Rüdiger Klein


Rüdiger Klein is a German neurobiologist. He is director at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology and head of the department Molecules - Signaling - Development.
Rüdiger Klein studied biology at the universities of Marburg and Tübingen and at the Juniata College. He gained his PhD at the University of Tübingen and worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the National Cancer Institute at Frederick and at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute. Afterwards, he led a junior research group at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg. In 2001, he was appointed director at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology.

Scientific focus

Rüdiger Klein’s scientific research is focused on the molecular mechanisms which allow nerve cells to communicate.
Rüdiger Klein’s work led to a number of scientific findings. Among these were
  1. the discovery of the receptors of certain nerve growth factors. '
  2. the proof that certain signalling molecules guide the growth direction of nerve cell axons via repulsion. '
  3. the observation that ephrins regulate not only the development of the nervous system but also that of the lymphatic system and blood vessels.