The Faculty of Natural Sciences sadly announces the passing of Prof. Dr. Ahlert Schmidt.
Ahlert Schmidt was appointed Professor of Botany at the Institute of Botany at the University of Hanover in 1997, where he worked until his retirement in 2005.
His career took him to Hanover in 1988, when he was originally appointed Professor of Botany at the Faculty of Biology at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover (TiHo). In the course of structural changes in the university structure in Lower Saxony, he successfully campaigned for a chair at the University of Hanover that corresponded to his research goals. This new position gave him the opportunity to integrate molecular methods of plant science into his research.
50 years of sulfur research
He made an early name for himself with research into sulfur compounds. He completed an excellent final examination in his biology studies under Prof Dr André Pirson and earned his doctorate in 1969 in the research group of Prof Dr Achim Trebst at the Botanical Institute in Göttingen with the dissertation ‘Investigations into the mechanism of photosynthetic sulphate reduction of isolated chloroplasts’. He then worked in Bochum at the newly established Institute of Plant Biochemistry, was a member of staff in Munich at the Chair of Applied Botany at the Technical University of Munich and co-operated with researchers in Germany and abroad.
In 1997, he hired Jutta Papenbrock as a research assistant at the Institute of Botany, who had just completed her doctorate on a topic from plant molecular biology, to investigate sulfurtransferase proteins, among other things. Building on his earlier plant biochemical work on thiosulfate reductases, they investigated molecular links between sulfurtransferases and cysteine biosynthesis. Today, Mrs Papenbrock continues these research approaches as Professor of Sulphur Metabolism and Abiotic Stress.
A detailed appraisal of his research, published by the Institute of Botany, describes the diversity and successes of his work.
Professor Schmidt retired in 2005 with a colloquium on ‘40 Years of Sulfur Research’. He passed away in March 2025.
It is with gratitude and respect that we remember our esteemed colleague, a remarkable person and scientist, who will leave a lasting legacy in our community.
Our sincere condolences are with his family.
