CURRICULUM VITAE PERSONAL INFORMATION
Name: Dr. rer. nat. Alexander Matthias Walter, MSc Date of birth: 08.01.1981 citizenship: German, British email: [email protected]; [email protected] Website: http://www.leibniz-fmp.de/walter
POSITIONS HELD
2015-now Emmy Noether Research Group Leader, of the Group “Molecular and Theoretical Neuroscience” at the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie, Berlin, Germany
2013-2015 Post-doc, with Volker Haucke, Neurocure Cluster of Excellence, Charité Berlin, Germany
2011-2013 Post-doc with Jakob Sørensen, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
2010-2011 Post-doc with Matthijs Verhage, Center of Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
EDUCATION
2006-2010 PhD with Jakob Sørensen, Erwin Neher, Reinhard Jahn, Department of Membrane Biophysics, Max- Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany – grade dissertation: summa cum laude
2006 Master, International Max-Planck Research School (IMPRS) and Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden – Note: A (excellent), top of the class
2003 Vordiplom, Chemistry, Georg August Universität Göttingen, Germany – grade: Sehr gut
2000 Abitur (German A-levels), Gymnasium Walsrode, Germany – grade: 1.3, top of the class
3RD PARTY FUNDING
2016-now SFB/TRR 186 Research Grant (237 120 EUR), project leader in the “Transregio“ TRR186 “Molecular Switches in the Spatio-Temporal Control of Cellular Signal Transmission“ between Heidelberg and Berlin funded by the “Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft” (DFG), Bonn, Germany
2015-now Emmy Noether Research Grant (2 051 700 EUR), Funding of research group, DFG Bonn, Germany
2010-2011 EMBO Long-term Fellowship (~35 000 EUR), Funding of a post-doc position
HONOURS AND FUNDING
2019 Novo Nordisk Young Investigator Award (25 000 000 DKK, ~3 350 000 EUR), Award to conduct
a research project at Copenhagen University, Denmark
th 2017 Japan Neuroscience Society, Award for excellent presentation, 40 annual meeting, Tokyo, Japan
2016-now Einstein Center for Neuroscience Berlin (~35 000 EUR), funding of a PhD position
2014 W1/W3 Tenure Track Professorship, shortlisted (tertio loco) for a Professorship in Neurophysiology, Universität Ulm, Germany
2009 59th Meeting of Nobel Laureates, Invitation to the annual meeting of Nobel Laureates 2009
2008 Excellence in Teaching Neuroscience Award, Award for the best teaching (tutorial) in the IMPRS Neuroscience curriculum, Max-Planck Research School, Göttingen
2007 Symposium Award, Award by the Society of General Physiologists, Woods Hole, MA, USA
2005-2006 Fellowship “Deutscher Akademischen Austauschdienst“ (DAAD) for a Master’s Thesis in Sweden (Karolinska Institute Stockholm), Bonn, Germany
2004-2005 Fellowship Max-Planck Society, Max-Planck Research School Neuroscience, Göttingen, Germany
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2018 FENS Cajal course: Advanced imaging methods for Cellular Neuroscience, Instructor, Bordeaux, France since 2018 Seminars in Neurophysiology, Curriculum for medical students, Charité Berlin, Germany since 2017 Lecture: Neurophysiology for Dentistry Students, Charité Berlin, Germany
2014 Lecture and practical course in the Master’s Modul “Molecular Neurogenomics”, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
2010 Coordination of the course “Advanced Neurogenomics“, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2006-2007 Tutor to Erwin Neher’s Lecture „Electrophysiological Techniques“, Max-Planck Research School, Göttingen, Germany
SUPERVISION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCS
2017-2018 PhD Student (commission member), Ilse Dingjan, Department of Tumor Immunology, Radbound University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2017-now PhD Student, Meida Jusyte, Molecular and Theoretical Neuroscience, Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie, Berlin, Germany
2017-now PhD Student, Gabriela Pimenta dos Reis, Molecular and Theoretical Neuroscience, Leibniz- Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie, Berlin, Germany
2016-now Postdoc, Mathias Böhme, Molecular and Theoretical Neuroscience, Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie, Berlin, Germany
2015-now PhD Student, Andreas Grasskamp, Molecular and Theoretical Neuroscience, Leibniz- Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie, Berlin, Germany
2015-now PhD Student, Anthony McCarthy, Molecular and Theoretical Neuroscience, Leibniz- Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie, Berlin, Germany
2013-2016 PhD Student, Christina Beis (née Hollmann), Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
2013-2015 Postdoc, Suneel Reddy-Alla, Neurocure Cluster of Excellence, Charité Berlin, Germany
2011-2015 PhD Student, Sebastian Schotten, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Reserach, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
ORGANISATION OF SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS
2016 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS)-forum, Copenhagen, Denmark, Chair of Symposium S26 “Modelling of the synapse- the presynaptic side”.
INVITATION AS SPEAKER TO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
2019 Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting, Padova, Italy, Symposium talk: “Release site recruitment and activation as mechanisms of presynaptic plasticity”
2019 Dutch Neuroscience Meeting, Lunteren, the Netherlands, Key note lecture: “Release site addition as a mode of presynaptic plasticity”
2018 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS)-forum, Berlin, course “Introduction to synaptic transmission at the central synapse”, Talk: “Synapse structure/function and diversity”
2018 EMBO Workshop “Exocytosis and Endocytosis”, Tenerife, Spain, Symposium talk: “Unc13A generates and positions synaptic vesicle release sites”
2017 International Symposia of Chromaffin Cell Biology, Sheffield, United Kingdom, Symposium talk: “Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate optical uncaging potentiates exocytosis in chromaffin cells”
2017 40th Annual Meeting, Japanese Neuroscience Society, Tokyo, Japan, Symposium talk: “Tight distribution of synaptic vesicle release sites generated by Unc13 synchronizes neurotransmission”
2014 INCF Neuroinformatics Congress, Leiden, the Netherlands, Symposium talk: “A catalytic slot model for exocytosis with a single release sensor effectively explains Ca2+-dependent properties of neurosecretion” CURRENT COLLABORATORS
Dion Dickman, Department of Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. Physiology of synaptic transmission
Susanne Ditlevsen, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Mathematical modelling of synaptic transmission
Volker Haucke, Department of Cell Biology, Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie, Berlin. Physiology of endocytosis
Stephan Hell, Department for NanoBioPhotonics, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemsitry, Göttingen, Germany. Super-resolution microscopy
André Nadler, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany. Investigation of signalling lipids using “lipid uncaging”
Köksal Özgül, Haccettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. Investigation of synapse function in Drosophila models of human neurometabolic diseases.
David Owald, Institute for Neurophysiology, Charité Berlin, Germany. Behavioural Analyses (learing and memory) of Drosophilae
Stephan Sigrist, Institute for Genetics, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. Drosophila Neurogenomics and synaptic ultra-structure
Carsten Schultz, Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany. Synthesis and analysis of signaling lipids
Matthijs Verhage, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Mathematical modelling of exocytosis
REVIEWER FOR THE FOLLOWING JOURNALS/FUNDING BODIES since 2018 Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) since 2018 Frontiers since 2018 German Science Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DGF) since 2015 Chemical Science since 2017 Nature Communications
EXPERIENCE ABROAD
2011-2013 University of Copenhagen, Denmark
2010-2011 Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2005-2006 Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
1997-1998 Charles City High School, IA, USA
LANGUAGES
German (mother tongue)
English (mother tongue)
Latin (5 years)
Spanish (3 years)
Swedish (Niveau ett)
Italian (1 year)
Dutch (1 year)
Danish (level 3.1)