The individual PhD research projects form the core of the doctoral programme.

They are each supervised by one of the Principal Investigators of BioToP, however, close collaboration with other research groups/PIs within this doctoral program is foreseen. This will thus strengthen the multi-disciplinary character of this programme.

In addition, short term research stays abroad (approx. 6 months) in the laboratories of international collaboration partners are planned.


List of ongoing PhD research projects sorted by department:

DEPARTMENT   SUPERVISOR PhD STUDENT
Applied Genetics and Cell Biology      
Plant-based production and bioencapsulation of immunotherapeutics for allergy treatment   Eva Stöger Fabian Schubert
Effects of N-glycans on structure and dynamics of IgAs and their implications on receptor binding   Richard Strasser Valentina Ruocco
       
Department of Biotechnology      
More than just letters – the impact of protein sequence variation on expressibility and host cell responses   Brigitte Gasser Fiona Spreitzer
Understanding protein-body formation and purification   Johannes Buyel Andreas Fradinger
Exploring energy metabolism on C1 carbon sources in the yeast Komagataella phaffii   Diethard Mattanovich Daniel Ahlheit
Developing novel descriptors for chromatographic protein separation   Johannes Buyel Miriam Fernandez-Giro
Grafting the ribulose monophosphate cycle for methanol assimilation into Komagataella phaffii   Diethard Mattanovich Miriam Kuzman
Multi-omics analysis of CHO cell lines   Nicole Borth Markus Riedl
Fundamentals for ultrafast virus analytics   Alois Jungbauer Johanna Bacher
Synthetic biology-based cell engineering of the yeast Pichia pastoris   Brigitte Gasser Pawel Malecki
Enzyme engineering and evolution for improvement of methanol utilization in yeast   Diethard Mattanovich Moritz Charles
Identification of both coding and non-coding genomic regions that contribute to Bioprocess relevant behaviour   Nicole Borth Ivy Rose Sebastian
Effect of membrane organization on weak acid transport proteins   Karola Vorauer-Uhl Yao Yuelang
Impact of cellular redox state on protein production and secretion in yeast   Brigitte Gasser Victor Honorato
Control of glycolysis in Crabtree-negative and positive yeasts   Diethard Mattanovich Yoshua Donny Rudinatha
Pichia pastoris genetics for strain development   Diethard Mattanovich Marina Jecmenica
       
Department of Chemistry      
Developing a framework to enhance T-cell receptor functionality   Michael Traxlmayr Philipp Brunmayr
Importance of heme biosynthesis in the oral pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis   Stefan Hofbauer Jakob Ender
Biochemistry of actinobacterial coproporphyrin ferrochelatase from Corynebacterium diphtheriae   Stefan Hofbauer Alice Cassiani
Engineering OR-gated CAR T cells to prevent resistance due to antigen loss   Michael Traxlmayr Julia Mayer
Elucidating the molecular mechanism of engineered binders targeting the activated conformation of EGFR   Michael Traxlmayr Delia Sumesgutner
Variation of the linking loop in dimeric α-β barrel proteins   Stefan Hofbauer Nikolaus Falb
Deciphering the folding and inhibition mechanism of the staphylococcal myeloperoxidase inhibitor SPIN   Christian Obinger Urban Leitgeb
Structural studies of actinobacterial coproheme decarboxylase (ChdC) from Corynebacterium diphtheriae   Stefan Hofbauer Patil Gaurav
Glycobiology aspects of Tannerella serpentiformis   Christina Schäffer Stephanie Walcher
Engineering a small molecule regulated heterodimerization system for the control of CAR T cells   Christian Obinger Elise Sylvander
Development of a novel binder scaffold   Christian Obinger Magdalena Teufl
       
Department of Food Science and Technology      
Novel sialidases for enzymatic recovery of sialic acid from edible bird's nest (EBN) co-products   Dietmar Haltrich Nur Afifah Binti Mohd Fauziee
New enzymes, reconstruction and design for industrial synthesis   Clemens Peterbauer Chiara Amoroso
Exploitation of transglycosylation activities of bifidobacterial glycoside hydrolases for the synthesis of human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) structures   Dietmar Haltrich Konlarat Phirom-on
Novel Lactate-Oxidizing Enzymes for Biosensor Applications   Dietmar Haltrich Lidiia Tsvik
       
Department of Material Sciences and Process Engineering      
Protein-protein interactions   Chris Oostenbrink Marc Schuh
Binding site dynamics and solvation   Chris Oostenbrink Tea Kuvek
Free-energy calculations in metalloproteins   Chris Oostenbrink Bettina Lier

 

 

List of completed PhD research projects sorted by department:

DEPARTMENT   SUPERVISOR PhD STUDENT
Applied Genetics and Cell Biology      
Enzymatic properties and evolutionary origin of the cancer-associated protease cathepsin O   Lukas Mach Nikolaus Kienzl
O-glycan engineering of N. benthamiana for structure-function characterization of human IgA1   Eva Stöger Pia Uetz
Designed protein storage organelles and their uptake into target cells   Eva Stöger Jennifer Schwestka
Engineering and functional activities of polysialylated IgG antibodies   Herta Steinkellner Lukas Eidenberger
Isolation and functional characterization of Nicotiana benthamiana serine proteinases involved in the degradation of recombinant proteins   Lukas Mach Alejandro Puchol Tarazona
Development of a seed-based strategy for the design of a mucosal vaccine against S. pneumoniae   Eva Stöger Marc Tschofen
Analysis of structure−function relationships of monomeric and dimeric human IgA1 and IgA2 with defined N− and O−glycosylation   Richard Strasser Kathrin Göritzer
Immunoglobulin E (IgE) and glycosylation   Herta Steinkellner Laura Montero Morales
Plant glyco-engineering towards synthesis of recombinant proteins with polysialylated N-glycans   Herta Steinkellner Somanath Kallolimath
Antibody production in seed tissues: evaluating the subcellular deposition, N−glycan modification and functionality   Eva Stöger Stanislav Melnik
MAPK and JAK/STAT Signaling in Immune Regulation by Dendritic Cells   Lukas Mach Klara Soukup
Artificial storage organelles for the optimal production of biopharmaceuticals in plants and plant cells   Eva Stöger Anna Hofbauer
Isolation and functional characterization of Nicotiana benthamiana papain-like cysteine proteinases   Lukas Mach Melanie Niemer
Identification of Lewis a containing glycoproteins from Arabidopsis thaliana and characterization of their involvement in pathogen defence   Richard Strasser Gernot Beihammer
       
Department of Biotechnology      
Seasonal influenza virus vaccine effectiveness through recombinant neuraminidase on VLPs   Reingard Grabherr Leticia Guzman Ruiz
Synthetic biology tools to control expression of multiple genes in a pathway   Nicole Borth Caterina Ruggeri
Increasing efficiency of CO2 assimilation in synthetic autotrophic Pichia pastoris   Diethard Mattanovich Michael Baumschabl
Engineering of a bispecific mAb recognizing an optimized epitope of IgE as well as CD3 – a novel strategy for fighting allergic diseases   Florian Rüker Aleksandra Rodak
Understand and exploit sigma-appropriation as a tool for transcription control in E. coli   Reingard Grabherr Marco Klanschnig
Inducible regulation of baculovirus genes involved in secretion and virus budding   Reingard Grabherr Christina Hausjell
Bispecific antibodies with monovalent antigen engagement in the Fc domain   Florian Rüker Filippo Benedetti
Nsun5 methylates rRNA: 'specialized' ribosomes in stress resistance and aging   Johannes Grillari Anja Wagner
Understanding molecular transport processes for improved metabolic engineering approaches   Michael Sauer Dominik Jeschek
Engineering of T-cell receptor for bispecificity   Florian Rüker Flavio Sadio
Genomic and epigenomic analysis of a plant-based expression platform for recombinant glycoproteins   Heinz Himmelbauer Matteo Schiavinato
Partitioning of virus-like particles and protein superstructures in charged hydrogels   Alois Jungbauaer Patricia Aguilar
Rational systems design of protein-producing yeasts: eliminating metabolic limitations   Brigitte Gasser David Pena
Extracellular vesicle trafficking in aging   Johannes Grillari Madhu Bobbili
Productivity optimisation of CHO cells by epigenome alterations   Nicole Borth Peter Eisenhut
Quantitative metabolic flux analysis in CHO cells   Nicole Borth Diana Szeliova
Change of the Global Methylation Pattern to Alter the Growth Phenotype of CHO-CellsBackground   Nicole Borth Marcus Weinguny
Enzyme scaffolding and cellular compartments for metabolic engineering endeavours   Michael Sauer Bernd Albrecht
In silico guided humanization of antibodies   Renate Kunert Linda Schwaigerlehner
Cellular Mechanisms of Regulation   Brigitte Gasser Sonakshi De
Characterization of transcriptional regulatory proteins   Brigitte Gasser Diane Barbay
Understanding the source of variation in protein N-glycosylation patterns of recombinant proteins generated in CHO cells   Nicole Borth Nina Bydlinski
Characterization of microbial methanol metabolism   Diethard Mattanovich Domen Zavec
Metabolic engineering of Pichia pastoris   Diethard Mattanovich Thomas Gassler
Generation and presentation of membrane protein targets using influenza virus−like particles   Reingard Grabherr Lisa Nika
Understanding and controlling the expression of recombinant oligomeric immunoglobulins   Renate Kunert Julia Hennicke
Molecular engineering of baculoviral based protein expression in insect cells     Reingard Grabherr Krisztina Koczka
Genomic rearrangements in CHO producer cell lines   Nicole Borth Inmaculada Hernandez-Lopez
Engineering Pichia pastoris for antibody surface display   Diethard Mattanovich Lina Heistinger
Engineering the interface of Fab fragments for the generation of bispecific antibodies   Johannes Grillari Maximilian Bönisch
Generation and presentation of membrane protein targets using baculovirus surface display   Reingard Grabherr Monika Wilde
Investigation and Enhancement of Growth Characteristics of Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells   Nicole Borth Gerald Klanert
Cross−Species Comparison of Expression Systems   Reingard Grabherr Andreas Maccani
Influenza virus−like particles as antigen carrier platform for conserved influenza viral epitopes   Reingard Grabherr Miriam Klausberger
Directed evolution of CHO host and production cell lines   Johannes Grillari Eva Harreither
MicroRNOMics of CHO host and production cell lines   Johannes Grillari Vaibhav Jadhav
Influence of surface curvature on unfolding of proteins on nanoparticle   Alois Jungbauer Peter Satzer
Regulation of the expression of recombinant pentameric IgMs   Renate Kunert Veronika Chromikova
Powerful expression of recombinant proteins   Renate Kunert Wolfgang Sommeregger
Influence of amino acid sequence on growth and secretion of recombinant CHO cell lines   Renate Kunert Patrick Mayrhofer
Regulation of heterologous protein production in relation to cell growth   Diethard Mattanovich Corinna Rebnegger
Interrelation of core metabolism with the production of heterologous proteins in yeast   Diethard Mattanovich Justyna Nocon
Modelling of interactions in miRNA and gene expression and target validation   Christian Obinger Smriti Shridhar
Advanced analytical strategies for investigation of alternative methanol assimilation in methylotrophic yeasts   Diethard Mattanovich Bernd Mitic
Specialized ribosomes: implications for protein synthesis, cell behaviour and health   Johannes Grillari Fabian Nagelreiter
Extracellular vesicle trafficking in aging   Johannes Grillari Vera Pils
Introduction of unnatural amino acids in recombinant proteins with the yeast Pichia pastoris   Diethard Mattanovich Nora Tir
Extracellular vesicles as tool for drug delivery   Florian Rüker Stefan Vogt
Protein-liposome conjugates as novel HIV vaccine candidates   Karola Vorauer-Uhl Ehsan Suleiman
       
Department of Chemistry      
Secondary cell wall polymer pyruvylation as an essential ligand modification for SLH-domain recognition   Christina Schäffer Cordula Stefanovic
Methylated N-glycans in moss – annoying or useful for biotechnology?   Friedrich Altmann David Stenitzer
The cancer immunotherapy antigen CD19 and its molecular interaction network   Christian Obinger Jacqueline Seigner
Allosteric molecular recognition to improve tumor specificity   Michael Traxlmayr Markus Dobersberger
Structure and Function of Hexosaminidases   Iain Wilson Zuzanna Dutkiewicz
Biochemistry of firmicute coproporphyrin ferrochelatase from Listeria monocytogenes   Christian Obinger Thomas Gabler
Enzymatic isotope−labeling of O-glycans for improved tumor biomarker analysis   Friedrich Altmann Johannes Fuehrer
Biochemistry of invertebrate peroxidasins   Christian Obinger Benjamin Sevcnikar
Developing rcSso7d-based chimeric antigen receptors   Christian Obinger Charlotte Brey
Developing rcSso7d-based inhibitory receptors for improving the specificity and safety of NKG2D-CAR-T cells   Christian Obinger Benjamin Salzer
Characterisation of unusual glycosyltransferases from lower eukaryotes   Iain Wilson Barbara Eckmair
Divergent evolution of the CDE superfamily − analysis of the structural and functional relationship between chlorite dismutases and dye-decolorizing peroxidases   Christian Obinger Vera Pfanzagl
Structural and functional characterisation of a novel bacterial peroxidase with homology to human heme peroxidases   Christian Obinger Andrea Nicolussi
Structural and functional characterization of Fcab-antigen interaction   Christian Obinger Elisabeth Lobner
Comparative structural and functional studies on chlorite dismutases and DyP-type peroxidases   Christian Obinger Irene Schaffner
Receptor specificity of the H1 hemagglutinin of the H1N1 swine−origin influenza A virus (S-OIV)   Friedrich Altmann Laura Neumann
Yeast Cell Wall Characterisation   Gunda Köllensperger Evelyn Rampler
Quantitative Metabolomics by LC–MS   Gunda Köllensperger Karin Ortmayr
Functional studies on catalase-peroxidases and design of mechanism-based inhibitors   Christian Obinger Bernhard Gasselhuber
Human peroxidasins − new multidomain oxidoreductases in the vascular system   Christian Obinger Monika Soudi
Biocatalysis of chlorite dismutation − functional and structural studies on new peculiar heme enzymes of high practical relevance for bioremediation   Christian Obinger Stefan Hofbauer
New generations of monoclonal antibodies based on the Fc-fragment of IgG1 − loop engineering and library design of immunoglobulin domains   Christian Obinger Christoph Hasenhindl
Engineering the interface of Fab fragments   Christian Obinger Sylvia Dietrich
Expression cloning of immunomodulatory glycan−modifying enzymes in insect cells   Iain Wilson Simone Kurz
Biochemistry of actinobacterial coproheme decarboxylase (ChdC) from Corynebacterium diphteriae   Christian Obinger Hanna Michlits
Structural and mechanistic studies on chlorite dismutase (Cld) from Cyanothece sp. PCC7425   Christian Obinger Daniel Schmidt
       
Department of Food Science and Technology      
Design of a minimal enzyme set for lignin depolymerization   Michael Sauer Silja Välimets
Increasing thermostability of pyranose oxidase by enzyme evolution   Dietmar Haltrich Anja Kostelac
Cytochromes as electron transfer mediators for bioelectrodes   Roland Ludwig Lorenz Schwaiger
Engineering of Cellobiose Dehydrogenase for Glucose Biosensors   Roland Ludwig Thomas Reichhart
Resolving dynamic protein conformations in multidomain enzymes with SAXS   Roland Ludwig Bettina Motycka
Routing the flow of electron from cytochromes to oxidoreductases   Roland Ludwig Franziska Schachinger
Accessory Activities 3: Novel Flavoprotein Oxidoreductase from bacterial sources   Clemens Peterbauer Ludovika Virginia
Structural characterization of Z-disk complex   Dietmar Haltrich Antonio Sponga
Development of high-throughput-screening of flavin- and heme-dependent oxidoreductases using genetically encoded redox sensors   Clemens Peterbauer Peter Herzog
Mechanism and dynamics of extracellular cellulolytic protein interactions   Roland Ludwig Christophe Laurent
Structure⁄function relationships in the electron transfer reactions of cellobiose dehydrogenase   Dietmar Haltrich Georg Schütz
Recreation of ancestral members of the GMC family of FAD-dependent oxidoreductases   Dietmar Haltrich Leander Sützl
Investigation of cellobiose dehydrogenase and lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase for application in industry   Dietmar Haltrich Marita Preims
Directed Evolution of a Beta-Galactosidase into a Transgalactosidase   Dietmar Haltrich Barbara Geiger
Probing the active site of pyranose dehydrogenase − covalent attachment of the FAD and vicinity of the isoalloxazine   Dietmar Haltrich Michael Graf
Engineering of pyranose oxidoreductases for modified oxygen reactivity   Dietmar Haltrich Iris Krondorfer
Dagmar Brugger
Establishing platforms for the production of recalcitrant proteins for functional and structural studies   Dietmar Haltrich Georg Mlynek
Engineering of a novel fungal esterase by means of directed evolution and site-directed mutagenesis   Dietmar Haltrich Daniel Kracher
Evolution and engineering of pyranose dehydrogenase for biofuel cell applications   Dietmar Haltrich Christoph Gonaus
Development of food-grade gene expression vectors in lactic acid bacteria   Dietmar Haltrich Minh Nguyen
       
Department of Material Sciences and Process Engineering      
Mechanistic synergism between bacterial pyranose oxidase and peroxidase in lignin depolymerization   Chris Oostenbrink Enikö Hermann
Thermodynamics for allosteric modulation   Chris Oostenbrink Oriol Gracia i Carmona
Changing the substrate specifity of lytic polysaccharide monooxygeanse   Chris Oostenbrink Erik Breslmayr
Modelling and simulations of glycosylated proteins   Chris Oostenbrink Aysegül Turupcu
Advanced molecular modeling tools to quantify protein-protein interactions   Chris Oostenbrink Manuela Maurer
Efficient free energy and enhanced sampling calculations of protein-protein interactions   Chris Oostenbrink Zuzana Jandova
Contribution of enthalpy and entropy in molecular association   Chris Oostenbrink Balder Lai
Structure and dynamics of cellobiose dehydrogenase and cytochrome P450   Chris Oostenbrink Gabor Nagy
       
Department of NanoBiotechnology      
Structure−function analysis of a phylum-wide conserved glycosyltransferase central to a novel protein O−glycosylation pathway   Christina Schäffer Matthias Braun
Molecular basis of pyruvylated cell wall polymer – SLH-protein interactions   Christina Schäffer Fiona Hager
Oral health: Development of genetic tools for Selenomonas sputigena to unravel mechanisms of dental plaque colonization   Christina Schäffer Susanne Bloch
Glycoprofiling of oral pathogens – identification of novel glycoproteins and impact of glycosylation on biofilm formation   Christina Schäffer Cornelia Rath
S−layer mediated display of customized glycans enabled by glycosylation engineering   Christina Schäffer Julia Anzengruber
Assembly and interaction mechanisms of S−layer glycoproteins for applications in nanobiotechnology   Paul Messner Zoe Megson
Carbohydrate−active enzymes in S−layer protein glycosylation   Paul Messner Valentin Friedrich
Biochemical and Molecular Analysis of the Cell Wall Glyco(prote)ome of Lactobacillus buchneri   Paul Messner Eva Smolar
Glycoprofiling of the oral pathogen Tannerella forsythia for identifying novel strategies in pathogenicity   Christina Schäffer Markus Tomek