Dr. Jakob Schweizer

Dr. Jakob Schweizer studied physics, philosophy of religion and epistemology at the Technical University of Dresden, Université Denis Diderot (Paris), Ecole normale supérieure (Paris) and at the University of Leipzig. He received his PhD in synthetic biology from Prof. Petra Schwille (TU Dresden). In 2013 and 2014, he conducted research at the interface between synthetic biology, microbiology and digital image processing as a collaborator of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried in a collaborative project at Oxford University. In 2014, Jakob Schweizer moved from the lab to research management and coordinated the Max Planck Research Network for Synthetic Biology (MaxSynBio) until 2021. Since 2021, he has been responsible for coordinating the SmartProSys research initiative in the field of sustainable process engineering and circular economy in the chemical industry at the interface between natural sciences, engineering and social sciences. From 2021 to 2022 Jakob Schweizer was involved in the collaborative project "Research in Social Responsibility" of the Helmholtz Association, Leibniz Association, Fraunhofer Society and Max Planck Society (MPI for the History of Science, Berlin).  Since January 2023 Jakob Schweizer is the research coordinator of the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg.

Jakob Schweizer is actively involved in science communication, and honest and transparent dialog with the public is important to him. Jakob Schweizer is a member of the steering committee of the German Association for Synthetic Biology and is active at the interface between science and society. For example, he moderates events on bioethics, biosafety and biosecurity in the field of synthetic biology, organizes innovative dialogue formats such as the Science Watch Parties on the Netflix series "Biohackers" and develops concepts for the exchange between science and art.

Since 2014, he has also been committed to a climate and environmentally friendly science enterprise. To this end, he initiated the Max Planck Sustainability Network in 2019, which now consists of sustainability groups at over 45 Max Planck Institutes. Jakob Schweizer is an active member of the Scientists For Future movement; in 2019, he founded the regional group in Magdeburg, is involved in the movement's digital collaboration, and is a member of the board of the Scientists For Future funding association.