Rate My Professor Arp Schnittger

Arp Schnittger has been Professor of Plant Developmental Biology at the University of Hamburg’s Department of Biology since 2014, where he leads the Research Unit in Developmental Biology within the Institute of Plant Sciences and Microbiology. His previous roles include Research Group Leader (2007–2014) and Head of the Department of Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Plasticity (2009–2013) at the Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes (IBMP) of the CNRS in Strasbourg, France. Earlier, from 2001 to 2007, he was an independent Junior Group Leader at the Chair of Botany III, University of Cologne, holding a Volkswagen Foundation Junior Group Leader position from 2004 to 2006. Additionally, he coordinated the Trinational Institute for Plant Research from 2011 to 2014.

Schnittger obtained his Diploma in Biology in 1997 and PhD in Genetics in 2001 from the University of Tübingen, following studies in Biology from 1991 to 1997 at the University of Tübingen and the University of Washington, Seattle, USA. His research centers on plant cell cycle regulation, meiosis, and DNA damage responses, using model organisms like Arabidopsis thaliana and maize. He investigates the evolution of cell division control in early eukaryotes, the integration of cell proliferation with organismal development, and the mechanisms ensuring meiotic progression and recombination. Schnittger pioneered live cell imaging of Arabidopsis meiocytes, enabling dynamic observation of meiotic processes combined with genetic and biochemical analyses. His work contributes to understanding sexual reproduction, genome evolution, speciation, and potential biotechnological applications, such as enhancing crop yield and stress tolerance.

Highly cited publications include “Genome sequencing and analysis of the model grass Brachypodium distachyon” (Nature, 2010), “Integrative epigenomic mapping defines four main chromatin states in Arabidopsis” (The EMBO Journal, 2011), “TRIPTYCHON and CAPRICE mediate lateral inhibition during trichome and root hair patterning in Arabidopsis” (The EMBO Journal, 2002), “Cell cycle control across the eukaryotic kingdom” (Trends in Cell Biology, 2013), and “Polycomb repressive complex 2 controls the embryo-to-seedling phase transition” (PLoS Genetics, 2011). In 2018, his group received the HFSP Research Grant for studies on plant growth mechanisms. Schnittger’s contributions have advanced the field of plant developmental biology significantly.