Dr. Daniel Friedrich
Research Group Leader and Director of NMR Platform
Daniel Friedrich (born Stöppler) received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Potsdam in 2011 and his Diploma in Biochemistry from Freie Universität Berlin in 2014. He completed his PhD in 2018 at the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), where he established advanced magic-angle-spinning NMR methods to investigate protonation dynamics in proteins. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School in Boston (USA), focusing on NMR-based analyses of non-canonical translation initiation in eukaryotes. Since 2022, Daniel Friedrich has led the NMR junior research group at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Cologne.
Selected Awards
- 2025 Albertus Magnus Teaching-Award
- 2025 Fulbright-Cottrell Award
- 2021-2022 Long-Term Fellowship of Human Frontier Science Program
- 2021 Fellow of German Scholars Organization
- 2020 Research Fellowship of Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- 2019 Long-Term Fellowship of European Molecular Biology Organization
- 2019 Ernst Award of German Chemical Society
- 2017 Young Scientist Award of International Society of Magnetic Resonance
Contact details: Room 114 (Organic Chemistry Building), [+49-221-470-] 3081, and daniel.friedrich[at].uni-koeln.de
Dr. Philipp Hegemann
After graduating in 2014 with a Diploma in Chemistry at University of Bonn, Philipp Hegemann received his PhD in 2020, specializing in Physical Chemistry. Since 2019, he works as engineer in the NMR group and is an expert for both hardware and software of Bruker NMR systems. He is also responsible for automation of analytic measurements in the NMR lab.
Contact details: Room 116A (Organic Chemistry Building), [+49-221-470-] 3874 and philipp.hegemann[at]uni-koeln.de
Kathrin König
As a technician and expert for NMR experiments, Kathrin König takes care of acquisition of NMR spectra of higher dimensionality as well as involving hetero nuclei. She further works on protein purification to produce isotopically labeled protein samples suitable for NMR studies.
Contact details: Rooms 113/115 (Organic Chemistry Building), [+49-221-470-] 1787 / 3082 and kathrin.koenig[at]uni-koeln.de
Daniela Naumann
With her rich experience and expertise in performing NMR experiments, Daniela Naumann is responsible as technician for both routine measurements and detection of hetero nuclei, especially for inorganic molecules. She also records triple-resonance NMR spectra of proteins.
Contact details: Rooms 113/115 (Organic Chemistry Building) and 212a (Inorganic and Materials Chemistry Building), [+49-221-470-] 1787 / 3082 and 3273, and daniela.naumann[at]uni-koeln.de
Sonja Bazhenova
Sonja Bazhenova is a chemist specializing in Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry. Her research focuses on the development of antimicrobial peptides using solid-phase synthesis techniques. She investigates their structure–activity relationships through a range of biochemical and biophysical methods such as cell-based activity assays and NMR spectroscopy.
Contact details: Room 113 (Organic Chemistry Building), [+49-221-470-] 1787, and sbazhen1[at]uni-koeln.de
Benno Wallwitz
With a background in structural biology, Benno Wallwitz investigates the structures of non-coding RNAs that play essential roles in epigenetic inheritance. Using NMR spectroscopy, he characterizes their structures, dynamics, and interactions with proteins involved in chromatin remodeling and gene activation.
Contact details: Room 113 (Organic Chemistry Building), [+49-221-470-] 1787, and bwallwit[at]smail.uni-koeln.de
Franka Reimann
Trained as a chemist, Franka Reimann investigates the structure and dynamics of peptides, with a particular focus on their interactions with lipids and cellular membranes. She is also involved in the study of nucleic acid structure and dynamics. To this end, she specializes in NMR spectroscopy.
Contact details: Room 113 (Organic Chemistry Building), [+49-221-470-] 1787, and freimann[at]smail.uni-koeln.de
Alumni
André Zenz (Master student)
Angela Esser (Master student)
Benedikt Zeitz (Master student)
Gabriela Petti (PhD student, collaboration with Bart Thomma)
Michael Quagliata (PhD student, collaboration with Ines Neundorf and Anna Maria Papini)
Sebastian von Döllen (Master student)
Vincent Berg (Master student, collaboration with Uli Baumann)