# Werner Kühlbrandt
**Werner Kühlbrandt** (born 1951 in Bayreuth) is a German structural biologist who studies membrane proteins by electron cryo-microscopy (cryoEM). He was Director of Structural Biology at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in [Frankfurt](https://www.edgepedia.org/frankfurt) am Main from 1997 and is now an Emeritus Scientific Member of that institute.[1](https://www.mpg.de/443823/biophysik-kuehlbrandt) • [2](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/structural-biology) His atomic model of the plant light-harvesting complex LHC-II was determined by electron crystallography and published in *Nature* in 1994,[2](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/structural-biology) and his commentary named and analyzed the "resolution revolution" that transformed cryoEM in the 2010s.[3](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1251652)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1951, Bayreuth, Germany[1](https://www.mpg.de/443823/biophysik-kuehlbrandt) |
| Field | Structural biology of membrane proteins by cryoEM and electron cryo-tomography[2](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/structural-biology) |
| PhD | University of Cambridge, 1981, with Nigel Unwin at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology[4](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2013-4810) • [1](https://www.mpg.de/443823/biophysik-kuehlbrandt) |
| Signature work | Atomic model of plant light-harvesting complex by electron crystallography, *Nature* 367, 614–621 (1994)[2](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/structural-biology) |
| Honor | Cothenius Medal, Leopoldina National Academy of Sciences, 2021[5](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/2699315/werner-kuehlbrandt-cothenius-medaille) |
## Education and early career
Kühlbrandt studied chemistry, biochemistry, and biophysics in Berlin and London and received his doctorate from the [University of Cambridge](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-cambridge) in 1981.[1](https://www.mpg.de/443823/biophysik-kuehlbrandt) His PhD work, from 1977 to 1981, was done with [Nigel Unwin](https://www.edgepedia.org/nigel-unwin) at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, investigating the structure of two-dimensional ribosome crystals by electron microscopy.[4](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2013-4810)
After the doctorate he was a research associate at ETH Zürich from 1981 to 1984 and at [Imperial College London](https://www.edgepedia.org/imperial-college-london) from 1984 to 1987.[4](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2013-4810) According to his Max-Planck-Gesellschaft profile, he held a DFG Heisenberg fellowship from 1986 to 1991 and completed his habilitation in biophysics at [Heidelberg University](https://www.edgepedia.org/heidelberg-university) in 1992.[1](https://www.mpg.de/443823/biophysik-kuehlbrandt) • [6](https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/4816836/curriculum-vitae-professor-dr-werner-kuhlbrandt-leopoldina)
In 1988 he established his first research group at the [European Molecular Biology Laboratory](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-molecular-biology-laboratory) (EMBL) in [Heidelberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/heidelberg).[5](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/2699315/werner-kuehlbrandt-cothenius-medaille) The records differ on how his EMBL time ended: his ORCID profile lists group leader 1988–1994 followed by senior scientist 1994–1997, while the [Max Planck Society](https://www.edgepedia.org/max-planck-society) page records him as research group leader there from 1988 to 1996.[4](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2013-4810) • [1](https://www.mpg.de/443823/biophysik-kuehlbrandt)
## Max Planck Institute of Biophysics
Since 1997 Kühlbrandt has been Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt, heading the Department of Structural Biology; he is now an Emeritus Scientific Member and an adjunct (apl.) professor at [Goethe University Frankfurt](https://www.edgepedia.org/goethe-university-frankfurt).[1](https://www.mpg.de/443823/biophysik-kuehlbrandt) • [2](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/structural-biology) The department's aim is to understand the structure and function of membrane proteins and large membrane protein complexes using electron cryo-microscopy and [X-ray crystallography](https://www.edgepedia.org/x-ray-crystallography), studying samples in detergent or amphipol solution by single-particle cryoEM (imaging individual frozen molecules without crystallizing them), or directly in the membrane by electron cryo-tomography.[2](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/structural-biology) By the department's own account it has determined structures of 18 different membrane protein assemblies by single-particle cryoEM at 2.7 to 9 Å resolution, and of 15 by cryo-electron tomography and subtomogram averaging at 18 to 30 Å.[2](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/structural-biology)
The [German Research Foundation](https://www.edgepedia.org/german-research-foundation)'s registry lists his projects at the institute, including high-resolution electron crystallography of bacterial transport proteins (1999–2006), a project on peroxisomal protein import pores by high-resolution electron microscopy (2013–2020), and work on the structure and mechanism of membrane protein complexes in the mitochondrial membrane (2019–2023).[7](https://gepris.dfg.de/person/1155175)
## Representative work
The work that stands for his career is the [atomic model of the plant light-harvesting complex by electron crystallography](https://doi.org/10.1038/367614a0), published in *Nature* in 1994 (volume 367, pages 614–621).[2](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/structural-biology) Light-harvesting complex II (LHC-II) is the membrane protein essential for photosynthesis in green plants.[5](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/2699315/werner-kuehlbrandt-cothenius-medaille)
His later structures addressed the large energy-converting machines of biological membranes. Using cryoEM and new detector technologies, his group determined complete ATP synthases from mitochondria and chloroplasts at high resolution, and electron cryo-tomography showed how these complexes are arranged in the membrane.[5](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/2699315/werner-kuehlbrandt-cothenius-medaille) In 2017 his group published the cryo-EM structure of the TOM core complex from *Neurospora crassa* in *Cell* (170, 693–700).[2](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/structural-biology) A 2021 review in the *Journal of Electron Microscopy* surveys this forty-year arc: early work on two-dimensional crystals reached resolutions of about 3.5 Å, while present-day single-particle cryoEM delivers far more detailed structures without crystals.[8](https://doi.org/10.1093/jmicro/dfab041) That distinction separates electron crystallography, his original method requiring ordered two-dimensional crystals, from the single-particle approach.
## The resolution revolution
In 2014 Kühlbrandt published "The Resolution Revolution" in *Science* (343, 1443–1444), arguing that advances in detector technology and image processing were yielding high-resolution electron cryo-microscopy structures of biomolecules.[3](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1251652) The department page credits the revolution in cryoEM resolution largely to new direct electron detectors, to which the department and the Max Planck Society contributed.[2](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/structural-biology)
## Honors and society membership
The Leopoldina National Academy of Sciences appointed Kühlbrandt to its [Biochemistry](https://www.edgepedia.org/biochemistry) and Biophysics Section in 2003 and awarded him the Cothenius Medal for his scientific life's work.[5](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/2699315/werner-kuehlbrandt-cothenius-medaille) He was made an honorary member of the Israel Chemical Society in 2009.[6](https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/4816836/curriculum-vitae-professor-dr-werner-kuhlbrandt-leopoldina)
## References
1. [Kühlbrandt, Werner – Max-Planck-Gesellschaft](https://www.mpg.de/443823/biophysik-kuehlbrandt)
2. [Werner Kühlbrandt – Structural Biology, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/structural-biology)
3. [Kühlbrandt, W. The Resolution Revolution. Science 343, 1443–1444 (2014)](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1251652)
4. [Werner Kühlbrandt (0000-0002-2013-4810) – ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2013-4810)
5. [Cothenius Medal for Werner Kühlbrandt – Max-Planck-Institut für Biophysik](https://www.biophys.mpg.de/2699315/werner-kuehlbrandt-cothenius-medaille)
6. [Curriculum Vitae Professor Dr. Werner Kühlbrandt – Leopoldina](https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/4816836/curriculum-vitae-professor-dr-werner-kuhlbrandt-leopoldina)
7. [DFG – GEPRIS – Professor Dr. Werner Kühlbrandt](https://gepris.dfg.de/person/1155175)
8. [Kühlbrandt, W. Forty years in cryoEM of membrane proteins. Journal of Electron Microscopy (2021)](https://doi.org/10.1093/jmicro/dfab041)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Life scientists › Researchers in structural biology, biochemistry, and biophysics › Cryo-electron microscopy*
*Initially written Sep 20, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
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