Our PhD students
Research Groups:
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics
- Bio-Oceanography and Marine Biology
- Environmental Change and Biodiversity
- Evolutionary Anthropology
- Evolutionary Zoology and Palaeobiology
- Limnology
- Molecular Evolution and Development
- Molecular Systems Biology
- Plant Evolutionary Biology
- Theoretical Evolutionary Biology
- Tropical Ecology and Animal Biodiversity
Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics
Maximilian Dreer
Supervisor: Christa Schleper
Topic: Biofilm formation and transformation of Ammonia Oxidizing Archaea
Marina Monserrat Díez
Angus Hilts
Walter Hofmann
Supervisor: Simon Rittmann
Topic: Physiological and biotechnological characteristics of archaea for methane or bioplastics production
Anastasiia Padalko
Supervisor: Filipa Sousa
Topic: Metabolic traits prediction and validation in Archaea
Barbara Reischl
Hayk Palabikyan
Supervisor: Simon Rittmann
Topic: Converting carbon dioxide into bioplastics
Thomas Pribasnig
Supervisor: Christa Schleper
Topic: Energy and carbon metabolism of Nitrososphaeria
Nicole Catherina Krause
Val Karavaeva (they/he)
Supervisor: Filipa Sousa
Topic: Rings of life and where to find them: Evolution of Tetrapyrroles
Bio-Oceanography and Marine Biology
Marilena Heitger
Supervisor: Gerhard Herndl
Topic: Shedding light on dark ocean’s detrital particles: origin, composition and age
Michaela Berensmeier
Supervisor: Martin Zuschin
Topic: Paloenvironmental changes of a shallow-water ecosystem in the Northern Adriadic Sea: Development of the community composition and its taphonomy
Guillem Coll García
Supervisors: Gerhard Herndl, Ramon Rossello-Mora & Raffael Bosch
Tina Palme
Alexandra Haselmair
Supervisor: Martin Zuschin
Topic: Historical ecology of the northern Adriatic sea: Spatial and temporal distribution of the high biomass epifauna
Angelina Ivkic
Supervisor: Martin Zuschin
Topic: Red Sea coral reefs: A Pleistocene - Recent comparison
Isabella Leonhard
Giulia Marchioro
Philipp Pröts
Supervisor: Jörg Ott
Topic: Morphological adaptations to the symbiotic life-style of Stilbonematinae (Desmodoroidea, Nematoda)
Daniel Martinovic Saavedra
Supervisor: Federico Baltar
Topic: The role of enzyme promiscuity on organic phosphorus cycling in the ocean
Sebastian Valerio Aymerich
Teresa Maria Rosa Winter
Dmytro Spriahailo
Environmental Change and Biodiversity
Michaela Berensmeier
Johannes Hausharter
Supervisor: Stefan Dullinger
Topic: The role of micro-climate and micro-environment for population dynamics of alpine plants
Tobias Schernhammer
Jennifer Hennenfeind
Florian Danzinger
Norbert Helm
Supervisors: Stefan Dullinger, Karl Hülber, Dietmar Moser, Johannes Wessely
Topic: Linking the micro- with the macroscale in alpine plant ecology
Alexandra Haselmair
Supervisor: Martin Zuschin
Topic: Historical ecology of the northern Adriatic sea: spatial and temoral distribution of the high biomass epifauna
Ekin Kaplan
Supervisor: Franz Essl
Topic: Temporal Changes and underlying Drivers of the Richness and Composition of Eu-rope’s Native and Non-Native Flora
Chytrý Kryštof
Supervisor: Stefan Dullinger
Topic: Effects of microclimate on distribution patterns of high alpine flora
Elias Nikolas Kapitany
Rym S. Nouioua
Supervisor: Stefan Dullinger, Bea Maas
Topic: Birds, bats and related ecosystem services in a European land-use context: linking conservation knowledge, agricultural practices and socio-ecological perspectives
Ana Isabel Martinez Richart
Parvin Safiyan Böldaji
Supervisor: Stefan Dullinger
Topic: Habitat suitability of the Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) and its primary prey species in north-eastern Iran
Clemens Pachschwöll
Supervisor: Franz Essl
Topic: Detecting ‘invaders in disguise’ DNA barcoding of invasive plant species in Austria
Sonia Rashid
Supervisor: Stefan Dullinger
Topic: Modelling climate-driven range changes of European butterflies and their host plants - do transient dynamics matter?
Pablo Aycart Lazo
Supervisors: Bea Maas, Stefan Dullinger
Topic: Functional diversity and interactions of birds, bats and arthropods in tropical cacao agroforestry systems: linking biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service management
Anna Schertler
Supervisor: Franz Essl
Topic: Macroecological perspectives in invasion biology – examining drivers of fungal and plant invasion patterns and processes
Tom Vorstenbosch
Supervisors: Stefan Dullinger, Franz Essl
Topic: Modelling the future of biological invasions in the sub-Antarctic under climate change
Gilles Colling
Evolutionary Anthropology
Jeannette Becker
Leo Capari
Supervisor: Harald Wilfing
Topic: Anatomy of challenge driven R&I: The cases of energy transition and demographic change
Aigerim Rymbekova
Supervisor: Martin Kuhlwilm
Topic: Reconstructing the genetic history of Central Eurasia
Tobias Göllner
Supervisors: Martin Fieder, Helmut Schaschl
Topic: The Peopling of Asia: Genetic Ancestry, Population Structure, Demography and Natural Selection
Sonja Kuderer
Supervisors: Martin Fieder, Sylvia Kirchengast
Topic: An interdisciplinary approach: the co-evolution of handedness, sensation seeking and anxiety
Savannah Schaufler
Supervisors: Harald Wilfing, Tatiana Konrad
Topic: Sustainability Reset: Questions of Behavioral and Cultural Changes Revealed by COVID-19
Katarina Matiasek
Supervisor: Harald Wilfing
Topic: Incorporations. Stereo Photography in Anthropology
Michelle Hämmerle
Inga Stolbovaya
Supervisors: Fred Bookstein, Gerhard Weber
Topic: 3D morphometric analysis of the human cranium for the investigation of posterior discrepancy
Constanze Hedwig Schattke
Supervisors: Harald Wilfing, Sabine Eggers
Topic: Witnesses of Violence? Combining Bioarchaeology and Provenance to research violence in the acquisition contexts of human remains in the Department of Anthropology, Natural History Museum Vienna from 1857 – 1935
Emily Pigott
Supervisor: Thomas Higham
Topic: Re-assessing human and faunal remains from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic archaeological sites within the Crimean Peninsula, using more recent protocols of radiocarbon dating
Magdalena T. Srienc-Ściesiek
Supervisors: Sylvia Kirchengast, Sabine Ladstätter
Topic: Lifeways of the early medieval Slavs: A bioarchaeological examination of diet and health based on the human remains from three cemeteries north and south of the Karawanken Mountains
Thomas Beard
Elöd Úry
Supervisor: Gerhard Weber
Topic: A 4D study of the mandibular guiding system: An integrated geometric morphometric approach
Paul Klostermann
Supervisor: Sabine Eggers
Topic: Adolescence in the Early Medieval Age. A Bioarchaeological Analysis of Pubertal Timing in Central Europe.
Heather Chamberlain-Irwin
Konstantina Cheshmedzhieva
Liesa Geppner
Supervisors: Maja Henjakovic, Harald Wilfing
Topic: Micro- and nanoplastic: Methodology for extraction and detection of plastic particles from human blood and mammalian tissue.
Arne Bielke
Evolutionary Zoology and Palaeobiology
Arnaud Begat
Supervisor: Jürgen Kriwet
Topic: Mesozoic elasmobranch fish (sharks, skates, and rays) ecology and diversity patterns before extinction events
Claudia Klimpfinger
Alice Frisinghelli
Manuel A. Staggl
Julian Bibermair
Supervisor: Thomas Schwaha
Topic: Evolution of phylactolaemate bryozoans
Katharina Mason
Supervisor: Elisabeth Haring
Topic: When genetics contradicts morphology: How does this affect our species concepts?
Cristian Camilo Barrera Grijalba
June Feliciano Fronda Ordonez
Supervisor: Tim Wollesen
Topic: Neuronal cell type development in the chaetognath Spadella cephaloptera
Anna-Maria Sabine Salgado-Gschwandner
Supervisor: Robert Ptacnik
Topic: Remoteness and size as determinants of Lake Ecosystem stability (RemoLake)
Iris Fischer
Supervisor: Elisabeth Haring
Topic: Ecological status of aquatic habitats in Vienna: critical comparison of classical monitoring and molecular genetic methods to assess species distribution and composition of the dragonfly fauna
Sophie Greistorfer
Supervisor: Gerhard Steiner
Topic: Glowing mucus; Characterisation of the unique defence secretion of Latia neritoides (Gastropoda)
Mildred Jessica Johnson
Supervisor: Thomas Schwaha
Topic: The life cycle and systematics of the boring ctenostome bryozoan families Immergentiidae and Spathiporidae
Anna-Chiara Barta
Willy De Mattia
Supervisors: Elisabeth Haring, Gerhard Steiner
Topic: Anatomical revision of Alopiinae (Gastropoda:Pulmonata:Clausiliidae): TesIng genital characters in clausiliid systematics
Giulia Marchioro
Margret Eckhard
Supervisor: Andreas Wanninger
Topic: Glue characterization in centipedes
Antonia Grausgruber
Gudrun Schwarze
Supervisor: Andreas Wanninger
Topic: Evolution and Development of worm snails (Vermetidae)
Katharina Wechselberger
Supervisor: Harald Krenn
Topic: Analysis of the main factors influencing the behavior of wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae) as a basis for the optimization of available crop protection measures on arable land
Limnology
Sonja Hoxha
Pratiksha Acharya
Supervisors: Christian Griebler, Katrin Attermeyer, Simon Vitecek
Topic: Influence of resource and consumer diversity on the quality and microbial processing of fine particulate organic matter during leaf breakdown in streams
Filip-Paul Boanca
Anna-Maria Sabine Gschwandner
Supervisor: Robert Ptacnik
Topic: Remoteness and size as determinants of Lake Ecosystem stability (RemoLake)
Alice Retter
Supervisors: Christian Griebler, Fede Baltar, Henrik Nilsson
Topic: Vulnerability and response of microbial groundwater communities in alpine regions to anthropogenic impacts and climate change.
Stefano Mari
Supervisors: Martin Kainz, Libor Zavorka
Topic: The importance of dietary omega 3 fatty acids for development of cognitive skills in wild fishes through the lens of Tingbergen’s four
Pamela Alessandra Baur
Supervisor: Stephan Glatzel
Topic: Greenhouse gas exchanges of special wetland ecosystems in Austria
Francine Mathieu
Supervisor: Martin Kainz
Topic: Temporal dynamics of plankton food webs and sediments of young gravel pit lakes.
Constanze Englisch
John Lester Viscara Pide
Supervisor: Christian Griebler
Topic: Intrinsic potential and activity of nitrate turnover examined for different hydrogeological aquifer settings
Helena Cvetkovic
Supervisor: Christian Griebler
Topic: Deciphering fluvial methane ebullition patterns and environmental drivers by viewing streams as heterogeneous landscapes
Christoph Novotny
Molecular Evolution and Development
Isha Joshi
Supervisor: Peter Schlögelhofer
Topic: Uncovering the Interrelation of DNA damage and Pathogen Response Pathways
Lisa Rouressol
Andreas Denner
Supervisor: Ulrich Technau
Topic: Characterization of putative stem cell marker genes in Nematostella vectensis
Patricio Ferrer Murguia
Supervisor: Ulrich Technau
Topic: Red Sea coral reefs: A Pleistocene - Recent comparison
Lubna Younas
Supervisor: Qi Zhou
Topic: Molecular mechanisms of tissue-specific dosage compensation in Drosophila species
Paul Knabl
Supervisor: Grigory Genikhovich
Topic: BMP signaling in the cnidarian germ line
Koto Kon
Supervisor: Oleg Simakov
Topic: Elucidating the role of transposable element activity in hydra regeneration
Oliver Link
Supervisor: Ulrich Technau
Topic: On the origin and evolution of striated muscle cells: Insights into muscle cell transcriptomes from striated muscles of cnidarian jellyfish
Sanjay Narayanaswamy
Supervisor: Ulrich Technau
Topic: Assessing senescence in the regenerative and long lived Nematostella vectensis
Molecular Systems Biology
Fariha Naz Apon
Supervisors: Peter Schlögelhofer, Marie-Theres Hauser
Topic: Functions of cell wall integrity sensors in plant stress responses
Iro Pierides
Yovita Astuti Djohan
Supervisor: Stefanie Wienkoop
Topic: Stress-induced Pea-omics: Messire vs. Protecta
Shuang Zhang
Supervisor: Wolfram Weckwerth
Topic: Spatial Variability of Wheat Grain Protein Quality and Its Physiological Mechanism in Response to Different Ratios of Basal Nitrogen Fertilizer to Topdressing Nitrogen Fertilizer
Maryam Alsadat Zekri
Supervisors: Ingeborg Lang, Daniel Tholen
Topic: Water’s gateway to heaven 3D imaging and modeling of transient stomatal responses in plant leaves under dynamic environments
Hannes Kramml
Supervisor: Wolfram Weckwerth
Topic: Long-term implications of ancient polyploids: CAM as a key evolutionary innovation in Clusia spp.
Madeleine Schnurer
Supervisor: Verena Ibl
Topic: Characterization of TOL proteins in barley
Carlos A. Pérez Rízquez
Supervisor: Stefanie Wienkoop
Topic: Underlying mechanism(s) of the symbioprotein ferritin on legume root nodule formation and drought stress
Julian Preiner
Supervisor: Stefanie Wienkoop
Topic: Changes in C/N-metabolic processes and heavy metal stress response of leguminous plants (Glycine max) and their symbiotic partners during tungsten (W) and olybdenum (Mo) induced stress: An integrated proteomic, metabolomic and physiologic assessment.
Stefan Plott
Supervisor: Wolfram Weckwerth, Verena Ibl
Topic: "ESCRT-Proteins and TOR as Regulators of Protein Turnover in Barley Grains"
Elisa Montrucchio
Caroline Ivesic
Luigi Schillaci
Kaijie Liang
Supervisors: Wolfram Weckwerth, Steffen Waldherr
Topic: Genome Prediction and Functional Analysis in Large Germplasm Resources based on Omics Data and GWAS
Plant Evolutionary Biology
Teerna Saugata Khastgir
Supervisor: Ovidiu Paun
Topic: Comparative genomics and population genomics of the adaptive radiation of Diospyros on New Caledonia, a biodiversity hotspot
Sadia Sabrina Alam
Supervisor: Andreas Bachmair
Topic: The role of post-translational modifications (PTMs) in plant stress resilience
Johannes Maximilian Braunisch
Supervisor: Gerald Schneeweis
Topic: What determines distribution limits of range-restricted species in high-mountain habitats?
Lukas Dirr
Supervisor: Friðgeir Grímsson
Topic: The Application of Citizen-Science and Crowd-Sourced Data in the Field of Aerobiology
Amin Ghane
Christian Geier
Supervisor: Friðgeir Grímsson
Topic: Flower-insect interactions in the Eocene to Oligocene of Central Europe
Bushra Ijaz
Vildana Kapetanovic
Supervisor: Hanna Schneeweiss
Topic: Diversity and evolution of chili peppers, the genus Capsicum (Solanaceae)
Karen Kölzer
Supervisor: Martina Weber
Topic: Authenticity of urban honey: Specific challenges for palynology and how diversification of methods can overcome them
Constantin Kopper
Supervisors: Jürg Schönenberger, Agnes Dellinger
Topic: Pollinations syndromes, pollinator shifts and floral evolution in Melastomataceae
Anna-Sophie Hawranek
Clemens Pachschwöll
Supervisors: Franz Essl, Gerald Schneeweiss
Topic: Detecting ‘invaders in disguise’ DNA barcoding of invasive plant species in Austria
Martin Rose
Supervisor: Michael Kiehn
Topic: Impact of trade restrictions on species survival
Benjamin Seth Lazarus
Francesca Beclin
Xieting Wu
Theoretical Evolutionary Biology
Nina Kraus
Supervisor: Brian Metscher
Topic: Hemodynamic influences on heart morphogenesis of the developing chick outflow tract
Katharina Stefke
Supervisors: Philipp Mitteröcker, Frank Zachos
Topic: Morphometric and non-metric analyses in intraspecific variation in the red deer (Cervus elaphus) and their bearing upon evolutionary history and taxonomy
Inga Stolbovaya
Supervisors: Fred Bookstein, Gerhard Weber
Topic: 3D morphometric analysis of the human cranium for the investigation of posterior discrepancy
Tropical Ecology and Animal Biodiversity
Barbara Waringer
Supervisor: Christian H. Schulze
Topic: Clutch predation risk in ground nesting birds: effects of predator identity, habitat features and landscape structure.