Blankenese Conferences ⎜ since 1979

About the conference

The Blankenese Conference series was initiated in 1979 by the late Gebhard Koch and Dietmar Richter, eminent biochemists/molecular biologists at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). Since then, the meetings have been organized whenever possible on a yearly basis. In 2004 Gebhard Koch retired as a chair and until 2023 Wolfgang Meyerhof from the German Institute of Human Nutrition in Potsdam replaced him as co-chair of the Blankenese Conferences. In 2019 Eckart Gundelfinger from the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology in Magdeburg accepted the invitation to serve as additional chairperson helping to organize the Conferences in the years to come.

About the venue

The Conferences are held at the Elsa-Brändström-Haus, a venue beautifully situated above the river Elbe in the Blankenese area of the Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Previous conferences covered topics in biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology, genetics, neurobiology, virology, and molecular medicine. At these meetings, topics of great current interest are discussed bringing together key investigators from different areas, hence promoting the exchange of ideas by leading scientists who may rarely meet at other symposia. The size of the conferences is limited to around one hundred participants, which creates a stimulating atmosphere for scientific exchange. Leading scientists from all over the word are invited to lecture on their fields of interest and scientists early in their career are particularly encouraged to attend and to contribute their latest results. Posters and brief oral presentations from selected applications complement the lectures by the invited speakers.

Thematic diversity and success

Many internationally recognized scientists from the UKE, the Center for Molecular Neurobiology of Hamburg University (ZMNH) as well as from neighboring and collaborating Universities and Research Institutes have contributed as co-organizers to the thematic diversity and the success of the Blankenese Conferences. Major financial support for the Conferences over the years came from different resources such as the City State of Hamburg, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), the Federal Ministery of Education and Research (BMBF), the European Commission, Human Frontier Science Program Organization as well as various Foundations including Volkswagen Foundation, Thyssen Foundation, Hertie Foundation or Ritz Foundation in addition to numerous other sponsors.

Starting from 2024 the UKE and the Jung-Stiftung für Wissenschaft und Forschung have assumed patronage of the Blankenese Conference series and cover significant parts of the budget. A steering committee associated with the Dean’s Office of the Medical Faculty at the UKE was established to ensure a successful continuation of the Blankenese Conferences.

 

Chair persons

Eckart D. Gundelfinger, LIN Magdeburg

Dietmar Richter, UKE/ZMNH Hamburg

Main sponsors and patronage