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The University of Basel is setting up a new endowed professorship at the Biozentrum to make fundamental discoveries at the interface between biophysics and climate-relevant environmental biology. This will be made possible by the Georg H. Endress Foundation, which is generously funding the project.
Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time. By endowing a professorship, the Georg H. Endress Foundation is helping the University of Basel expand its research into the biophysical foundations of climate-related processes, leading to new discoveries that will inspire applications towards climate protection and sustainability.
One potential focus of the Georg H. Endress Endowed Professorship for Climate Biophysics is the molecular mechanisms of carbon dioxide (CO₂) fixation. The high concentration of the greenhouse gas CO₂ in our atmosphere is one of the main causes of global warming. Plants, algae, and certain bacteria can remove CO₂ from the air and convert it into sugar through photosynthesis, but these processes do not work with equal efficiency in all plants.
Biophysics meets climate research
This is where the emerging field of climate biophysics comes in. Researchers at the Biozentrum are already seeking to understand how CO₂ fixation and other environmental processes take place at the molecular level – and how they can be specifically strengthened. These discoveries will open up promising avenues for biotechnological innovations in carbon capture, renewable energy, and climate-resilient crops.
Professor Ben Engel’s research group at the University of Basel’s Biozentrum is conducting pioneering studies into some topics of climate biophysics, including how diatoms are able to absorb CO₂ more efficiently than plants. The researchers were able to show that this is powered by the special molecular architecture of proteins within the algae cells.
With the addition of the Georg H. Endress Endowed Professorship for Climate Biophysics, the University of Basel is positioning itself at the forefront of this exciting and important field.
“We want to understand how life deals with changing environmental conditions at the molecular level. These findings help expand our basic knowledge of photosynthesis, biocatalysis, and biological CO₂ storage. They could also provide new approaches for developing organisms that can better adapt to the Earth’s future climate,” explains Professor Alexander Schier, Director of the Biozentrum, University of Basel.
To achieve this, researchers at the Biozentrum are using cutting-edge methods such as cryogenic electron tomography, which enables them to dive deep into cells and visualize their structures at a previously unobtainable resolution. In addition to the high-tech infrastructure, the new professorship will also benefit from the wide-ranging expertise at the University of Basel – particularly in structural biology and biophysics, but also in plant physiology, ecology, and environmental history.
Long-term financing
Based in Reinach (Basel-Landschaft), the non-profit Georg H. Endress Foundation has agreed to finance the planned professorship for a period of approximately 25 years with a total of up to CHF 17.25 million.
“Our foundation aims to promote research and innovation that advance environmental and climate protection,” says Dr Mirko Lehmann, President of the Georg H. Endress Foundation’s Board of Trustees. “The planned professorship is ideally suited to address these questions. Not only does it promise new insights with high academic and social added value, it also offers considerable potential for innovation.”
Aiming for a research cluster
“The University of Basel has a long tradition of interdisciplinary environmental research,” says Professor Andrea Schenker-Wicki, President of the University of Basel. At the intersection of structural biology, biophysics, and environmental biology, the new endowed professorship aims to raise the visibility of this research area. “This new professorship has the potential to serve as a catalyst for an international center that will bolster and elevate the profile of research at the University of Basel on the foundations of life and on sustainable development,” added the President.
Job announcement planned in the near future
The professorship, which will open up a highly topical and promising emerging field of research at the University of Basel’s Biozentrum, will soon be advertised internationally. At the end of the funding period, it will be taken over by the Faculty of Science.
“With the professorship’s attractive financial resources, exceptional colleagues, an excellent research environment and state-of-the-art infrastructure at the Biozentrum, we have a strong case for attracting one of the world’s leading researchers in this field to Basel,” says Professor Alexander Schier. This should enable tangible contributions to addressing the climate crisis as well as strengthening innovation in the region.
Lush greenery sprouts from a protein structure made visible by cryo-electron microscopy.
Copyright: Ben Engel and Verena Resch
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