Ralf Schwörer

Dr Ralf Schwörer

Dr Ralf Schwörer came to New Zealand for a two-year appointment at IRL in 2005, but an important meeting shortly after arrival persuaded him to stay longer. German-born Dr Schwörer, a Senior Research Scientist with the Carbohydrate Chemistry group, met his New Zealand wife in his first year at IRL and they married in 2007.

Dr Schwörer grew up in the Black Forest in Southern Germany, gaining both his undergraduate and Doctor rerum naturalium (the German equivalent of a PhD) qualifications in chemistry from the University of Konstanz.

He went on to complete postdoctoral study at Oxford University in England before taking up a position at IRL.

Dr Schwörer’s key research interest is using synthetic carbohydrate chemistry to make difficult or rare structures and developing medical or technological applications from them. He is currently working on fully synthetic heparan sulphate oligosaccharides which could ultimately be used in therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease.

A career highlight for Dr Schwörer has been successfully making the most potent α-2,6-sialyltransferase inhibitor during his PhD studies in Konstanz.

Skiing and rockclimbing take up some of Dr Schwörer’s time outside of work. He is also a keen photographer and enjoys spending time with his family, which has grown to three with the recent birth of his first child.