Dr. Valentin Waschulin
Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science
✉ valentin.waschulin(at)univie.ac.at

I am a microbiologist who is fascinated by how little we truly know about the microbes that live in the soil under our feet. In my research, I try to bridge the gap between computational predictions and actual microbial physiology by connecting -omics techniques with isolate work. During my PhD at the University of Warwick, I investigated Antarctic soil for its biosynthetic potential using long-read sequencing, isolation work and synthetic biology. In my current project as part of the Cluster of Excellence: Microbiomes Drive Planetary Health at CeMESS, I focus on the effects of recurrent drought on soil the microbiome using qSIP, metagenomics and isolation work. A forthcoming project funded by an MSCA postdoctoral fellowship will be about bacterial secondary metabolites in biological soil crusts from deserts.
Research Topics and Interests
Soil microbial ecology
Drought adaptations in soils
Ecological roles of bacterial secondary metabolites
Connecting computational techniques with isolate work
Long-read sequencing

Microbiomes Drive Planetary Health
Valentin Waschulin is part of the FWF-funded Cluster of Excellence (CoE)

