It is with great sadness that our colleague and friend, Volker Bigl, passed away at his home in Leipzig on 24th March 2005 after a long illness.

Volker graduated at the Medical Faculty of Leipzig University in 1966 and continued his career in neurochemistry in the Abteilung fuer Neurochemie at the University under the direction of Dietmar Biesold. As a consequence of the ability of Dietmar Biesold to maintain international scientific contacts throughout Europe and North America despite the restrictions imposed by the Cold War, Volker spent a 6 month sabbatical in the USA in the laboratory of Larry Butcher in 1981 extending his interests in the cholinergic system of the rat brain. On returning to Leipzig, he submitted his doctoral thesis on structural and functional aspects of the central cholinergic system and obtained the D.Habil. degree in 1983.

The main research interest of Volker Bigl has been in the structure of the cholinergic system in the cortex, an unusual area of research for a neurochemist at the time. In his research, he always emphasised the importance of combining the structural and functional aspects of the cholinergic system. This developed into an interest in neuroplasticity, an area in which he co-operated with his future wife, Marina, in studies of the visual system of the rat.

In more recent years, Volker's interests expanded into the role of the cholinergic system in Alzheimer's disease, research that was aided by the availability of human brain material.

With the increasing size of the Neurochemistry Department, Volker took on a more managerial role. Following the retirement, and untimely death, of Dietmar Biesold in 1991, Volker was made Head of Department. This co-incided with the period of German reunification. Shortly after, he became Dean of the Medical Faculty and, in 1997, was elected Rector of Leipzig University. Volker was the only senior academic in the former GDR to achieve such an appointment, a position he fulfilled with distinction.

Volker Bigl resigned from the rectorship in 2003 and had planned to return as the head the Neurochemistry Department and to continue his research on the central cholinergic system. Tragically, this was not to be. He was diagnosed with a glioma early in 2004 and, despite two major surgical operations, followed by chemotherapy, he died in his sleep in March.

Personal appreciation by Brian Leonard.

I first met Volker in March 1967 when I took sabbatical leave from the Department of Pharmacology, University of Nottingham, to join Dietmar Biesold's department in a study of the neuroontogenesis of brain hexokinases. This was a unique department , particularly at that time, in its openness to new ideas, a situation aided by many young visiting neurochemists from the USSR, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Biesold not only encouraged new ideas but also made the use of English a vital component of scientific communication. Volker was an enthusiastic supporter of such initiatives. He had the intellectual ability, combined with a humility and humanity ,to bring out the best in his colleagues and students and to continue to develop the Department along the lines established by Dietmar Biesold..

I was a regular visitor to the Neurochemistry Department in Leipzig until the death of Dietmar Biesold in 1991. Since that time, Volker and I have met on many occasions both in Germany and elsewhere, to exchange ideas on different areas of neuroscience and our concern over the impact of the increasing commercialisation of academic life in Europe. To me, Volker Bigl was one of those unique humans who combined an outstanding scientific knowledge and creativity with patience, humility and humanity that influenced all those who had the good fortune to know him. He will be greatly missed, not only by his wife, family and friends in Leipzig ,but by all those who knew him May he rest in peace!

Personal appreciation by Thomas Arendt.

I joined Volker´s group in the Neurochemistry Department of Karl Marx University, Leipzig, in September 1982, when I decided to join Dietmar Biesold's department for one year before specialising in Neurology and Psychiatry. I was fascinated by the unique atmosphere in the Department, in which scientific originality and creativity were combined with social awareness. Together with Volker, I began to work on human brain diseases, in particular Alzheimer´s disease and related conditions. I was particularly attracted by the unconventional way in which scientific problems were tackled within the group in which there was enough patience to give room to other people´s thoughts and but enough impatience to maintain high standards of research. It did not take me long to decide to remain in the department and to abandon my further training in psychiatry and neurology.
I had the good fortune to work together with Volker over the past 23 years. During that time, I enjoyed many stimulating discussions with him. Even in the last few years when he became occupied with his duties as Dean of the Medical Faculty and, more recently, as Rector of the University, Volker always found time for his colleagues, showed pleasure in scientific discussions and an interest in the research of the Department. This openness and willingness to discuss matters applied not only to his colleagues but also to students and politicians. Accepting the administrative positions in the University was not an easy decision for him to take, knowing that he would have to give up his scientific research in order to ensure the success of the Department and the University at the difficult period of transition that was taking place following reunification of Germany. However, whatever Volker did, or was sometimes forced to do, he did it with a deep sense of responsibility. Even while he was working as a top administrator, he still remained a serious scientist, his analytical skills and insistence of the highest standards of honesty and integrity giving leadership and vision not only to the Department but also to the University.

As a teacher and a researcher, Volker generated enthusiasm for scientific research amongst colleagues and students alike and inspired them to follow his example. I am confident that they will take up the vision that he was unable to complete.