Frauke Gräter Elected to the Leopoldina

Director of the Biomolecular Mechanics Department at the Max Planck Institute in Mainz Elected to the Leopoldina

Chemist Frauke Gräter, director at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP) in Mainz and head of the “Biomolecular Mechanics” department, has been elected to the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. She investigates how biomolecules translate mechanical forces into biochemical signals, combining simulations, data-driven methods, and experiments, and has been honored with the PRACE Ada Lovelace Award and an ERC Consolidator Grant, among other distinctions.

Frauke Gräter, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP) in Mainz and Head of the “Biomolecular Mechanics” department, has been elected a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Membership in the Leopoldina is considered a high honor and a mark of recognition for scientific expertise in Germany. The Academy brings together approximately 1,700 members from over 30 countries and advises policymakers and the public on science-based issues of the future.

High Recognition for Excellent Research

Frauke Gräter’s work focuses on the role of biomolecules as sensors. Proteins and other macromolecules respond to external stimuli by specifically altering their structure. For example, collagen fibers gain stability under tension, while blood clotting proceeds in a precisely controlled manner through the interaction of clotting factors. Frauke Gräter has demonstrated that these adaptations are based on mechanochemical couplings: physical forces directly trigger chemical reactions. These processes range from individual covalent bonds to complex tissues.

Gräter’s team develops methods that simulate bond breaks in molecules as well as reaction pathways in computer simulations. A key focus here is on so-called mechanoradicals: Her work has shown that stretched protein materials form radicals through the targeted breaking of covalent bonds—a mechanism that underlies material properties, tissue aging, and oxidative stress.

Scientific Career and Awards

Frauke Gräter joined the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz as a director in 2024 and has since headed the “Biomolecular Mechanics” department. She studied chemistry at the universities of Tübingen, Kyoto, and Heidelberg and earned her Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen. After completing her degree, she spent her postdoctoral fellowship at the Department of Chemistry at Columbia University in New York. She then took on a junior group leader position at the MPG-CAS Partner Institute for Computational Biology before continuing her scientific career at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) as a group leader and later as a professor at Heidelberg University.

She received the PRACE Ada Lovelace Award in 2017 and was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant. Among other roles, she is a member of the Senate of the Leibniz Association, a Fellow of the Max Planck School Matter to Life, and a member of the Editorial Board of the Biophysical Journal. Since 2026, she is a Fellow of the new Max Planck School for Biomedical Intelligence.

The Leopoldina

Founded in 1652, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina has been Germany’s National Academy of Sciences since 2008. It promotes German science internationally and develops independent expert opinions on socially relevant topics for policymakers and the public.