Our colleague Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Meier passed away in the presence of his family on January 25, 2022 after a long illness.
The NCCR MSE has lost his founding director, a superb scientist with deep insight and creativity, with a very gentle and perceptive personality.
After the ETH Zurich established the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) in Basel, Wolfgang Meier soon learned that the Department of Chemistry at the University of Basel and the D-BSSE had a lot in common. Together with Daniel Müller they decided to apply to the call for the 4th series of NCCRs in 2010 by gathering research groups across Switzerland with the overreaching aim is to develop tools and devices to monitor and manipulate off-equilibrium (bio)chemical systems by focusing on the creation of chemical and biological modules integrated into molecular factories and cellular systems. After a successful two-stage evaluation procedure, the NCCR MSE kicked-off its activities in August 2014.
Wolfgang was instrumental in directing the NCCR MSE in its first phase, and was one of the leaders of Work Package 2, spearheading the efforts of developing bioinspired molecular compartments and factories with considerable spatial and chemical complexity.
Wolfgang was a very supportive supervisor, an inspiring colleague and dear friend. The thoughts of everybody at the NCCR MSE are with his family and closest friends at this time of grief.