Bernd-Olaf Küppers graduated in physics and then moved into molecular biology, in which he conducted research for many years at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen. Thereafter he was professor of natural philosophy at the University of Jena. His main research field is the information-theoretical foundation of the origin and evolution of life. He is author and editor of numerous books, including the monographs “Molecular Theory of Evolution”, “Information and the Origin of Life” and “The Computability of the World”. His distinctions include membership of the German National Academy of Sciences and the Academia Europaea (London).