Prof. Dr. Hauke Harms

Head of the Department of Applied Microbial Ecology

Contact

Prof. Dr. Hauke Harms
Department Head

Department of Applied Microbial Ecology
Helmholtz-Centre for
Environmental Research - UFZ
Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany

Phone +49 341 6025-1260
hauke.harms@ufz.de

Hauke Harms

CV / Scientific Career

1988

Diploma in Biology, University of Hamburg

1988 - 1990

PhD, University of Hamburg; subject 'Bacterial Degradation of Dioxin'

1991 - 1993

Long-Term Fellow of European Environmental Research Organisation (EERO) at the Agricultural University of Wageningen, The Netherlands

1993 - 1998

Oberassistent at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich and head of a research team at the Swiss Federal Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG)

1998 - 2003

Assistant professor for Soil Microbiology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)

since 2004

Professor for Environmental Microbiology at the University of Leipzig

2004 - 2023

Head of the Department of Environmental Microbiology at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig

2014 - 2020

Spokesperson of the Helmholtz Research Programme ‘Terrestrial Environment’

2017 - 2023

Head of the Research Unit Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig

2019 - 2020

Spokesperson of the Board of the Helmholtz Research Programme ‘Changing Earth: Sustaining our Future’

since 2021

Member of the Board of the Helmholtz Research Programme ‘Changing Earth: Sustaining our Future’

since 2024

Head of the Research Unit Sustainable Ecotechnologies at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig

since 2024

Head of the Department of Applied Microbial Ecology at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig


Research interests

I am interested in the ecology and ecophysiology of microbial communities involved in Ecosystem services such as the conversion of pollutants and biomass in soil, water and technical systems. It is my goal to address these processes from an ecological perspective and to propose ecological principles for environmental biotechnology development. Special emphasis is put on the link between microbial diversity in structured habitats and the reliability of their functioning. An ultimate goal is to propose biotechnological processes that are as self-sustained as natural ecosystems and their application for environmentally sound biotechnology.