Jörg-Peter Schnitzler

Prof. Dr. Jörg-Peter Schnitzler is the Head of the Research Unit Environmental Simulation at Helmholtz Munich (HMGU) since 2012 and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg since 2007. His work focuses on the role of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in plant-microbe interactions, biosphere-atmosphere exchange, and climate-human health linkages.

• PhD in Plant Physiology (University of Tübingen, 1992)
• Postdoc at GSF Institute of Biochemical Pathology (now HMGU, 1992-1994)
• Group Leader at Fraunhofer Institute/KIT IMK-IFU (1994-2011)

His research explores VOCs as a 'chemical alphabet' mediating communication between organisms, their impact on atmospheric chemistry, and metabolomic networks under stress. Recent work includes plant genotype-environment-microbe (G x E x M) interactions and phenotyping platforms.

Recent publications highlight studies on de novo terpenoid emissions, fungal metabolomic reprogramming, plant chemodiversity evolution, and insect-plant chemical dynamics across 2025 articles in journals like Physiologia Plantarum, Fungal Biology and Biotechnology, and Journal of Chemical Ecology.

He collaborates with institutions such as Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Technical University of Munich (TUM), and German federal ministries, with funding from DFG and Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V.