Michael Wink studied biology and chemistry in Bonn and was awarded his doctorate from TU Braunschweig in 1980. After gaining his lecturing qualification in 1984/1985, he was awarded a Heisenberg grant by the German Research Council to work at the Max Planck Institute for Breeding Research in Cologne and from then at the Gene Center of Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. Following a chair for Pharmaceutical Biology at Mainz University in 1988, he accepted the post of Professor for Pharmaceutical Biology at the University of Heidelberg one year later. His areas of interest include pharmaceutical research, molecular biotechnology, and medicinal plants, as well as research into natural products and evolution.