Volker Heun

Volker Heun is a Professor of Bioinformatics at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU), holding positions within the Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics since 2003. He currently serves as Vice Dean of the faculty and holds various academic coordination roles, including Bioinformatics program coordination and ERASMUS coordination. His academic journey includes a Ph.D. from TU München (1996) and research fellowships at the International Computer Science Institute (Berkeley, 1997–1998).

Education: Studied Computer Science and Mathematics at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt (1984–1991), followed by research roles at TU München and other institutions. Professional roles include Research Assistant (1991–1996) and Research Associate (1996–2003).

Research focuses on algorithmic bioinformatics, protein folding, data structures, and computational biology. Key contributions include work on RNA sequence-structure analysis, chemical shift correction tools (e.g., CheckShift), and efficient algorithms for range queries and suffix arrays. He has authored multiple influential books on algorithms and bioinformatics.

Publications span over two decades, emphasizing algorithm design, bioinformatics applications, and parallel computing. Supervised PhD students include Benjamin Albrecht (2016), Luca Chiarabini (2009), and Simon W. Ginzinger (2008). Teaching includes courses on Algorithmic Bioinformatics, Algorithms on Sequences, and bioinformatics-related seminars.

Administrative roles include serving as Vice Dean (2004–2007, 2013–2017, 2019–present) and Dean (2011–2013, 2017–2019). His work bridges theoretical computer science and applied bioinformatics, with a focus on interdisciplinary research.