Till Roenneberg (born 4 May 1953) is a professor of chronobiology at the Institute of Medical Psychology at Ludwig-Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich, Germany.
Roenneberg, in collaboration with Martha Merrow, explores the impact of light on human circadian rhythms, focusing on aspects such as chronotypes and social jet lag in relation to health benefits.
[2] He is currently the vice-chair of the Institute for Medical Psychology of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, the head of the Centre for Chronobiology, the president-elect of the European Biological Rhythms Society, the president of the World Federation of Societies for Chronobiology, and a member of the Senior Common Room of Brasenose College, University of Oxford.
[4][5][6] Roenneberg has also completed work on Neurospora crassa, determining the masking qualities of entrainment through a Frequency (gene)-null circadian oscillator.
He observed in the period of spore production (conidia bands) the phenomenon of masking, an unexpected effect on circadian entrainment due to a particular zeitgeber (such as light[7] or temperature).
Masking has significant implications not only for future studies – which must attempt to demask affected data – but also in relation to entrainment in everyday life.
As a collaboration with Martha Merrow at LMU Munchen, the MCTQ samples sleep and circadian rhythm data from more than 25,000 participants.
Unlike other chronotyping methods, which address the psychology of sleep, the MCTQ measures the phase angle of entrainment,[9] the difference between an organism's intrinsic circadian period and the environmental light cycle.
[12] Roenneberg released a book in March 2012 titled Internal Time: Chronotypes, Social Jet Lag, and Why You're So Tired where he explains the concepts behind circadian rhythm to the masses.