1996-99 PhD at the University of Marburg/Germany # 1999-2001 PostDoc at Uppsala University in Uppsala/Sweden # 2002-05 PostDoc at the University of Cologne/Germany # 2005-07 Independent Researcher & Lecturer at the University of Cologne/Germany # 2005-06 Guest Lecturer at Marburg University/Germany # 2006 Habilitation in Genetics at the University of Cologne # 2006-07 Guest Lecturer at Bingen University of Applied Sciences/Germany # 2007 - 2009 Bioinformatics Manager at BASF Plant Science subsidiary SunGene GmbH # since 2007 Guest Lecturer at University of Cologne # since September 2009 Professor for Biochemistry/Molecular Biology at University of Applied Sciences Mittweida/Germany

Our research tries to bring knowledge from the lab to the computer and back. The focus lies on the generation and utilisation of nucleic acid data. This is applied to quit diverse fields such as

• research in the field of biogas production and ecological stoichiometry.
• development of experimental and computational enabling technologies and tools to facilitate biotechnological utilization of microorganisms.
• integration, modelling, visualisation, and simulation of genomic metadata.
• analysis of genetic diversity and dynamics.

• Eine deutschsprachige Zusammenfassung ist hier zu finden.

• The following scheme gives an overview on current research activities:

• Methane is a well established energy carrier that can be generated from organic waste. The goal is to gain understanding of the dynamics of the transcriptome in anaerobic digesters. The obtained data shall facilitate modelling of the process, in particular with respect to changing substrates, in order to optimise methane production.

• PhD project of Lucy Löser (formerly Stark)

• in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Hauke Harms, Uni Leipzig

• Hydrogen is a powerful and carbon-free energy carrier. It can be produced from water or organic substrates by sunlight powered bacteria. On the basis of genetic strain variations and resulting transcriptome activities we analyse the hydrogen producing capabilities of purple and cyanobacteria.

• PhD project of Nadine Wappler

• in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Michael Göttfert, TU Dresden

• In-door farming results in concentrated aerosols and exhaust air. This may lead to high local concentrations of pathogenic microorganisms or spores. The goal is to develop novel techniques that help to identify these quickly.

• PhD project of Robert Leidenfrost

• in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Michael Göttfert, TU Dresden; PD Dr. Udo Jäckel, Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, Berlin; Dr. Henriette Mietke, Staatliche Betriebsgesellschaft für Umwelt und Landwirtschaft, Nossen

• High-throughput technologies in the field of metabolite, protein and nucleic acid analytics leads to large inter-connected datasets. The goal is to develop a platform to integrate and visualise these data and facilitate modelling and simulations.

• PhD project of Gabriel Kind

• in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Javier F. Urchueguía Schölzel et al., UP Valencia

• Tularemia is a disease that is severe and can be transmitted between humans to animals. Together with the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute we develop a fast, nucleic acid-based classification system for the disease causing sero-strains.

• in cooperation with PD Dr. Herbert Tomaso et al., Friedrich-Löffler-Institut Jena

• Bees in agroecosystems are important pollinators for many crops. We investigate the diversity of pollen sources and resulting effect on honey bee and bumble bee behaviour.

• in cooperation with PD Dr. Catrin Westphal et al., University Göttingen

• The living sheep-poodle population in Germany has a size of around 150 individuals. This increases the risk of inbreeding effects. Together with breeders we try to identify potential hereditary diseases.

• in cooperation with breeders Nina Borzner, Marburg and Mechthild Jennissen-Tibbe, Oberseifersdorf

• see Website

• A list of all current group members can be found here.