How do plants protect themselves against diseases?

Our soil is more than dark, crumbly earth. Countless microorganisms live in it. How they develop, reproduce and influence plants is crucial for agriculture. Bart Thomma researches microscopic soil fungi that attack plants as pests and cause diseases. But how can these fungi outsmart the plants' defense mechanisms?

Bart Thomma - An Introduction

This video was recently shot by the University of Cologne introducing Bart Thomma as Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Evolutionary Microbiology at the Universität zu Köln (and testing his abilities to speak german).

Press Release

Renowned biologist wins Alexander von Humboldt Professorship 2021 for the University of Cologne

Professor Bart Thomma will come to the UoC’s CEPLAS Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences with Germany’s most prestigious research prize.

With Professor Bart Thomma, the University of Cologne has the prospect of recruiting an international top researcher in the field of microbiology. With the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship 2021, the Dutch scientist has been granted Germany’s most highly endowed research award – five million euros will allow Thomma to develop his research in his first five years at the University of Cologne.

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CEPLAS Interview - Bart Thomma

Head of the "Cologne Center for Microbial Interactomics", Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Cologne

"I really welcome the opportunity for once in my career to make a stop, change tracks, carefully consider and weigh my options, and re-start the engines for a new journey on a new track towards a new destination."