abberior our passion

The founders of abberior are pioneers that have been shaping the field of fluorescence microscopy since the mid-1990s. Today, they are active at abberior, where they continue to contribute their extensive know-how in all aspects of the company.

superresolution our profession

Prof. Dr. Dr. Stefan W. Hell

Stefan W. Hell is a director at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Germany. Having discovered his love of science at school, he decided to study physics at the University of Heidelberg where he received his doctorate in 1990. At around that time, Stefan realized that state transitions of fluorophores are the key to radically overcome the resolution-limiting diffraction barrier in a fluorescence microscope. This was at a time when the world thought that sharper images would only be possible by confining light with a nanosized mechanical tip, if at all. Stefan became the first scientist to conceive, validate and apply a viable concept for overcoming Abbe’s resolution barrier. His discovery laid the foundation for modern “superresolution” fluorescence microscopy and led to the development of optical “nanoscopes”, which allow the visualization of molecular details in cells at nanometer length scales. For his pioneering role, Hell has received many awards including the Kavli Prize in Nanoscience and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014. Since then, he has kept pushing the performance of superresolution fluorescence microscopy towards the realization of his longstanding dream: a lens-based microscope with molecule-size spatial resolution. Together with Gerald Donnert, Stefan Hell initiated the founding of the abberior group. He also serves as its main scientific advisor.

Founder of abberior and abberior Instruments

Dr. Gerald Donnert

Dr. Gerald Donnert is the managing director of both, abberior Instruments GmbH and abberior GmbH. He graduated with a thesis on spectroscopic aspects of fluorescent labels used in STED microscopy in the Department of NanoBiophotonics, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany. He (co-) authored several scientific papers during that time. After more than three years of management consulting experience with McKinsey & Company in international, mainly strategically focused projects in the global high-tech industry, he returned to Göttingen. He is one of the founders of the company.

Founder of abberior and abberior Instruments

List of publications (10)

Dr. Benjamin Harke

Dr. Benjamin Harke received his PhD working on CW STED microscopy and pulsed STED microscopy in 2D and 3D in the Department of NanoBiophotonics, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. After 2 years of PostDoc in Göttingen he moved to the Italian Institute of Technololgy (IIT) in Genoa, Italy, where he had a Team Leader position continuously working on new superresolution microscopy approaches. He (co-) authored several scientific papers during that time. He is one of the founders of the company.

Founder of abberior Instruments

List of publications (19)

Dr. Lars Kastrup

Dr. Lars Kastrup is a physical chemist who worked in the Department of NanoBiophotonics at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry for almost 15 years. During his scientific career, he has acquired a profound knowledge in superresolution microscopy and STED microscopy in particular. He (co-)authored several scientific papers. At abberior Instruments, he also contributes his extensive experience in scientific presentation and project management. He is one of the founders of the company.

Founder of abberior and abberior Instruments

List of publications (16)

Dr. Matthias Reuss

Dr. Matthias Reuss is a physicist with a strong background in the design of superresolution microscopes. He received his doctorate degree with a thesis on streamlined STED/ RESOLFT setups while he was working in the Optical Nanoscopy group at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg. Before his commitment at abberior Instruments, he spent three years at the Science for Life Laboratory in Stockholm, putting Nanoscopy into practice. He (co-)authored several scientific papers and is one of the inventors of easySTED. He is one of the founders of the company.

Founder of abberior Instruments

List of publications (13)

Dr. Andreas Schönle

Dr. Andreas Schönle is a physicist and has worked in the field of high-resolution microscopy for more than ten years. As member of Stefan Hell’s Department of NanoBiophotonics at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry he was involved in the design and implementation of numerous super-resolving optical microscopes. He (co-)authored several scientific papers. Now at abberior Instruments he contributes his expertise in instrument design, software development and data analysis. He is one of the founders of the company.

Founder of abberior Instruments

List of publications (38)

Dr. Christian Wurm

Dr. Christian Wurm is a biologist by training who has worked in the field of superresolution microscopy for more than ten years. He mainly applied superresolution microscopy to answer cell biological questions and participated in the development of several labels for superresolution microscopy, leading to more than 30 scientific papers. Now at abberior Instruments he contributes in the development and testing of our instruments. Further, he is one of the main contacts for scientists who want to try out our instruments or need assistance concerning dyes and sample preparation.

Founder of abberior Instruments

List of publications (33)

Dr. Alexander Egner

Dr. Alexander Egner is the head oft the IFNANO Institute Göttingen and the divisional manger of the Department of Optical Nanoscopy. With more than 10 years experience in research on superresolution microscopy he has a profound knowledge on new microscopy concepts and their application. He (co-)authored several scientific papers. He is one of the founders of abberior Instruments GmbH.

Founder of abberior Instruments

List of publications (31)

Dr. Vladimir Belov

Dr. Vladimir Belov has been heading an organic chemistry group located at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany. He has >25 years of experience in organic synthesis and many years in dye chemistry, among others at BASF AG and the University of Göttingen. Dr. Belov is the inventor of our caged and photoswitchable series of dyes.

Founder of abberior