We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Schmidt has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of Molecules (ISSN: 1420-3049). With an extensive background in scientific research and publishing, he brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the role.

Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Schmidt studied pharmacy from 1984 to 1989, and then obtained his doctorate (Doctor rerum naturalium) in pharmaceutical biology in 1994 at the University of Düsseldorf, Germany. After a brief post-doc position at the Department of Chemistry at LSU, USA, he worked at the University of Düsseldorf and obtained his habilitation and venia legendi (license to teach) in 1999. Prof. Dr. Schmidt remained as an Assistant Professor at the same institution, and then moved on to the University of Münster, Germany, in 2005. There, he became a University Professor of Pharmaceutical Biology and Phytochemistry, which he has been ever since. Throughout his scientific career, Prof. Dr. Schmidt’s work has been dedicated to the structure and biological activity of secondary metabolites of plants. Over far more than a decade, most of this work aimed at finding and characterizing natural products with a potential as leads or drugs against neglected tropical infectious diseases. Among many other activities in research and academia, Prof. Dr. Schmidt became engaged in working with Molecules around 2010 and has been the Section Editor-in-Chief (SEiC) for “Natural Products Chemistry” since May 2016.

The following is an interview with Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Schmidt, who shared his academic background, his involvement with Molecules and his vision for the journal.

We wish Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Schmidt every success in his current position as the Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to his contributions.