Nicola Schilling
Contact
Nicola Schilling (She/Her)
PhD candidate
Microbial Interaction Ecology Group
Department of Applied Microbial Ecology
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Office: B4.0 R508
Phone: +49 341 60253395
Email: nicola.schilling@ufz.de
Scientific Career
07/2025 - present
09/2021 - 03/2025
09/2017 - 06/2021
PhD
UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
MSc. Biologie
University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
Research Internship
Czech Acadamy of Science (AVCR), Prague, Czech Republic
BSc.
Westfählische Wilhelms Universität, Münster (Westf.), Germany
For a more detailed CV and to download it
please check
here
My PhD project
Live/Dead
What happens to microorganisms in the soil when they die? Who feeds on them and recycles their biomass? And how do these turnover processes shape nutrient cycling in the soil ecosystem?
These are some of the central questions of my PhD research, which examines the recycling of microbial necromass in soil, a pool that can account for up to 60% of soil organic carbon. In particular, my work investigates the regulatory role of predatory protists in driving this turnover.
Specialization
Molecular analyses: protists, bacteria, fungi (rRNA sequencing, qPCR, etc.)
Microbial necromass and the carbon cycle in soil