The Leibniz Junior Research Group led by Dr. Corinna Kufner is dedicated to fundamental mechanistic studies on the role of UV light in the development of biological functionality on the early Earth using ultrafast spectroscopic techniques. The central hypothesis of the project is that UV light not only acts as a driving force for enzyme-like processes in biomolecules, but also as a selection pressure that influences the evolution of biological functions. The project aims to elucidate the origins of biomolecular functions to answer fundamental questions about the origins of life in the universe and to create new photochemical approaches for research of synthetic cells and modern biomedical mechanisms.

Leibniz Competition Logo