Georg Hochberg

Georg Hochberg is a Professor and Max Planck Research Group Leader heading the Evolutionary Biochemistry group at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany. He holds a concurrent appointment at Philipps-Universität Marburg where he will assume a LOEWE Spitzenprofessur starting in 2025. His research bridges biochemistry, evolutionary biology, and structural biology with a focus on understanding how evolutionary processes shape protein complexes.

Hochberg's research interests center on protein evolution, specifically investigating how evolutionary processes produce the dazzling diversity of proteins found in cells. His lab uses ancestral sequence reconstruction to resurrect extinct protein complexes, then characterizes their structure and function using high-resolution biophysical techniques and high-throughput protein library characterization. His work challenges assumptions about evolutionary fine-tuning, exploring whether protein complexity results from millions of years of optimization or more erratic processes producing Rube Goldberg-like molecular machines. His approach combines experimental biochemistry with computational evolutionary analysis to uncover fundamental principles of molecular evolution.

His publication record demonstrates consistent high-impact output across evolutionary biochemistry, with recent work focusing on protein complex assembly evolution, ancestral protein reconstruction, and the structural basis of molecular innovations. His research spans diverse systems from bacterial flagellar motors to photosynthetic machinery and metabolic enzymes, revealing how evolutionary constraints shape protein structure and function.

• Human Frontiers Grant (2021)
• ERC Starter Grant (2022)
• EMBO Young Investigator (2023)
• Leopoldina Nachwuchspreis 'ZukunftsWissen' (2024)
• LOEWE Spitzenprofessur at Philipps-Universität Marburg (2025)

Hochberg actively mentors doctoral students and hosts visiting scientists in his research group. His laboratory combines experimental and computational approaches to tackle fundamental questions in evolutionary biochemistry. The group investigates protein evolution using ancestral sequence reconstruction, structural biology, and high-throughput characterization techniques. Current projects examine the evolution of protein complex assembly, molecular innovations in light-perceiving systems, and the emergence of biochemical complexity through evolutionary time.