr. rer. nat). Title of Ph.D. thesis (in German): "Investigations on the mode of action of the phytohormones auxin and abscisic acid in maize (Zea mays) coleoptiles".
1985 - 1988Postdoctoral research fellow/research associate in the USA (supported by the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, Bonn, Feodor-Lynen-program). 1985 – 1987: Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford and Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, California. 1987 – 1988: MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
1988 - 1990Staff Scientist, Institute of Botany, University of Bonn, Germany
1990

Habilitation, venia legendi for Botany. Title of the Habil-thesis (in German):
"Growth, cell-wall biogenesis, osmoregulation and longitudinal tissue pressure in hypocotyls of Helianthus annuus L."

1991 - 1993Lecturer at the University of Bonn, Germany
1993 -Full Professor of Plant Physiology and Evolutionary Biology,  University of Kassel, Germany
1998 - 1999Dean of the faculty of Biology and Chemistry
2002 - Head of the division of Evolutionary Biology, Association of German Biologists (Vdbiol) and Vice President of the Vdbiol (2004 – 2007).
2007 -Visiting Professor, Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution, Stanford University, USA (supported by the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation)

Editorial Board memberships:

  • Current Research in Biological Sciences (Taif University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)
  • Theory in Biosciences (Springer, Heidelberg, New York)
  • Evolution: Education & Outreach (Springer, Heidelberg, New York)
  • Journal of Applied Botany (Parey, Berlin)
  • Lauterbornia – International Journal of Faunistics and Floristics of European Inland Waters (E. Mauch Verlag)
  • Annals of the History and Philosophy of Biology (Universitätsverlag Göttingen)

Honours:

  • Carnegie Darwin-Lecture, Stanford University, California, USA, 2009
  • Invited Speaker, AAAS Annual Science Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 2007
  • Entry in Who is Who in Medicine and Health Care, 2006
  • Entry in Who is Who in the World, 2005
  • Entry of curriculum vitae in the online- encylopedia Wikipedia, 2004
  • Invited Lecturer, COSPAR 2000, University of Warsaw, Poland
  • Guest Lecturer, University of Brasilia, Brasil, 1999
  • Goedecke-Forschungspreis for  PhD thesis, 1986
  • Best PhD thesis (summa cum laude), Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, 1985

Memberships:

  • Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung (AvH)
  • Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie (DGGTB)
  • Verband Deutscher Biologen / AG Evolutionsbiologie (Vbio)
  • Vereinigung für Angewandte Botanik (VAB)
  • Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft (DBG)
  • European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB)
  • Federation of European Societies of Plant Physiology (FESPP)
  • Center for Interdiciplinary Nanostructure Science and Technology (CINSat, Kassel)
  • Committee on Space Research (COSPAR)

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