Werdegang:
Ph.D. 1976 Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
M.S. 1972 State Agric.University Wageningen, The Netherlands
March 2015 – September 2015 Interim Deputy Director General- Research. International Center for Agriculture in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Amman, Jordan
April 2010 to March 2014 Founding  Executive Director West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), Accra, Ghana. Established WASCAL as an International Institute of West African States, including programs, staff and infra-structure
April 1998 to April 2015 Full professor and Director, Dept. of Development and Natural Resources Management of the Center for Development Research (ZEF-Bonn) at the University of Bonn, of which 7 years as Executive Director.
January 1997 to April 1998 Initiator and speaker (PI) of the Special Research Institute (SFB 1687) related to the "stability of the tropical rainforest margin", involving 20 colleagues from University of Göttingen and Kassel and 20 counterpart professors from the University of Bogor and Palu, Indonesia
April 1994 to April 1995 Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Georg-August-University. Rotational appointment. Responsible for 11 institutes and 4 experiment stations with 47 Full-Professor positions and 300 scientific and support staff members
June 1990 to April 1998 Full Professor and Director, Institute of Agronomy in the Tropics, Georg-August-University, Goettingen, Germany
August 1986 to June 1990 Director, International Fertilizer Development Center, Africa. Established a new center for fertilizer development to serve sub-Saharan Africa with Headquarters in Togo as a branch of IFDC, HQ in USA
December 1976 to August 1986 Soil Scientist, Research Leader and from 1984 Director, Agro-Economic Division IFDC. Developed and managed research programs in the areas of soil science, economics, sociology, related to fertilizers and food production

Forschungsschwerpunkte:
Soil-plant interactions
Fate of plant nutrients in tropical agro-ecosystems
Fertilizer nutrient efficiency
Nitrogen and carbon cycles in agro-ecosystems
Deforestation/Aforestation/carbon sequestration
Biodiversity conservation in coffee forests
Climate change/climate smart agriculture and land use
Water cycles and water use efficiency
Land degradation and amelioration
Cost and benefits of fertilizer use in tropical agriculture

Mitgliedschaften und Funktionen:
-   Member of the Board of Trustees of the International Fertilizer Development Center, Muscle Shoals Alabama, Chairman Research and Program Committee (2020- )
-  Member Selection Committee “Robert Bosch Foundation Junior Professorship: Research into the     Sustainable Use of Natural Resources. (2008 - 2020)
-   Member Standing Panel for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Science Council, Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). (2006- 2010)
-   Member Evaluation Committee Helmholtz Scientific Society, Germany (2003)
-   Chair of the CGIAR External Program Review Committee (EPR) of ICRISAT (2003)
-   Member of the CGIAR Review Panel for the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Program (2006)
-   Chair Division A6, American Society of Agronomy (2003/2004)
-   Member/treasurer Scientific Committee, International Human Dimension Program (IHDP). (2002 - 2006)
-   Member National Committee on Global Change Research, Ministry of Science, Germany (2003 -2008)
-   Member National Science Advisory Committee, Ministry of Development Cooperation, Germany (2005-2009)
-   Member Jury of the Eiselen Foundation Price (Joseph Knoll) (2000-2010)
-   Member Evaluation Committee of “Plant Science International”, and “Plant Research Institute” Wageningen, The Netherlands (2001/2006)
-   Member of selection committee for Ph. D. scholars from Africa. German Echange Service (DAAD) (1995-2006).
-   Member Evaluation and Selection Committee 2005 CGIAR Science Awards
-   Member Advisory Board for International Agricultural Research (BEAF), Ministry of Development Cooperation, Germany (1995-2003)
-   Elected member of the University Senate, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany (1995-1997)
-   Member of the Board of Directors (Kuratorium), German Foundation for Development (DSE) (1995-2001)
-   Board member "Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical" (CIAT), Cali, Colombia (1992-1997)
-   Member of the International Advisory Board of the C.T. de Wit Graduate School of Production Ecology. Wageningen Agricultural University (1994-2004)
-   Consultant to the World Bank in Rwanda, Madagascar and Burundi (1986/87)
-   Member evaluation committee of the Science Technology and Development (STD2) program (100 million ECU) of the European Community
-   Editor in Chief of "Fertilizer Research",later: „Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems“ Springer Publ. (1990- 2013)
-   Associate Editor of "Agronomy Journal", American Society of Agronomy (l98l-l986)
-   Editor of Applied Botany (1991-2006)
-   Editor of Basic and Applied Ecology (2000 -2012 )

Auszeichnungen und Ehrungen:

• UNESCO Professor for Education in Sustainable Development in Central Asia, El Khoresmy, State University of Urgench, Uzbekistan, 2011
• World Agricultural Prize Laureate 2014 for excellence in engagement in the mission of higher education institutions relating to the agricultural and life sciences.The Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for Agricultural and Life Sciences (GCHERA).
• Recipient of the National Energy Globe Award Uzbekistan 2013        
• Co-recipient of the 1993 prize for international university cooperation. Awarded by the Council of University Presidents, Germany
• Fellow, Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Studies, Stellenbosch, South Africa (2013)
• Member of the Northrhine-Westphalian Academie of Art and Sciences (2010)
• Fellow, Soil Science Society of America (2008)
• Fellow American Society of Agronomy (2004)
• Fellow, Indian Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2003)

Ausgewählte Publikationen:

1. Vlek, P.L.G., and E.T. Craswell. l978. Effect of Nitrogen Source and Management on Ammonia Volatilization Losses from Flooded Rice Soil Systems, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 43: 352-358.
2. Vlek, P.L.G., and E.T. Craswell. 1982. Ammonia Volatilization from Flooded Soils. Fertilizer Research 2: 227-245.
3. Vlek, P.L.G., and I.R.P. Fillery. 1984. Improving Nitrogen Efficiency in Wetland Rice Soils. The Fertilizer Society Proceedings No. 230
4. Vlek, P.L.G. 1990. The role of fertilizers in sustaining agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Fertilizer Research 26: 327-339.
5. Vlek, P.L.G., M.Y. Diakite, and H. Mueller. 1995. "The Role of Azolla in Curbing Ammonia Volatilization from Flooded Rice Systems". Fertilizer Research 42: 165-174.
6. Vlek, P.L.G., R.F. Kühne, and M. Denich. 1997. Nutrient resources for crop production in the tropics. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 352: 975-985.
7. Wick, B., R.F. Kühne, and P.L.G. Vlek. 1998. Soil microbiological parameters as indicators of soil quality under improved fallow management systems in south-western Nigeria. Plant and Soil 202: 97-107, 1998.
8. Gehring, Chr., M. Denich, M. Kaneshiro and P.L.G. Vlek 1999. Response of secondary vegetation in Eastern Amazonia to relaxed nutrient availability constraints. Biogeochemistry 45:223-241.
9. Sommer, R., M. Denich and P.L.G. Vlek 2000. Carbon storage and root penetration in deep soils under small-farmer land-use systems in the Eastern Amazon region, Brazil. Plant Soil 219: 231-241
10. Lange-Ness, Ricardo and Paul L.G. Vlek. 2000. Mechanism of calcium and phosphate

Link zur Liste der gesamten Publikationen:
www.zef.de