Overview Research Groups

Andrei Lupas
Protein Evolution

Department Director

Proteins provide the chemical basis for all processes of life. We investigate their origin and the evolution of their folds and mechanisms of action by means of bioinformatics, biochemistry and sturctural biology. more

Jörg Martin
Protein Folding, Unfolding and Degradation

Group Leader, Department of Protein Evolution

Using a variety of biochemistry, biophysics and microbiology techniques, we focus on prokaryotic model systems to better understand these intricate processes. more

Birte Hernandez Alvarez
Conservation of Protein Structure and Function

Group leader, Department of Protein Evolution

We study structure-function relationships in proteins from an evolutionary perspective. more

Vikram Alva
Protein Bioinformatics

Group Leader, Department of Protein Evolution

We are broadly interested in understanding the events that led to the emergence of these first folds and their diversification into the many functional protein families we recognize today. more

Marcus Hartmann
Molecular Recognition and Catalysis

Group Leader, Department of Protein Evolution

Our mission is to understand and manipulate macromolecular machines and systems. more

Murray Coles
Transmembrane Signal Transduction

Group Leader, Department of Protein Evolution

Our group concentrates on protein structure determination, with a special focus on proteins involved in transmembrane signaling. more

Stanislaw Dunin-Horkawicz

Group leader, Department Protein Evolution

Ruth Ley
Microbiome Research

Director of the Department

The Department of Microbiome Science is broadly interested in the ecology and evolution of the human gut microbiota. We perform population-level research to probe links between human genotype and the gut microbiota, and we focus mechanistically on ways in which specific gut microbes have adapted to the human body. more

James Marsh
Microbiome Engineering

Group Leader, Department of Microbiome Science

We are trying to establish new techniques to genetically modify non-model organisms to better understand their effects on the human gut. more

Alexander Tyakht
Mobile genetic elements in the gut microbiome of human populations

Group Leader, Department of Microbiome Science

While the taxonomic structure of gut microbiome in the world human populations has been outlined, its subspecies-level genomic richness in the context of co-evolution with the host, particularly the variability of its extrachromosomal content, is still to be elucidated. more

Ralf Sommer
Integrative Evolutionary Biology

Director of the Department

We link development, ecology, and population genetics in a highly integrative approach to study how novel and complex traits evolve as a result of historical processes. more

Christian Rödelsperger

Group Leader, Department of Integrative Evolutionary Biology

How do processes like duplication, genomic rearrangements, and formation of novel genes shape genomes? Do these processes generate heritable differences in the phenotypes that we care about? To extend our understanding of these two questions, we combine large-scale sequencing data with statistical analysis to find the genetic basis of various traits in the nematode P. pacificus.

Catia Igreja

Group Leader, Department of Integrative Evolutionary Biology

Studies of reproductive isolation hold the key to our understanding of how new species are formed.

Adrian Streit

Group leader, Department of Integrative Evolutionary Biology

Matthias Herrmann

Group Leader, Department of Integrative Evolutionary Biology

Susana Coelho
Algal Development and Evolution

Director of the Department

Brown algae have been evolving independently of animals and land plants for more than a billion years. We exploit these organisms to understand the origin, evolution and regulation of sexual systems diversity and multicellular development across eukaryotes. more

Agnieszka Lipinska
Reproductive Isolation and Speciation in Brown Algae

Group leader, Department of Algal Development and Evolution

Aga Lipinska is leading the effort to characterise the role of sex chromosomes in postzygotic isolation, to identify the causative genomic regions and to carry out evolutionary analyses of the genes underlying hybrid incompatibility in brown algal species. more

Michael Borg
Development in Red Algae

Group Leader, Department of Algal Development and Evolution

We are now applying our expertise in red algae, where the relevance and function of molecular processes underlying development and reproduction is poorly understood. more

Detlef Weigel
Molecular Biology

Director of the Department

There is tremendous phenotypic diversity between and within species. Much of this is thought to reflect adaptation to the environment. Drawing on tools from high-throughput genomics to forward genetics, we are investigating the mechanisms responsible for adaptive variation. more

Hajk-Georg Drost
Computational Biology

Group Leader, Department of Molecular Biology

The department hosts the group of Hajk-Georg Drost, which develops cutting-edge software solutions to deal with the ever-increasing amount of genomic information. more

Rebecca Schwab

Group leader, Department of Molecular Biology

Uwe Irion

Group Leader

Sebastian Cohn