Ilme Schlichting facts for kids
Ilme Schlichting was born on March 8, 1960, in Germany. She is a biophysicist, which means she studies how living things work using the rules of physics.
Her Journey in Science
Ilme Schlichting went to the University of Heidelberg in Germany. From 1979 to 1987, she studied two big subjects: biology (the study of living things) and physics (the study of how the world works). In 1990, she earned her PhD, which is a very high university degree showing she is an expert in her field.
After her PhD, she continued her research as a 'post-doctoral' student. This means she kept learning and doing science at places like the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Germany and Brandeis University in Boston, USA. She was supported by a special scholarship called the Feodor Lynen Fellowship.
From 1994 to 2001, she led a team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund. Since 2002, she has been the director of a special department at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research. This department focuses on how tiny parts of living things work.
What Ilme Schlichting Studies
Dr. Schlichting studies the structure and how tiny parts of living things, called biomolecules, work. Think of biomolecules as the building blocks and tiny machines inside our bodies, like proteins. She uses a special method called protein crystallography. This method helps scientists see the exact shape of these tiny molecules. Knowing their shape helps us understand how they do their jobs.
During her PhD, she made important discoveries about how enzymes work. Enzymes are like tiny helpers in our bodies that speed up chemical reactions. She studied something called the Michaelis complex, which is a key part of how enzymes do their job. She used a method called the Laue method to see these tiny structures.
More recently, Dr. Schlichting has been a leader in a new way of studying proteins. It's called time-resolved protein crystallography using Free-electron lasers. Imagine taking super-fast movies of molecules as they change! This helps scientists see how proteins move and change shape as they do their work, which is very important for understanding life itself.
Awards and Honors
Ilme Schlichting has received many important awards for her scientific work:
- Feodor Lynen Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 1990
- Karl Lohmann Prize, 1991
- Otto Hahn Medal, 1991
- Ernst Schering Prize, 1998
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, 2000
- Member of the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, 2003
- Carus Medal, 2003
- Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2003
- Cross of Merit of Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 2008
- Spiers Memorial Award of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2018
See also
In Spanish: Ilme Schlichting para niños
