Peter Schuster

Peter K. Schuster (born 7 March 1941) is a theoretical chemist known for his work with the German Nobel Laureate Manfred Eigen in developing the quasispecies model. His work has made great strides in the understanding of viruses and their replication, as well as theoretical mechanisms in the origin of life.

Biography
Schuster was born in Vienna, Austria and graduated with highest honors from "gymnasium". He studied chemistry and physics at the University of Vienna and earned his PhD in 1967. He was a Postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. Together with Eigen, Schuster developed the quasispecies model. He is full professor of theoretical chemistry at the University of Vienna, the founding director of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Jena, Germany, as well as the current head of its Department of Molecular Evolutionary Biology. He is an external faculty member at the Santa Fe Institute. Currently, Prof. Schuster is the President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Honours and awards

 * 1971: Theodor Körner promotion price
 * 1971: Jubilee Award of the Chemical-Physical Society
 * 1983: Erwin Schrödinger Prize of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
 * 1989: Dr. Asen Zlatarov price of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
 * 1993: Austrian Decoration for Science and Art
 * 1993: Member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
 * 1995: Philip Morris Research Prize
 * 1995: Josef Loschmidt Medal of the Austrian Chemical Society
 * 1997: City of Vienna Prize for Science
 * 1997: Cardinal Innitzer Prize for Science
 * 1999: Wilhelm Exner Medal of the Austrian Trade Association.
 * 2010: Great Silver Medal for Service to the City of Vienna