Charpentier receives the degree for her work in genetics and molecular biology. She is the director of the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens and a professor at Humboldt University in Berlin.
She obtained her Ph.D. in microbiology at the Pasteur Institute in Paris in 1995 and worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University in New York. Her curiosity-driven research on streptococcus' immune system against viruses in the 2000s led to the discovery of CRISPR/Cas9 – a technology of profound applied value.
One of Charpentier's most important contributions, alongside Jennifer A. Doudna, is the development of the CRISPR/Cas9 system into a tool for accurate genome editing, which gave them the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020. The Nobel Committee wrote that Charpentier and Doudna " have discovered one of gene technology’s sharpest tools: the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors" - a technology that is used to impart new traits to plants and animals and for gene therapy of inherited diseases.
UiO's honorary doctoral degrees
Honorary doctoral degrees of UiO (Doctor Honoris Causa) are given to prominent academics. The degrees are awarded without a thesis defence/disputation.
UiO has been entitled to appoint honorary doctorates since 1824, and appointments usually occur every three years.
The honorary doctors are conferred at UiO's Annual Celebration on 2 September.