Hans-Dieter Jakubke studied chemistry at the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. After finishing his PhD and postdoctoral work with Josef Rudinger (Prague) he completed his habilitation in 1970. In the same year he was appointed lecturer at the Institute of biochemistry in Halle/S., and full professor of biochemistry at the University of Leipzig in 1977. He was director of the Institute of biochemistry from 1993-1997 and member of the Concil of the European Peptide Society from 1990-1994. Apart from more than 200 publications he has also authored several textbooks and encyclopedias on various aspects of chemistry, biochemistry, including peptide research.

Norbert Sewald studied Chemistry at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, where he also obtained his PhD degree. After postdoctoral work with J. E. Baldwin in Oxford, UK, he became an Assistant Professor at Leipzig University. Since 1999 he is full Professor at the University of Bielefeld where he holds the chair in Organic and Bioorganic Chemistry. His main scientific interest is in peptide chemistry and bioactive peptides. Together with Hans-Dieter Jakubke, he has written a highly acclaimed textbook on peptide chemistry and biology.