Professor Knölker received his Ph.D. in 1985 at the University of Hannover, Germany. After postdoctoral studies in 1986 at the University of California in Berkeley, he completed his habilitation in 1990 at the University of Hannover. In 1991, he was appointed as full professor of organic chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe and in 2001, he moved to the Technische Universität Dresden. In 2000, he was a visiting scientist in India as fellow of the Indian National Science Academy. He received twice the JSPS award and spent time as a visiting scientist in Japan as fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), in 1998 at the University of Tsukuba and in 2007 at Kyushu University. In 2006, Professor Knölker was elected as an Ordinary Member of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and he became a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Since 2011, he is the editor-in-chief of the series “The Alkaloids” (Academic Press, London). His research areas include the development of novel synthetic methodologies, organometallic chemistry, natural product synthesis, biomolecular chemistry, and medicinal chemistry. Professor Knölker’s group has published more than 300 scientific articles, reviews and patents.