Axel Brakhage re-elected as Vice President of the DFG

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has confirmed Prof. Dr Axel Brakhage as Vice President by a large majority at its annual General Assembly in Potsdam on 3 July 2024. The microbiologist and infection researcher will thus remain on the Executive Committee of the largest research funding organization and central self-governing institution of science in Germany for a further term of four years.

Axel Brakhage has been Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Biology at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Scientific Director of the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI) since 2004. He studies the infection biology of human pathogenic fungi and the fundamentals of microbial communication as a source of new microbial agents, in particular antibiotics.

In the course of his scientific career, Brakhage has always been very closely associated with the DFG in various functions. Initially, he initiated and led various DFG-funded research projects, including the first priority program on human pathogenic fungi. This was so successful that the Collaborative Research Center/Transregio (SFB/TR) 124 FungiNetExternal link was established in 2013 as a collaboration between the Universities of Jena and Würzburg, of which Brakhage is the spokesperson. Together with scientists from Jena, he raised funds for the Jena School for Microbial Communication (JSMC) in 2007, of which he was also spokesperson. Jointly with other Collaborative Research Centers in Jena, the JSMC and the SFB/TR FungiNet formed the basis for the successful acquisition of the Cluster of Excellence Balance of the MicroverseExternal link at the University of Jena, which he headed as spokesperson until 2022.

Sustainability in research

Brakhage also acted as a reviewer in DFG funding programs and was elected to the DFG Review Board for Microbiology, Immunology and Virology in 2008, serving as its spokesperson during his second term of office. In 2020, the DFG members elected him Vice President for the first time. In this role, he is particularly committed to sustainability in research and the development of research collaborations with China. As an expert on animal testing and genetic engineering, he also contributes to fact-based political decision-making.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans Hasse (RPTU Kaiserslautern) was also confirmed as Vice President of the German Research Foundation together with Axel Brakhage.