I'm a physicist by training and obtained a BSc and MSc degree in Physics and Biophysics at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany. This is where I discovered my fascination for microbiology and, as a result, for my PhD I switched fields to clinical microbiology. During my PhD studies in Prof. Bärbel Stecher's lab at the Max von Pettenkofer Institute in Munich, I characterised a synthetic gut bacterial community and studied the community's interaction network and ecology. We applied our findings to gain a better understanding of how the gut microbiota protects against infections with pathogens like Salmonella. 

For my postdoc, I joined the Microbial Systems Ecology group at Eawag to further explore the fascinating world of microbial ecology and to contribute to advance our insights into fundamental principles underlying microbial interactions and emergent behaviour in microbial communities.