Biography

Prof. Pillen studied Agricultural Sciences (1982-1988) at the University of Bonn. He then moved to Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (1989-1992) where he earned a PhD in Plant Biology. Thereafter, he received a fellowship of the Human Frontier Science Organization (HFSO) and spent 3 years (1993-1995) at Cornell University, USA, working on tomato genetics. Subsequently, he acted as a researcher and teacher in Molecular Plant Breeding at the University of Bonn (1996-2006). From 2006 to 2008, he headed the Independent Research Group on Barley Genetics at the Max-Planck-Institute for Plant Breeding Research (MPI-PB), Cologne. Since 2008, he is Full Professor of Plant Breeding at the Martin-Luther-University Halle.

Since 2008, Prof. Pillen acts as a board member of the Günter & Anna Wricke Foundation. From 2011-2020, Prof. Pillen was a Co-Speaker of the ScienceCampus Halle - Plant-Based Bioeconomy (WCH). From 2012-2020, he was elected member of the Review Board of the German Research Foundation (DFG). Since 2008, Prof. Pillen is a board member of the German Plant Breeding Association (GPZ) and since 2023 he acts as its vice President. From 2012-2023, he acted as a a speaker of the GPZ working group Genome Analysis.

His major research interest are molecular breeding, genomics and quantitative genetics of barley & wheat. In addition, he uses artificial intelligence (AI) to combine genome data, spectral data and climate data to model and predict plant growth and plant performance for plant breeding.