Science Management

Science Management

Ralf has considerable experience as a science manager. From 2000 to 2003, he was PR Manager and Technology Transfer Officer of the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology (Germany) and from 2004 to 2005 Manager of a European Commission-funded project that involved 150 scientists in 7 countries. Between 2008-2010 he was Director of Scientific Management at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) in Madrid (Spain) and since 2010 holds the same position at the Institute of Molecular Biology gGmbH (IMB) in Mainz (www.imb.de). IMB is a non-profit company that conducts basic research into various aspects of the modern life sciences. As Director of Scientific Management, Ralf is in charge of:

  • Business development, incl. strategic planning, inter-institutional relations, benchmarking & reporting
  • Internal & external communications, incl. corporate brandingInternal & external communications, incl. corporate branding
  • Fundraising (from public, private & corporate funders); management of extramural project funding
  • Recruitment, incl. of key personnel during start-up phase; training & career development
  • Event management, incl. of networking & promotional events
  • Technology transfer

Further to these positions, Ralf holds a number of additional appointments with responsibilities in science management. Since 2014, he is, for instance, the General Manager (Geschäftsführer) of the Research Consortium “GeneRED: Gene Regulation in Evolution & Development”, a joint initiative between the University Mainz and IMB. He also teaches science management and communication at various universities in Germany and Italy (see Teaching for details) and acts as a consultant for a range of companies, politicians/political parties, religious leaders/church organisations, media organisations, funding agencies and government institutions (see Consulting and Refereeing for details).