After thirteen years of exceptional service as Editor-in-Chief of Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences (CMLS), Pr. Klaus Eichmann retired from his role on July 1st, 2022. A champion of high-quality and hypothesis-driven research, Klaus Eichmann has contributed considerably to improve the quality and scope of research published in CMLS.

After a distinguished career as an immunologist and director of the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg, Germany, Klaus Eichmann joined CMLS as Editor-in-Chief in May 2009, replacing the former Editor Pierre Jolles. Together with an excellent publishing staff, including Beatrice Menz and Johannes Korn, Klaus Eichmann set out to modernize and expand the scope of the journal. Originally specializing in invited review articles, CMLS became a journal that published an equal number of high quality-reviews and original articles. This change in the editorial strategy of CMLS has been successful for two main reasons: first, Klaus and his team decided to separate the functions of Editor-in-Chief and Reviews Editor, thereby allowing the Editor-in-Chief to concentrate on the selection of top-quality original manuscript submissions; and the second important change was to solicit input on incoming manuscripts from a select group of Editorial Board members. These collaborative efforts between Klaus and his team allowed the journal to develop to its present standing among the highest respected international journals in the life sciences.

We will miss Klaus as a friend and mentor at CMLS. All members of the editorial and publisher teams experienced Klaus an easy and efficient collaboration where each issue was solved quickly. Klaus had a talent to simplify problems and address them in the most considerate and fair manner towards an efficient and successful journal editorial policy. The depth of Klaus’s passion for science and discovery was equally inspiring to us, and we realize how much his decision to encourage the publication of original papers accounts for the larger audience now reached by CMLS within the scientific community. Klaus was also committed to a congenial atmosphere within the Editorial Board, as demonstrated during the annual meetings held in various European cities, where the close relationships established during this time have been instrumental in the development of the journal.

Klaus Eichmann is planning to spend his newly gained free time with historical studies on antibody research, attesting to his enduring drive and attraction to solve questions and embark on intellectual adventures. As quoted by Christina Eckey, Life Sciences Executive Publisher at Springer Nature, Klaus Eichmann made ‘CMLS a success story [and he] certainly leaves big shoes to fill’. Together with our new Editorial Board, we are confident that we are up to the task and will strive to continue the mission of CMLS to publish high-quality science and innovative studies with the most equitable reviewing process.