DOC Fellowship for Zeynep Kurt
Zeynep Kurt, PhD student at CeMESS, has been awarded a DOC Fellowship by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW). With this competitive grant, she will explore how changing environmental conditions affect methane consumption in aquatic ecosystems.
In her project, Zeynep aims to understand how differences in light exposure, nutrient loading and oxygen availability affect the activities of methanotrophic microorganisms. By combining laboratory culture experiments with field studies, she will explore the metabolic responses of methanotrophs to changing environmental conditions in marine and freshwater environments – insights that could help develop effective strategies for mitigating methane emissions from aquatic ecosystems.
Originally from Turkey, Zeynep earned her MSc degree in Conservation and Restoration Ecology from Radboud University, Nijmegen, where she worked on methane and nitrogen-cycling microorganisms. In February 2024, she joined CeMESS to pursue her PhD in the group of Barbara Bayer and continue her passion studying methanotrophs in aquatic ecosystems.
About the DOC Fellowship
The DOC Fellowship Programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences supports highly qualified doctoral candidates across all disciplines. Fellows receive funding for two to three years to pursue innovative and independent research at Austrian research institutions.