W2-Professor “Synthetic Cell Factories”
since 2019
RWTH Aachen University, Aachen/Germany Chair of Biotechnology
- Teaching: “Mehrschrittige Biokatalysen – Stammentwicklung und Proteinaufarbeitung“ (lectures, lab, theoretical exercises)
ERC Starting Grant of the European Research Council
2015 – 2020
Custom-made biosensors – Accelerating the transition to a bio-based economy
Group leader “Synthetic Cell Factories”
since 2013
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich/Germany Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology
- Metabolic engineering and “Metabolic Evolution” of microorganisms at genome scale
- Synthetic Biology
- Plant natural product synthesis in microorganisms
Team leader “Combinatorial Metabolic Design”
2011 – 2013
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich/Germany Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology
- Metabolic engineering of microorganisms at genome scale
- Development of enzyme-free cloning technologies
Subgroup leader “Molecular Biology”
2009 – 2010
RWTH Aachen University, Aachen/Germany Chair of Biotechnology
- Directed evolution of biocatalysts and proteins
- Molecular biology (method development)
Post-doc
2008 – 2009
Jacobs University Bremen GmbH/Germany School of Engineering and Science
- Directed evolution of biocatalysts, mainly for applications in industrial biotechnology
PhD-thesis
2005 – 2006
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm/Sweden Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics
- Structural biology and chemical modification of proteins
- Supported by a DAAD-stipend
2004 – 2007
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich/Germany Institute of Biotechnology 1
- PhD-thesis: “Structure and function of transaminases of Corynebacterium glutamicum”
Undergraduate Studies
2001 – 2002
University of California, Davis/USA
- Classes and labs
- Independent research projects (microbiology and virology)
1998 – 2004
Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf/Germany
- Microbiology, enzyme technology and molecular biology
- 2004: Dipl.-Biol. „with distinction“