Consulting

Consulting and Refereeing

Ralf has acted as consultant on science management and scientific topics for a range of companies, politicians/political parties, religious leaders/church organisations, media organisations, and government institutions.

Heidelberg University Hospital (Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg), Germany:

Since 2016

Consultant on Technology Transfer & Start-up Projects

  • Advice on fundraising, incl. VC pitching, communication, business development & strategy

State of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany:

Since 2017

Member of the Arbeitskreis Transferinitiative RLP, an initiative by the Stiftung für Innovation Rheinland-Pfalz

  • Intersectoral group of experts from industry & academia advising the State on its strategy & concrete measures to foster knowledge & technology transfer as well as entrepreneurship & start-ups

Since 2017

Member of the Bioethics Commission of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate

  • Assesses the socio-economic impact of the CRISPR/Cas technology

Trinity College Dublin, Ireland:

Since 2018

External Examiner of the Postgraduate Certificate in Creative Thinking, Innovation & Entrepreneurship

  • An interdisciplinary programme aimed at inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs
  • Review progress of the programme & how well it achieves its strategic goals

Innovative Training Network (ITN) “ImageInLife”:

Since 2016

Member of the Scientific Advisory Board

  • A European Commission-funded research & training network with institutions in 6 European countries

Moreover, he has been a referee for science funding bodies and institutions, in

  • Europe, e.g. the European Commission, as well as the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science and Research, the Belgian FRO, the Telethon Foundation for Biomedical Research and the University of Trento in Italy, the Science Ministry of the State of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany, and the BBSRC and the Wellcome Trust in the UK
  • the USA, e.g. the National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • and beyond, e.g. the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in New Delhi, the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore, and the Department of Science & Technology of the Government of India

He also acted as referee for international scientific journals, including among others Nature Methods, Current Biology, Human Genetics, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, and the Encyclopedia of Molecular Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine.