Ernst Poeppel
Encyclopedia
Ernst Poeppel is a German psychologist
and neuroscientist
who was born in 1940. He has studied psychology
and biology
in Freiburg and Munich
, Germany
, before finishing his academic education with PhD in 1968 in Innsbruck
, Austria
. He did research on temporal perception and circadian rhythm
s between 1964 and 1968 in the Max-Planck-Institute
of Behavioral Physiology, and on neurophysiology
of vision
in 1969 and 1970 in Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry, Munich. From 1971 to 1973, he did research on neuropsychology
of vision at the Department of Psychology and Brain Science at MIT
, Cambridge, USA. At the same time, he was staff scientist at the Neuroscience Research Program (NRP). At this time, he described together with Richard Held and Douglas Frost a phenomenon of residual vision, which became to be known as blindsight
.
After his first habilitation in Sensory Physiology (Dr. med. habil.) in 1974 and a second one in Psychology (Dr. phil. habil.) in 1976 he became Professor of Medical Psychology (“Ordinarius”) in 1976 at the Medical Faculty of Munich University, Germany. In 1977 he founded the Institute for Medical Psychology, and he became its director, a position he held until 2008. From 1992 to 1997 he had leave of absence from Munich University, when he was board member of the national Research Center Juelich
, where he was responsible for the Life Sciences (Brain Research, Biotechnology), Environmental Sciences, and Mathematical Modeling.
He founded together with the neuroscientist Gerhard Neuweiler in 1997 the Humanwissenschaftliches Zentrum (HWZ – Human Science Center) of Munich University, and he has been the CEO since then. The HWZ is an interdisciplinary
and international platform for research to bridge the gap between academic faculties. With its more than 70 members worldwide, research of the HWZ focuses on “anthropological universals and cultural specifics”. In 1999, for instance, the HWZ started a sequence of Sino-German Workshops together with Peking University
. The 7th Sino-German Workshop in 2008 was dedicated to the topic of “Culture and Identity”, which was coorganized with Shihui Han from the Department of Psychology of Beida (Peking University).
Since 2000 Ernst Poeppel is also Co-Director of Parmenides Center
for the Study of Thinking (Elba, Italy, and Munich), since 2001 he is Scientific Director of the Generation Research Program (GRP) in Bad Tölz
, Germany, and since 2006 he is Co-Director of the FESTO Program of Applied Knowing (F.PAK). The GRP is dedicated to research for the elderly taking into consideration of demographic changes; F.PAK develops a new Master Program for vocational learning based on results from the neurosciences and systems theory
.
Ernst Poeppel has received several honors, like the Bavaria Constitutional Medal, and in 1992 he became Member of Leopoldina (ML), the National Scientific Academy of Germany. He is also member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
, and has been Dean of Science. He became known for his research on neuropsychology of vision and temporal perception. He has always tried to bring scientific knowledge to general public through books, articles for non-academic audience and a TV series on “Magic Universe of the Brain”. In parallel to his research in vision and temporal perception, he has promoted the cooperation between scientists and artists, a field has become known lately as “Neuro-Esthetics
”. Together with the American poet Fred Turner he received an award of the American Poetry Association for an essay on the temporal structure in poems. He works closely together with the Austrian poet Raoul Schrott, and the Russian-German artist Igor Sacharow-Ross, who took up his concept of “Syntopy”. With this new term, which is juxtaposed to “Utopy
” the need of bringing together at one place different activities in modern society is expressed. In particular, in cooperation with scholars from Japan (like Hiroshi Shimizu or Tadeshe Kume) this new term and concept has proven to be useful.
Research of Ernst Poeppel has globalized in the last years, having moved now more towards the East compared to earlier orientation towards the West, like cooperation with scientists from the US. He has common projects with Chinese colleagues from Peking University
(in particular with Yan Bao and Bin Zhou from the Department of Psychology and with Huisheng Chi and Xihong Wu from the Center of Speech and Hearing Research) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences
(Lin Chen), with Japanese colleagues from Tokyo Institute of Technology
(in particular Yoshihiro Miyake and Yumiko Muto), with the Russian colleagues like Nikita Podvigin from St. Petersburg
and Victor Shklovsky from Moscow
, and with the Polish neuroscientist Elsbieta Szelag from the Nencki Institute
in Warsaw
. His political motivation for such international cooperations besides scientific interests is: “Scientists are Natural Ambassadors”.
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and neuroscientist
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
who was born in 1940. He has studied psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
in Freiburg and Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, before finishing his academic education with PhD in 1968 in Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. He did research on temporal perception and circadian rhythm
Circadian rhythm
A circadian rhythm, popularly referred to as body clock, is an endogenously driven , roughly 24-hour cycle in biochemical, physiological, or behavioural processes. Circadian rhythms have been widely observed in plants, animals, fungi and cyanobacteria...
s between 1964 and 1968 in the Max-Planck-Institute
Max Planck Society
The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes publicly funded by the federal and the 16 state governments of Germany....
of Behavioral Physiology, and on neurophysiology
Neurophysiology
Neurophysiology is a part of physiology. Neurophysiology is the study of nervous system function...
of vision
Visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to interpret information and surroundings from the effects of visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight, or vision...
in 1969 and 1970 in Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry, Munich. From 1971 to 1973, he did research on neuropsychology
Neuropsychology
Neuropsychology studies the structure and function of the brain related to specific psychological processes and behaviors. The term neuropsychology has been applied to lesion studies in humans and animals. It has also been applied to efforts to record electrical activity from individual cells in...
of vision at the Department of Psychology and Brain Science at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, Cambridge, USA. At the same time, he was staff scientist at the Neuroscience Research Program (NRP). At this time, he described together with Richard Held and Douglas Frost a phenomenon of residual vision, which became to be known as blindsight
Blindsight
Blindsight is a phenomenon in which people who are perceptually blind in a certain area of their visual field demonstrate some response to visual stimuli...
.
After his first habilitation in Sensory Physiology (Dr. med. habil.) in 1974 and a second one in Psychology (Dr. phil. habil.) in 1976 he became Professor of Medical Psychology (“Ordinarius”) in 1976 at the Medical Faculty of Munich University, Germany. In 1977 he founded the Institute for Medical Psychology, and he became its director, a position he held until 2008. From 1992 to 1997 he had leave of absence from Munich University, when he was board member of the national Research Center Juelich
Jülich Research Centre
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres and is one of the largest interdisciplinary research centres in Europe...
, where he was responsible for the Life Sciences (Brain Research, Biotechnology), Environmental Sciences, and Mathematical Modeling.
He founded together with the neuroscientist Gerhard Neuweiler in 1997 the Humanwissenschaftliches Zentrum (HWZ – Human Science Center) of Munich University, and he has been the CEO since then. The HWZ is an interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinarity involves the combining of two or more academic fields into one single discipline. An interdisciplinary field crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought, as new needs and professions have emerged....
and international platform for research to bridge the gap between academic faculties. With its more than 70 members worldwide, research of the HWZ focuses on “anthropological universals and cultural specifics”. In 1999, for instance, the HWZ started a sequence of Sino-German Workshops together with Peking University
Peking University
Peking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China, and a member of the C9 League. It is the first established modern national university of China. It was founded as Imperial University of Peking in 1898 as a replacement of the...
. The 7th Sino-German Workshop in 2008 was dedicated to the topic of “Culture and Identity”, which was coorganized with Shihui Han from the Department of Psychology of Beida (Peking University).
Since 2000 Ernst Poeppel is also Co-Director of Parmenides Center
Parmenides Foundation
The Parmenides Foundation was founded by Albrecht von Müller in 2000 to support interdisciplinary research on thinking.The foundation has an international faculty of more than 30 researchers from the fields of neurosciences, philosophy, neuroinformatics, cognitive psychology, linguistics,...
for the Study of Thinking (Elba, Italy, and Munich), since 2001 he is Scientific Director of the Generation Research Program (GRP) in Bad Tölz
Bad Tölz
Bad Tölz is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and administrative center of the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen.- History :Since the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the Ice Age, archaeology has shown continuous occupation of the site of Bad Tölz...
, Germany, and since 2006 he is Co-Director of the FESTO Program of Applied Knowing (F.PAK). The GRP is dedicated to research for the elderly taking into consideration of demographic changes; F.PAK develops a new Master Program for vocational learning based on results from the neurosciences and systems theory
Systems theory
Systems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems in general, with the goal of elucidating principles that can be applied to all types of systems at all nesting levels in all fields of research...
.
Ernst Poeppel has received several honors, like the Bavaria Constitutional Medal, and in 1992 he became Member of Leopoldina (ML), the National Scientific Academy of Germany. He is also member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
European Academy of Sciences and Arts
The European Academy of Sciences and Arts was created in 1990 in Salzburg, Austria by heart surgeon Felix Unger of Salzburg; the cardinal archbishop of Vienna, Franz König; and the political scientist and philosopher Nikolaus Lobkowicz....
, and has been Dean of Science. He became known for his research on neuropsychology of vision and temporal perception. He has always tried to bring scientific knowledge to general public through books, articles for non-academic audience and a TV series on “Magic Universe of the Brain”. In parallel to his research in vision and temporal perception, he has promoted the cooperation between scientists and artists, a field has become known lately as “Neuro-Esthetics
Neuroesthetics
Neuroesthetics is a relatively recent sub-discipline of empirical aesthetics. Empirical aesthetics takes a scientific approach to the study of aesthetic perceptions of art and music. Neuroesthetics received its formal definition in 2002 as the scientific study of the neural bases for the...
”. Together with the American poet Fred Turner he received an award of the American Poetry Association for an essay on the temporal structure in poems. He works closely together with the Austrian poet Raoul Schrott, and the Russian-German artist Igor Sacharow-Ross, who took up his concept of “Syntopy”. With this new term, which is juxtaposed to “Utopy
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
” the need of bringing together at one place different activities in modern society is expressed. In particular, in cooperation with scholars from Japan (like Hiroshi Shimizu or Tadeshe Kume) this new term and concept has proven to be useful.
Research of Ernst Poeppel has globalized in the last years, having moved now more towards the East compared to earlier orientation towards the West, like cooperation with scientists from the US. He has common projects with Chinese colleagues from Peking University
Peking University
Peking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China, and a member of the C9 League. It is the first established modern national university of China. It was founded as Imperial University of Peking in 1898 as a replacement of the...
(in particular with Yan Bao and Bin Zhou from the Department of Psychology and with Huisheng Chi and Xihong Wu from the Center of Speech and Hearing Research) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences , formerly known as Academia Sinica, is the national academy for the natural sciences of the People's Republic of China. It is an institution of the State Council of China. It is headquartered in Beijing, with institutes all over the People's Republic of China...
(Lin Chen), with Japanese colleagues from Tokyo Institute of Technology
Tokyo Institute of Technology
The Tokyo Institute of Technology is a public research university located in Greater Tokyo Area, Japan. Tokyo Tech is the largest institution for higher education in Japan dedicated to science and technology. Tokyo Tech enrolled 4,850 undergaraduates and 5006 graduate students for 2009-2010...
(in particular Yoshihiro Miyake and Yumiko Muto), with the Russian colleagues like Nikita Podvigin from St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
and Victor Shklovsky from Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, and with the Polish neuroscientist Elsbieta Szelag from the Nencki Institute
Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology
The Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology is a scientific research organization headquartered in Warsaw.- Early history :It was founded in 1918/19, shortly after the reestablishment of Poland as an independent country...
in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. His political motivation for such international cooperations besides scientific interests is: “Scientists are Natural Ambassadors”.