Prof. Hedrich’s research focuses on plant ion transport, electrophysiology, and bioelectricity—fundamental processes that govern how plants sense, respond to, and interact with their environment. Over the past decades, he has made pioneering contributions in five key areas: the discovery and characterization of plant ion channels, the mechanisms underlying guard cell-mediated stomatal regulation, vacuolar solute transport, plant electrical excitability, and the development of ion channel-based optogenetic tools in plants. These efforts have shaped the field of plant electrophysiology and bioelectric signaling, as reflected in over 430 publications, including more than 10 in Nature and Science, with a total citation count exceeding 41,000, an H-index of 116, and an H10-index of 331.

Professor Hedrich received his Ph.D. from the University of Göttingen in 1985 and was appointed full professor at the University of Hannover in 1991. From 1996 to 2024, he served at the University of Würzburg, where he held positions as department chair and institute director. In 2005, he was elected a member of the German National Academy of Sciences. Since 2025, he has held a chair professorship at the Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology.

Awards and Honors

2010: European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant

2005: Member of the German Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina

2003–present: ISI Web of Science: "Highly Cited Researcher" among top 250 in Animal and Plant Sciences

2001–2004: Dean of Biological Faculty, University of Würzburg

2001: Körber European Science Prize

1999: Comenius Award for Best Scientific Movies (IWF)

1993–1996: Dean of Biological Faculty, Leibniz Universität Hannover

1991: Heisenberg Fellowship, German Research Foundation (DFG)

1989: Gerhard Hess Award, German Research Foundation (DFG)

1984: Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Award, German Research Foundation (DFG)

Education Background

1985: Ph.D. in Biology, University of Göttingen, Germany

1981: Diploma in Biology, University of Göttingen, Germany

Professional Experience

2025-present: Chair Professor, Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology

1996-2024: Full Professor, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg

1991-1996: Full Professor, Leibniz Universität Hannover

1991: Heisenberg Fellow of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

1989-1990: Hess Fellow, independent group leader, Georg-August Universität Göttingen

1987-1989: Postdoc and Akademischer Rat, Georg-August Universität Göttingen

1985-1987: Postdoc Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie Göttingen, mentor: Ewin Neher (Nobel Laureate)

Representative Publications

1. Hedrich, R., & Gilliham, M. (2025). Light‐activated channelrhodopsins: a revolutionary toolkit for the remote control of plant signalling.New Phytologist,245(3), 982-988.

2. Huang, S., Roelfsema, M. R. G., Gilliham, M., Hetherington, A. M., & Hedrich, R. (2024). Guard cells count the number of unitary cytosolic Ca2+ signals to regulate stomatal dynamics.Current Biology,34(23), 5409-5416.

3. Maierhofer, T., Scherzer, S., Carpaneto, A., Müller, T. D., Pardo, J. M., Hänelt, I., ...& Hedrich, R. (2024). Arabidopsis HAK5 under low K+ availability operates as PMF powered high-affinity K+ transporter.Nature Communications,15(1), 8558.

4. Ding, M., Zhou, Y., Becker, D., Yang, S., Krischke, M., Scherzer, S., Yu-Strzelczyk,J.,J.Mueller,M.,Hedrich,R., Nagel,G.,Gao,S.,& Konrad, K. R. (2024). Probing plant signal processing optogenetically by two channelrhodopsins.Nature,633(8031), 872-877.

5. Huang, S., Shen, L., Roelfsema, M. R. G., Becker, D., & Hedrich, R. (2023).Light-gated channelrhodopsin sparks proton-induced calcium release in guard cells.Science,382(6676), 1314-1318.

6. Lu, J., Dreyer, I., Dickinson, M. S., Panzer, S., Jaślan, D., Navarro-Retamal, C., ... & Hedrich, R. (2023). Vicia faba SV channel VfTPC1 is a hyperexcitable variant of plant vacuole Two Pore Channels.Elife,12, e86384.

7. Huang, S., & Hedrich, R. (2023). Trigger hair thermoreceptors provide for heat-induced calcium-electrical excitability in Venus flytrap.Current Biology,33(18), 3962-3968.

8. Hedrich, R., Müller, T. D., Marten, I., & Becker, D. (2023).TPC1 vacuole SV channel gains further shape–voltage priming of calcium-dependent gating.Trends in Plant Science,28(6), 673-684.

9. Hedrich, R., & Roelfsema, M. R. G. (2023).Cracking the code of plant herbivore defense.Cell,186(7), 1300-1302.

10. Iosip, A. L., Scherzer, S., Bauer, S., Becker, D., Krischke, M., Al-Rasheid, K. A., ...& Hedrich, R. (2023). DYSCALCULIA, a Venus flytrap mutant without the ability to count action potentials.Current Biology,33(3), 589-596.

11. Scherzer, S., Böhm, J., Huang, S., Iosip, A. L., Kreuzer, I., Becker, D., ...& Hedrich, R. (2022). A unique inventory of ion transporters poises the Venus flytrap to fast-propagating action potentials and calcium waves.Current Biology,32(19), 4255-4263.

12. Emiliani, V., Entcheva, E., Hedrich, R., Hegemann, P., Konrad, K. R., Lüscher, C., ...& Yizhar, O. (2022). Optogenetics for light control of biological systems.Nature Reviews Methods Primers,2(1), 55.

13. Dickinson, M. S., Lu, J., Gupta, M., Marten, I., Hedrich, R., & Stroud, R. M. (2022).Molecular basis of multistep voltage activation in plant two-pore channel 1.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,119(9), e2110936119.

14. Lehmann, J., Jørgensen, M. E., Fratz, S., Müller, H. M., Kusch, J., Scherzer, S., ...Hedrich,R.,Geiger,D.,& Maierhofer, T. (2021). Acidosis-induced activation of anion channel SLAH3 in the flooding-related stress response of Arabidopsis.Current Biology,31(16), 3575-3585.

15. Huang, S., Ding, M., Roelfsema, M. R. G., Dreyer, I., Scherzer, S., Al-Rasheid, K. A., ...Hedrich,R.,& Konrad, K. R. (2021). Optogenetic control of the guard cell membrane potential and stomatal movement by the light-gated anion channel Gt ACR1.Science advances,7(28), eabg4619.

16. Hedrich, R., & Fukushima, K. (2021). On the origin of carnivory: molecular physiology and evolution of plants on an animal diet.Annual review of plant biology,72(1), 133-153.

17. Iosip, A. L., Böhm, J., Scherzer, S., Al-Rasheid, K. A., Dreyer, I., Schultz, J., ...& Hedrich, R. (2020). The Venus flytrap trigger hair–specific potassium channel KDM1 can reestablish the K+ gradient required for hapto-electric signaling.PLoS Biology,18(12), e3000964.

18. Reyer, A., Häßler, M., Scherzer, S., Huang, S., Pedersen, J. T., Al-Rascheid, K. A., ...Hedrich, R.,& Becker, D. (2020). Channelrhodopsin-mediated optogenetics highlights a central role of depolarization-dependent plant proton pumps.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,117(34), 20920-20925.

19. Palfalvi, G., Hackl, T., Terhoeven, N., Shibata, T. F., Nishiyama, T., Ankenbrand, M., ... & Hedrich, R. (2020). Genomes of the Venus flytrap and close relatives unveil the roots of plant carnivory.Current Biology,30(12), 2312-2320.