VAAM PhD Awards 2026
Congratulations to our VAAM PhD Awardees 2026:
Frau Dr. Helena Schulz-Mirbach, Universität Marburg
Engineering synthetic C1 and C2 assimilation in Escherichia coli
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Tobias Erb/ Universität Marburg/ MPI Marburg
Herr Dr. Frederik Schmidt
Biochemical characterization of the iron nitrogenase
Deciphering the molecular properties of a nitrogen- and carbon dioxide- fixing metalloenzyme through structural and biochemical analyses
Supervisor: Dr. Johannes Rebelein, Universität Marburg/ MPI Marburg
Herr Dr. Christoph Elfmann
Bringing bioinformatics to the bench: SubtiWiki 5.0 and new web tools for research
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Jörg Stülke, Universität Göttingen

Award ceremony at VAAM Annual Conference Berlin (not present C. Elfmann)
Foto: S. Haag-Richter/ VAAM
Chairman of the Prize Committee:
Prof. Dr. Jörg Stülke
Institut für Mikrobiologie und Genetik
Abt. Allgemeine Mikrobiologie
Universität Göttingen
Grisebachstrasse 8
37077 Göttingen
Tel: +49 (0)551-3933781
e-mail: jstuelk@gwdg.de
We thank our sponsors of VAAM Research Awards 2026: BASF SE, Evonik Operations GmbH, IBWF (Institut für Biotechnologie und Wirkstoff-Forschung, Mainz), New England Biolabs, Ernst-Reuter-Gesellschaft, and vermicon AG.
Poster Prizes 2026
Congratulations to all poster awardees at the VAAM Annual Conference 2026!
|
Name |
Ort |
Betreuer:in |
Titel |
|
Lena Kröninger |
Düsseldorf |
Eva Nowack |
Angomonas deanei - A rising star in endosymbiosis research enables the dissection of molecular mechanisms underlying the host/endosymbiont interaction using advanced genetic tools |
|
Daniel Stukenberg |
Darmstadt |
Torsten Waldminghaus |
Mining of Vibrionaceae genomes for single-copy plasmid origins and investigation of their replication and segregation machineries |
|
Ciaran Kelly |
Köln |
Bart Thomma |
Comparative genomic analyses of antimicrobial proteins encoded by lichen-forming fungi |
|
Nastassia Knödlseder |
Barcelona/ ES |
Maria Jose Fabrega Fernandez |
Development of Cutibacterium acnes as a Chassis for Skin-Delivered Biologics |
|
Michael Seidel |
Mainz |
Susanne Gebhard |
Decoding the functional role of the calcium ATPase YloB in microbially induced calcite precipitation and sporulation in Solibacillus silvestris |
|
Chiara-Sophie Epifanio |
Braunschweig |
Jörg Overmann |
Establishing a culture-independent workflow to assess abundance and diversity of Clostridioides difficile in the environment |
|
Deniz Akbulut |
Kiel |
Panagiotis Adam |
The Patchwork of Nucleoid-Associated Proteins in Archaea |
|
Eugene Huang |
Münster |
Ivan Berg |
Exploring the Altiarchaeal CO₂ Fixation Pathway: An Uncultivated Archaeon from the Deep Biosphere |
|
Julia Bischof |
Tübingen |
Wolfgang Wohlleben |
Heterologous expression of cryptic biosynthetic gene clusters from A. cruciatus 763 using Aspergillus as biotechnological production platform” |
|
Nora Junker |
Bielefeld |
Volker Wendisch |
Utilization of orange peel waste for sustainable amino acid production by Corynebacterium glutamicum” |
|
Désirée Ross |
Kaiserslautern |
Nicole Frankenberg-Dinkel |
Implementation of a heterologous screening system to unravel phycocyanobilin biosynthesis in red algae |
|
Mrinalini Srinivasan |
München |
Wolfgang Fischer |
Functional Analysis of Putative Cargo Genes on Integrating Conjugative Elements in H. pylori |
|
Justine Camus |
Tübingen |
Arnaud Kengmo Tchoupa |
Staphylococci remodel lipids at the host-microbe interface |
|
Yasmina Reißer |
Jena |
Stefanie Deinhardt-Emmer |
Hippo-Pathway activation drives fibrogenic remodeling in Influenza A virus-infected lung fibroblasts |
|
Ronja Fiedler |
Bochum |
Franz Narberhaus |
Molecular Basis of Target Gene Recognition by the LysR type Transcriptional Regulator LsrB in Agrobacterium tumefaciens” |

The VAAM poster awards 2026 are supported by BIOspektrum, ASM, W&H Wassertechnik GmbH and Biozym Scientific GmbH.

