CV

Bertold Hock held the Chair of Botany from 1978 to 2001 and the Chair of Cell Biology at the TU Munich from 2002 to 2006. He became internationally known for his research on the immunological detection of low-molecular substances. His work focused on immunoassays for the detection of pesticides and toxins. Detection limits below 10 ng/L, in the case of atrazine even 1 ng/L, could be achieved. His hybridoma laboratory for obtaining monoclonal antibodies was also open to students and postdocs from all over the world. His investigations on recombinant receptors for the detection of endocrine substances that cause particular environmental problems attracted particular attention.

Furthermore, Hock conducted research in the field of gravity perception of cap fungi. Decisive progress was made through experiments in weightlessness, which were carried out by astronauts during a space flight on the D2 mission in 1992.

In the years from 1990 to 1992, Hock was Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture, and in the years from 2004 to 2006, he was Dean of the science center "Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan" (since 2021: TUM School of Life Sciences). Even after his active time as a professor, he is committed to TU Munich in many ways, especially the promotion of young talent is a particularly important issue for him. As "TUM Emeritus of Excellence" and Presidential Representative for the "TUM: Young Academy" since 2010, of which he was appointed honorary member in 2013, he continues to inspire, support and promote young talent until today.

 

Short biography

1958 – 1962	Studies in biology and chemistry, TH Stuttgart
1964	Diploma in biology, University of Freiburg
1965	Doctorate in biology, University of Freiburg
1967 – 1970	Research assistant, University of Tübingen
1970 – 1978	Professor of biochemistry of morphogenesis, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
1978 – 2001	Professor of botany, Department of Agriculture and Horticulture, TUM
2002 – 2006	Professor of cell biology at the TUM School of Life Sciences

 

Memberships and honors

Chair of the Munich work group “Atmospheric pollutants” in the German Research Center for Environmental Health (GSF) (1992-1998)

Spokesperson for the work group “Immunoassays for the detection of pesticides” at the German Chemical Society (GDCh) (1992-1998) and the German Institute for Standardization (DIN), DIN-Normenausschuss Wasserwesen (NAW) (1992-1998)

Spokesperson for the work group “Standardization of immunoassays for pesticides” at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (1992-1998)

Spokesperson for the German Research Foundation’s research group “Immunoassays für den Nachweis von Pestiziden” (immunoassays for the detection of pesticides) (1988-1993)

Spokesperson for the work group “Wirkungsbezogene Analytik” at the GDCh (1998-2002)

Spokesperson for the work group “Endokrine Wirkungen” of the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) (1998-2006)

Representative of the TUM President for the programme "Experienced Pathways into Research" and its successor programme "TUM: Junge Akademie" (from 2010);  member of the Advisory Board (2010-2013) and chair (2011-2012); appointed honorary member of the "TUM: Junge Akademie" (2013)

Supervisor for student group projects within the "TUM: Junge Akademie" (2010, 2014, 2019)

Honorary Professor of the Amity Institue of Microbial Technology, Amity University / India (2021)

 
You can download "Explanations of honors and awards" here [PDF 215 KB]

 

Research projects

German Research Foundation project: Cloning and sequencing of glyoxysomal and mitochondrial malat-dehydrogenase in watermelons (1982-1987)

German Research Foundation project: Serological evidence of pesticides and their metabolites in the hydrologic cycle (1988-1992)

German Research Foundation project: Quantitative identification of non-extractable triazine residues in refractive organic acids in water with the help of ELISA (1993-1998)

EU Research Project EDEN: Endocrine disruptors: Exploring novel endpoints, exposure, low-dose and mixture effects in humans, aquatic wildlife and laboratory animals (2002-2007)

EU Research Project IMAGEMO: Development of a capacitance-based immunodetection analyzer for the assay of genetically modified organisms in food (2002-2007)

EU Research Project ELISHA: Electro-immunointerfaces and surface nanobiotechnology: A heterodoxical approach (2003-2008)

 

Research stays

Visiting postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University, USA (1965-1967)

Visiting researcher at Washington State University, USA (1984)

Visiting researcher at the Department of Microbiology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India (1991)