Today, the duties of the director of the International Center for Research on Innovative Biobased Materials (ICRI-BioM), embedded in the structure of our University, the only International Research Agenda in Łódź, have been assumed by Professor Alexander Steinbüchel. He obtained this function by winning an international competition announced, among others, in Nature and Euraxess.
Before taking up the challenge to developing our Center, Professor Steinbüchel worked at the University of Münster and King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). In 1983 he obtained his doctorate at the University of Göttingen and in 1991 he obtained his habilitation from the same university. He completed a one-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Rokefeller University in New York. The Professor's research interests are focused on molecular microbiology and biotechnology. He used these fields to explore the processes related to the production of biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoates, biosynthesis and biotechnological production of polyamides, and the biodegradation of natural rubber and chemosynthetic polymers. He is currently continuing this topic in cooperation with the industry. During his extremely fruitful scientific career, he held a number of positions, including dean of the Faculty of Biology at his home university. He is the editor-in-chief of two scientific journals (Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, and AMB Express) and the Microbiology Monographs book series published by Springer since 2006. The Hirsch index of the Professor's publications is 77 and the number of citations exceeds 23,000.
Welcoming Professor Steinbüchel to the University, we wish him many successes in the development of our Center.
