Organizational structure
The core administrative bodies at the ZHMB are the advisory council (with a committee structure analogous to that of the faculty councils) and the management board made up of one professor from each of the two parent faculties (NT and M). One member of the management board acts as the managing director; the other member is the deputy director who also acts as the ZHMB's own dean of studies.
The members of the ZHMB are those professors from both faculties who are actively involved in teaching the degree programmes in biology and a representative from each of those departments within the Faculty of Medicine that contribute to the degree programmes through one of the six junior research groups/junior professorships (Biophysics, Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Human Genetics, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Physiology, and Virology and Immunology).
Managing Director
Prof. Dr. Bruce Morgan
Dean of Studies
Prof. Dr. Sandra Iden
Office
Gabi Schon
Programme Coordinator
Dr. Björn Diehl
Examinations Office
Maja Šimunić
ZHMB Advisory Council
(Two-year term of office: 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2025)
ZHMB Management Board (Three-year term of office: until 30 September 2026)
Prof. Dr. Bruce Morgan
Prof. Dr. Sandra Iden
Professorial members
Prof. Dr. Roy Lancaster (deputy: Prof. Dr Martin van der Laan)
Prof. Dr. Katrin Philippar (deputy: Prof. Dr Karin Römisch)
Mid-level and junior academic staff
Dr. Eva Steinmetz (deputy: PD Dr. Barbara Walch-Rückheim)
Student members
M.Sc.: Ashvini Pathmanathan (deputy: Franziska Klein)
B.Sc.: Thea Wittorf (deputy: Mieke Wanders)
Non-academic staff
Andrea Armbrüster (deputy: Maja Šimuniç)
Recorder
Dr. Björn Diehl
Examination Board
(Two-year term of office: 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2026)
Chair
Prof. Dr. Uli Müller
Deputy Chair
Prof. Dr. Roy Lancaster
Members of academic staff
Prof. Dr. Uli Müller (Vertreter: Prof. Dr. Bruce Morgan)
Prof. Dr. Julia Schulze-Hentrich (Vertreterin: Prof. Dr. Karin Römisch)
Prof. Dr. Roy Lancaster (Vertreter: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Fabian Müller)
Prof. Dr. Sandra Iden (Vertreterin: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Daniela Yildiz)
PD Dr. Barbara Walch-Rückheim (Vertreter: Dr. Frank Hannemann)
Student members (one-year term of office: 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025)
M.Sc.: Ashvini Pathmanathan (Vertreterin: Lea Stefanie Meßmer)
B.Sc.: Victoria Gordijenko (Vertreterin: Lilly Konrath)
History
The reform of the higher education system in Germany in the years 1999 to 2001 resulted in far-reaching structural and curricular changes in the field of biology, which in turn led to a realignment with greater focus placed on the study of human and molecular biology. This comprehensive restructuring resulted in the loss of five of the ten professorial chairs in biology, with the remaining five biology professorships covering the areas zoology, genetics, biochemistry, microbiology and molecular biology. The decision was therefore taken to establish a new suite of academic programmes that focused on the field of human and molecular biology and that would support Saarland University's core research area in the biological and nanosciences ('NanoBioMed'). This required pooling expertise from what was then the Faculty of Science and Technology III and the Faculty of Medicine and transferring it to the new interfaculty Center for Human and Molecular Biology (ZHMB), which was formally established in the year 2000 as a scientific centre, as defined in Section 29 of the Saarland University Act (UG), by a joint decision of the deans of both faculties.
Roles and Responsibilities
The Center for Human and Molecular Biology (ZHMB) is tasked with coordinating teaching and research activities in the field of human and molecular biology, with particular responsibility for the biology degree programmes that focus on human and molecular biology. The ZHMB organizes the academic teaching and examination procedures for these degree programmes, issues the corresponding study and examination regulations and conducts the examinations.
The Center for Human and Molecular Biology is also involved in reviewing applications for professorial posts affiliated to the ZHMB and in deciding who gets appointed to these professorships.