Janina Kneipp

Prof. Dr. Janina Kneipp is a Professor (W3) of Physical Chemistry at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, where she has led an active research group since 2012. She previously held positions as Assistant Professor at HU Berlin/BAM (2008-2012), Junior Researcher at BAM (2005-2008), and research appointments at Harvard Medical School, Princeton University, and Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam.

Education:

• Dr. rer. nat. (summa cum laude), Freie Universität Berlin (2002)
• Undergraduate/Graduate Studies in Biology & Physics, Freie Universität Berlin (1992-1998)

Research Focus: Her interdisciplinary work bridges physical chemistry and biospectroscopy, with particular emphasis on:

• Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for complex sample analysis
• Plasmonic catalysis and hot electron chemistry
• Multiphoton-excited vibrational spectroscopy
• Nanoscale biochemical mapping in plant and animal systems
• Development of advanced plasmonic substrates

Publication Trends: Recent work demonstrates strong focus on multimodal spectroscopy applications, with studies combining SERS, hyper-Raman, IR, and synchrotron techniques to address questions in catalysis, nanoparticle-cell interactions, plant biochemistry, and biosensing. Publications frequently incorporate advanced nanomaterials, electrochemical methods, and machine learning-assisted spectral analysis.

Scientific Awards:

• Fellow, European Academy of Sciences (2020)
• Caroline von Humboldt Professorship (2019)
• Wilhelm Ostwald Fellow, BAM (2012)
• Bunsen-Kirchhoff Award, GDCh (2010)
• ERC Starting Grant (2010)

Academic Leadership: Currently advises 5 PhD students and leads multiple collaborative initiatives. Serves as Board Member of Einstein Center Catalysis (since 2019), Head of Chemistry Department (2014-2016), and Speaker of Graduate School SALSA (since 2012). Secured funding through DFG, EU networks, and ERC grants supporting spectroscopy infrastructure development.

Lab & Team: Leads the KneippLab research group with 2 postdoctoral researchers, 5 graduate students, and technical staff. Research focuses on developing spectroscopic methods for interrogating biological and chemical processes at nanoscale resolution using plasmonic enhancement strategies.