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Habilitation in five years

Tessa Quax receives funding for young researchers from the state of Baden-Württemberg

Habilitation in five years

Photo: Tessa Quax

The biologist Dr. Tessa Quax hase successfully received support from the "Margarete von Wrangell Habilitation Program for Women." In the coming five years she will carry out her own research project at the University of Freiburg while obtaining her habilitation on their project topics. Their work will start in the first quarter of 2018 and includes a research position at the University of Freiburg as well as a framework program offering networking, continuing education, and coaching, which is financed by Baden-Württemberg's Ministry of Education, Research, and Art (MWK), and the University of Freiburg. The aim of the program is to support young female researchers along their way to becoming professors.

 

Tessa Quax: Surface structures of archaea and their role in interacting with their surroundings

The ability to perceive environmental stimuli and to react with directed movement is one of the essential features of any living organism. For this purpose archaea have developed a unique motility structure. Archaea are single-celled, nucleus-free microorganisms that are important for understanding of evolution. Archaea are ubiquitously present in nature and some species can adapt to extreme habitats – such as hot sulfur springs, or extreme salt lakes. Archaea are also found in the human intestinal tract and on human skin. Tessa Quax is studying the molecular mechanisms of signal transduction from the surrounding environment on motility structure of archaea. Moreover, she is investigating how archaeal viruses employ this motility structure during the infection process. Her findings will contribute to a better understanding of interaction of archaea with the environment and their colonization of the human body. Beyond that, structural information about the archaeal motility mechanism could contribute to the development of a biological nanomotor.

Contact:
Dr. Tessa Quax
Institute of Biology II – Microbiology
University of Freiburg
Phone: 0761/203-2631
E-mail: tessa.quax@biologie.uni-freiburg.de

 

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