Life

Benz studied Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics ] at the University of Würzburg

University of Würzburg

The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...

. In 1972 he obtained his PhD in Biology under Peter Läuger at University of Konstanz

University of Konstanz

The University of Konstanz is a university in the city of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was founded in 1966, and the main campus on the Gießberg was opened in 1972. As one of nine German Excellence Universities today University of Konstanz is counted among Germany's most prestigious...

 and his [ Habilitation in Biophysics ] in 1977. As Heisenberg Fellowship of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is an important German research funding organization and the largest such organization in Europe.-Function:...

 (German Science Foundation) he was Visiting Professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNYSB) in 1980 and 1982. In 1984 he was Visiting Professor at the University of British Columbia

University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...

 in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

.

Since 1986 he has been full Professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of Biotechnology

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...

 at the University of Würzburg. Since 2003 Benz is a Member in the European Graduate College "Gene regulation in and by microbial pathogens"and since 2005 a Member in the French-German Graduate College "Interference of pathogens with the host signalling machinery", both sponsored by the DFG.

Since 2009 he held the Wisdom Professorship at the Jacobs University Bremen. Since 2009 he is Research fellow

Research fellow

The title of research fellow is used to denote a research position at a university or similar institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a principal investigator...

 at Rudolf Virchow Center, the DFG Research Center

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is an important German research funding organization and the largest such organization in Europe.-Function:...

 for Experimental Biomedicine and a central institution of the University of Würzburg.

Work

His Research priorities are, in addition to construction, Peri plastic structure and organization of biological membrane

Biological membrane

A biological membrane or biomembrane is an enclosing or separatingmembrane that acts as a selective barrier, within or around a cell. It consists of a lipid bilayer with embedded proteins that may constitute close to 50% of membrane content...

s and cell membrane

Cell membrane

The cell membrane or plasma membrane is a biological membrane that separates the interior of all cells from the outside environment. The cell membrane is selectively permeable to ions and organic molecules and controls the movement of substances in and out of cells. It basically protects the cell...

s he is interested in biophysical processes in the molecular basis of membrane protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

s in microorganism

Microorganism

A microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters, or no cell at all...

s and higher organisms, with a special interest in pore-forming peptide

Peptide

Peptides are short polymers of amino acid monomers linked by peptide bonds. They are distinguished from proteins on the basis of size, typically containing less than 50 monomer units. The shortest peptides are dipeptides, consisting of two amino acids joined by a single peptide bond...

s and proteins. He has published numerous scientific papers.

He was Leader of several research projects:

• Molecular basis of signal transduction and membrane transport (SFB 176; 1987–1999)
• Ecology, physiology andbiochemistry of plants under stress (SFB 251; 1989–1992)
• Nuclear magnetic resonance in vivoand in vitro for the study of biomedical basic elements (Member in the DFG-Graduate College; 1992–1999)
• Regulatory membrane proteins: from the mechanism of recognition to the pharmacological structure (SFB 487; seit 2000)

He received in 2002 the Gay-Lussac/Humboldt Award de la Ministère de recherche français for the development of the German/French collaboration in Science. In 2007 he has been awarded Honorary Doctorate by the University of Barcelona

University of Barcelona

The University of Barcelona is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. It is a member of the Coimbra Group, LERU, European University Association, Mediterranean Universities Union, International Research Universities Network and Vives Network...

. 2011 he was honoured by the faculty of medicine at Umeå University

Umeå University

Umeå University is a university in Umeå in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present borders....

Publications

• Roland Benz: Künstliche Lipidmembranen. Modelle für biologische Membranen, Universitätsverlag Konstanz 1980, ISBN 3-87940-142-X
• Roland Benz: Bacterial and Eukaryotic Porins. Structure, Function, Mechanism, Wiley-VCH 2004, ISBN 3-527-30775-3