Big news from our MibiNet Member! A team led by Prof. Dr. Julia Frunzke has uncovered how the molecule Daunorubicin blocks viral replication through a mechanism of "mutual destruction." Read more about how this breakthrough, recently published in PNAS, could pave the way for innovative alternatives to traditional antibiotics. 

We are happy to announce that Lennart Witting successfully defended his doctoral thesis "A Microfluidic Platform for High-Precision Growth Quantification of Photosynthetic Microorganisms". 

The MibiNet team is incredibly proud of his achievement and wishes him all the best for his next career steps. 

We are thrilled to share that our team member, Rudvi Pednker, recently participated in the prestigious EMBL Symposium ‘The cellular mechanics of symbiosis: sensing friend from foe’. Rudvi represented our group outstandingly by both giving an insightful talk and presenting a poster.

To top off this scientific highlight, she was awarded a Poster Prize for her exceptional work!

Read more here

For the third year in a row, MibiNet opened its laboratory doors on April 23rd for the nationwide Girls’ Day. Eight curious students took the opportunity to dive deep into the world of microbiology and experience daily research life firsthand under the guidance of Dr. Kerstin Schipper.

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We are proud to announce that Dr. Kun Tang, an associated Postdoc within MibiNet at the Institute of Synthetic Biology (HHU), will be embarking on a new academic chapter. Starting May 1st, 2026, she will join the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in Wuhan, China, as an Associate Professor.

We wish Kun all the best for her future research!

A major success for Microbiology in Düsseldorf: Dr. Florian Altegoer has been awarded the prestigious "Exploration Grant" by the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation. With this funding, he will spend the next two years investigating how the corn smut fungus (Ustilago maydis) identifies the perfect moment to trigger an infection. An exciting project at the intersection of molecular sensing and pathogenicity.

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Cells are complex logistics hubs. In a new "Breakthrough" study published in Nucleic Acids Research (NAR), a team led by Prof. Michael Feldbrügge has deciphered how the protein Rrm4 recognizes mRNA molecules and navigates them precisely through the cell. This discovery provides deep insights into the internal organization of fungal cells—a key element in understanding the complex microbial networks within MibiNet.

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A reason to celebrate at MibiNet: Nora has not only successfully defended her dissertation but was also recognized with honors for her outstanding research. In doing so, she makes history within our network as the very first member of the MibiNext cohort to earn her doctoral degree.

We are incredibly proud of this achievement and extend our warmest congratulations to Nora on this excellent performance. Her success marks a significant milestone for the entire MibiNext program.

We wish her all the best for her future scientific career!

Excellence in early-career research at HHU: Dr. Eliza Loo has been awarded a grant from the "Klaus Tschira Boost Fund." Her project focuses on targeted programming of plant microbiomes—a key topic for sustainable agriculture and for MibiNet.

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MibiNet is growing: We are delighted to welcome Johannes Rebelein to our team. He has been appointed W3 Professor of Sustainable Biotechnology at HHU and will bring his extensive experience to our network. We look forward to our journey together and many exciting projects!

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