Farewell to.....
Michael Borg. He reflects on five and a half years of building a new research direction in Tübingen — and on taking his seaweeds with him to Kiel.
As part of our farewell series, we spoke with Departmental Group Leader Michael Borg about his time at the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen and his next chapter at Kiel University.
Michael joined the newly established Department of Algal Development and Evolution in 2021, entering the world of marine algae just as the department itself was taking shape. Since then, he and his team have carved out a new research direction in red algae and helped establish Bostrychia as a model organism.
Now, Mike and his group are heading north to Kiel, where he will take up a professorship and lead a department focused on Macroalgal Development and Physiology — with the sea, fittingly, much closer at hand. We caught up with him about the excitement of being “bitten by the seaweed bug” and the people who made his time in Tübingen memorable.
How long have you been with MPI for Biology Tübingen and what first brought you here?
I joined the MPI for Biology in March 2021. After completing my postdoc in Vienna, I was looking to start my own research group. Around that time, I learned that a new department was being established here in Tübingen. After contacting and speaking with Susana, the department director, I was drawn to the exciting world of marine algae and joined as a departmental group leader. When I arrived, the department was still taking shape, and the labs were still under renovation. Looking back, I feel fortunate to have joined the department during this formative period. It allowed me to contribute to the department’s development and navigate my transition to algal biology by applying my expertise to ongoing projects, while also giving me the freedom to establish a new research direction of my own.
What are you most proud of accomplishing during your time here?
I am most proud of the new research path I have carved in red algae and of our work to establish Bostrychia as a model organism. I arrived as a newbie to phycology but over the past five and a half years, we have learned so much about working with this system and have uncovered so many new and exciting research questions. I still remember the day Bostrychia first arrived here in Tübingen. I was so excited to finally see it in the flesh. I am grateful to Prof John West for sending it to us. John is an eminent red algal taxonomist who devoted his career to building and maintaining his remarkable seaweed collection well into his eighties. It is thanks to researchers like him, and the work of generations of phycologists whose work laid the foundation for ours, that we are able to explore red algae today. This has been the most stimulating period of my scientific career so far, and I am excited to advance the field in the years ahead.
What’s next for you — where are you heading, and what will you be working on?
My group will be moving to Kiel, a maritime city in northern Germany, where I will take up a Professorship at Kiel University and lead a department focused on Macroalgal Development and Physiology. Kiel is a growing hub for marine, evolutionary, and plant biology, so we will fit right in. And with the coast nearby, it will be nice to be close to seaweeds in their natural habitat! We will of course continue our work on Bostrychia and other red seaweeds. We may also dive back into Arabidopsis, where I still have some unfinished projects. Importantly, I will take on new teaching responsibilities in Developmental Biology and Plant Physiology, where I plan to enrich courses with new perspectives emerging from brown, red, and green algal model systems.
How would you describe the research culture or atmosphere here?
The research culture in our department has been highly stimulating. Everyone who has joined was bitten by the seaweed bug and this has brought excitement to their work and to that of others in the department. Lab meetings were always something to look forward to, with lots of questions and lively discussion across the group. It has also been really rewarding to mentor and watch younger researchers develop into independent scientists, who I am certain have bright futures ahead of them.
What will you miss most about MPI for Biology?
I will miss the daily interactions with colleagues in our department and I am very grateful to have been able to work here and do cutting-edge science with top equipment and facilities. I’ll also miss the many conversations with my peers and colleagues who I often shared lunches and coffee breaks with - they know who they are. I am extremely thankful and proud of my team. We have been a small group but have consistently punched above our weight, with every member playing an essential part in what we have achieved in our time here.
I will also miss the many unsung heroes that make this institute tick...Heike, Agnes, Fabian and more recently Rita, who have kept everything in the department running smoothly. Remy and his team have maintained a top-notch culture facility, while the Research Support Team has worked hard to bring together a diverse institute. I’ll also miss the Grounds Men, who are always cheerful and ready with a joke (even if I only understood half of them through their thick Swabian accents). The IT team often goes unnoticed because the computing infrastructure runs so seamlessly, and the support of the Genome Center, Microscopy Facility and HPC team has allowed us to focus on the science.
Coffee or tea while writing papers?
Most definitely tea. Yorkshire tea, brewed just right and finished with a generous splash of oat milk.
