Peter Fratzl is a pioneer in the field of biological materials sciences. He has been studying hierarchical structure and mechanical behavior of biological composite materials, such as wood, bone, tendon, sea shells and a variety of protein-based materials. In recognition of this work, he received several awards, including the Max Planck Research Prize and the Leibniz Prize. Peter contributes to medically oriented research in osteoporosis and bone regeneration. He develops concepts for bioinspired engineering materials and has a broad experience in interdisciplinary research together with biology, medicine, humanities and design disciplines. He published over 600 peer-reviewed publications and (co-)supervised nearly 100 Ph.D. theses during the last 35 years. Peter obtained a degree in Engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, France, and a doctorate in Physics from the University of Vienna, Austria. Currently he is director at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany, heading the Department of Biomaterials. He is member of various scientific boards of European and US-based research institutes and serves on editorial boards including the board of reviewing editors at Science Magazine. He is honorary professor at Potsdam University and at Humboldt University Berlin and co-directs the interdisciplinary Cluster of Excellence “matters-of-activity.de” in Berlin. He is member of several Academies of Science in Berlin, Mainz and in Austria, as well as of the German Academy of Engineering (acatech) and the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE).