FACULTY

• Department of Agrobiotechnology
• Department of Biotechnology
• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Economics and Social Sciences

• Department of Food Science and Technology
• Department of Material Sciences and Process Engineering
• Department of Nanobiotechnology

Iris EISENBERGER is Professor of Law and Head of the Institute of Law at the Department of Economics and Social Sciences. Her research focuses on law and innovation, technology law, research law and didactics of law. She has wide experience in running and participating in national and international research projects in the field of law, technology and society. Iris Eisenberger received her venia docendi for Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and the related fields of European Law for her book on Innovation in Law from Vienna University in 2014. She has held visiting positions at numerous international universities including Harvard University, Technical University of Munich and the European University Institute. 
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Cornelia KASPER is Professor of Biotechnology and Head of the Institute for Cell and Tissue Culture Technologies. Her research focuses on the development of processes and techniques for the isolation, characterization, expansion and differentiation of human primary/stem cells. For the expansion and differentiation of progenitor/stem cells and co-cultures, we develop optimized dynamic 3 D cell culture conditions mimicking physiological environment for the generation of functional 3 D tissue constructs under defined and controlled dynamic conditions using tailor-made bioreactors and optimized bioprocess parameters. Furthermore, we develop in close collaboration with clinical partners cell based therapy strategies for the manufacturing of cell-based products and cell based 3 D in vitro test systems.
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Helga LICHTENEGGER is Professor and Head of Institute at the Institute of Physics and Materials Sciences, Department of Material Sciences and Process Engineering (where she is deputy Head of Department). Her research interests lie in the field of applied physics and biomaterials science, with focus on nanoscale structure characterization and the relationship of nanostructure to macroscopic properties. She has worked on bone, teeth, plant cell walls and proteins in solution, complemented by synthetic materials with bio-inspired structure such as nanocomposites. She applies and further develops x-ray scattering methods in the laboratory and at Synchrotron large scale facilities in Europe.
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Falk LIEBNER is Associate Professor at the Institute of Renewable Resources and Distinguished Professor at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, where he holds an Invited Chair position in Bioeconomy and Biorefinery (2019-2024). Working in the field of biopolymer materials chemistry, his research focus is on nanostructuration and functionalization of hierarchical, open-porous and lightweight bio-based materials. Tailoring of gels and aerogels for biomedical applications is a major target of his research and includes theranostic wound dressings, scaffolds for bone tissue engineering or biocompatible dipsticks for rapid optical detection using photoluminescent nanoparticles.
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Roland LUDWIG is Assistant Professor at the Department of Food Science and Technology where he started the Biocatalysis and Biosensing Laboratory (BBL) in 2015. His research is enzyme centered and covers fundamental studies on enzymatic mechanisms and enzyme kinetics as well as applied research on enzyme engineering, protein production and bio(electro)catalysis in synthetic and analytic applications. Working with oxidoreductases, the investigation of intra- and intermolecular electron transfer events with fast kinetic and electrochemical methods became the major research interest of BBL. Our goal is to understand the fundamental principles of electron transfer in proteins and apply them in biocatalysis and biosensing.
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Herwig MAYER is Associate Professor at the Institute of Physics and Materials Science, Department of Material Sciences and Process Engineering. His main field of scientific interest is material fatigue. Research focuses on experimental investigations and predictions of material behaviour after long service times, after stressing with very high numbers of cycles at rather low load amplitudes. Influence of microstructural variability, corrosion, temperature and loading mode on cyclic strength are studied. The ultrasonic fatigue testing method is further developed and used for accelerated testing, i.e. to replicate the actual loading during several years within typically one day.
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Chris OOSTENBRINK is Professor at the Institute of Molecular Modeling and Simuation at the Department of Material Sciences and Process Engineeering. Computational approaches to study structure, dynamics and function of complex biomolecular systems are the main focus of his research, in which he tries to strike a balance between method development and applications to molecular systems of interest. Starting from statistical mechanics, he aims to quantify the interactions between molecules or to enhance the conformational sampling. Through computer simulations, the effects of molecular interactions on the structure and function of biological materials is studied.
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Erik REIMHULT is Full Professor at the Department of Nanobiotechnology and head of the Institute for Biologically Inspired Materials. His research spans biointerfaces from biosensor surface functionalization to drug delivery and biologically inspired composites. His current research is focused on developing new approaches to synthesize and study the assembly of biomimetic nanoscale materials with application in medicine and biotechnology, as well as on the study of colloidal interactions of biological interfaces with special interest in early-stage bacteria adhesion to solid and liquid interfaces.

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Su MA is Scientist at the Department of Food Sciences and Technology. Her research focuses on natural or artificial direct electron transferring oxidoreductases for the application in biosensors and biocatalysis. She is an expert in protein engineering and recombinant protein expression with additional interest in bioelectrochemistry. Her major research areas are the study of structure-function relationship of oxidoreductases, direct electron transfer between enzymes and electrodes, and the engineering of oxidoreductases to develop outstanding biosensor elements and biofuel cell electrocatalysts.

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Drazen PETROV is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Department of Material Sciences and Process Engineering, focusing on the development and application of molecular modelling techniques, primarily aimed at studying behaviour of biomolecules on the one hand and properties of complex systems on the other. For example, his research interests include examining the effects of post-translational modifications on protein structure, dynamics and interactions; investigating biogeochemical processes in soil organic matter at the molecular level; and exploring potential limitations of MD methodology and ways to address them.

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Guruprakash SUBBIAHDOSS is Senior Scientist at the Institute of Biologically Inspired Materials (BIMat) in the Department of Nanobiotechnology. Dr. Subbiahdoss holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering. His main research interest is biofilms at (solid-liquid, air-liquid, and liquid-liquid) interfaces. His research focuses on the development of in vitro methodologies to study bacterial adhesion and early stage biofilm formation at interfaces, host-pathogen interactions, and development of strategies to fight biofilm infections by exploiting new technologies in antimicrobial coatings and nanomaterials.

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