Career in academia: Jörg Overmann transfers from Braunschweig to Munich to become scientific chair holder at LMU

Career in academia: Jörg Overmann transfers from Braunschweig to Munich to become scientific chair holder at LMU and full-time Director General

BRAUNSCHWEIG/BRUNSWICK, LOWER SAXONY AREA, GERMANY, July 24, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Prof. Dr. Jörg Overmann has been Scientific Director of the Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH in Braunschweig since February 2010. Founded in 1969, the Leibniz Institute DSMZ is the most diverse collection of biological resources in the world and is located on the Braunschweig-Süd Science Campus. From 1 August 2025, the renowned microbiologist will be working in Munich, where he will be appointed professor of molecular biodiversity research at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and take on the newly created position of full-time Director General of all State Museums and Collections in Bavaria. Concurrent to his position at the DSMZ, Jörg Overmann was a professor of microbiology at the Technical University of Braunschweig. Over the past 15 years, the scientist expanded the DSMZ with 5 departments including the research department for microbial ecology and diversity research, which he headed, and initiated the comprehensive digitalisation of the institute´s informative resources. Overmann's extensive scientific work has been particularly dedicated to the biological diversity of microorganisms and ranges from deep-sea bacteria and their role in the carbon cycle to the influence of bacterial communities on plant roots, amphibia and fishes.

Biological and digital diversity at the DSMZ
In addition to microorganism research, the DSMZ is dedicated to the important task of collecting and cultivating biological resources and making them globally accessible for both academic research and economic development. Jörg Overmann has repeatedly succeeded at facilitating growth within previously uncultivable bacterial species under laboratory conditions at the DSMZ, making them available for research for the first time worldwide. In doing so, he embodied the mission of the Leibniz Institute headed by him. Concurrently, the DSMZ also established the BacDive database (https://bacdive.dsmz.de), which is the world's only public resource with standardised and quality-controlled phenotypic data on virtually all known bacterial species. Since 2023, additional state and province funding has also allowed the DSMZ to integrate ten established databases into a globally unique comprehensive information platform (https://hub.dsmz.de/#/) for the digital diversity of biological resources. Herein, new innovative web services are being developed and existing ones improved for the global scientific community to advance research through free access to high-quality data.

Biology studies in Bochum and Freiburg
Jörg Overmann was born in Hattingen in 1961, studied biology with a focus on microbiology at the Universities of Bochum and Freiburg, received his doctorate in microbiology from the University of Konstanz in 1991, and was awarded the doctoral prize of the Vereinigung für Allgemeine und Angewandte Mikrobiologie (VAAM) for his doctoral thesis on the site-specific adaptation of sulphur bacteria. This was followed by scientific positions as a postdoctoral fellow (DFG scholarship holder) in Vancouver, Canada, as a research assistant at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, where he habilitated in 1999. In 2000, he became professor of microbiology at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and later head of the LMU Department of Biology I with the sections Microbiology, Genetics, botany, biodiversity and biology didactics. Jörg Overmann has published his research findings through 379 articles in international journals so far.

Diverse commitment to the scientific landscape
Jörg Overmann's diverse involvement in the national and international scientific landscape has included appointments to the Standing Committee on Fundamental Biodiversity Issues of the German Research Foundation, the DFG Committee for Scientific Libraries and Infrastructures, the Health Research Forum, the BioKreativ Expert Commission of the BMFTR, and the Council of Scientists of the Human Frontier Science Programme Organisation in Strasbourg (France). In the Leibniz Association, he served as spokesperson for Section C/Life Sciences, as a member of the presidium, and as Presidium Commissioner for Ethics in Research. At the German Centre for Infection Research, he was coordinator of the pathogen bank for many years. He also serves on supervisory boards and scientific advisory boards of national and international institutions and is an ambassador for the International Society for Microbial Ecology.

Science award for outstanding commitment
On 23 November 2022, Jörg Overmann received the Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft's "Research in Responsibility" science award, worth 50.000 euros, on the recommendation of the Leibniz Association for outstanding overall achievements by researchers that are characterised by particular social relevance and good applicability. The award recognises his scientific work on the biodiversity of microorganisms and his commitment to a fair balance of interests in the scientific and economic use of biological diversity worldwide. Further information on the scientific profile of Prof. Dr. Jörg Overmann can be found at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joerg-Overmann.

Press contact:
PhDr. Sven-David Müller, Head of Public Relations, Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH
Mail: sdm18@dsmz.de

About the Leibniz Institute DSMZ
The Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures is the world's most diverse collection of biological resources (bacteria, archaea, protists, yeasts, fungi, bacteriophages, plant viruses, genomic bacterial DNA as well as human and animal cell lines). Microorganisms and cell cultures are collected, investigated and archived at the DSMZ. As an institution of the Leibniz Association, the DSMZ with its extensive scientific services and biological resources has been a global partner for research, science and industry since 1969. The DSMZ was the first registered collection in Europe (Regulation (EU) No. 511/2014) and is certified according to the quality standard ISO 9001:2015. As a patent depository, it offers the only possibility in Germany to deposit biological material in accordance with the requirements of the Budapest Treaty. In addition to scientific services, research is the second pillar of the DSMZ. The institute, located on the Science Campus Braunschweig-Süd, accommodates more than 91,000 bioresources and has almost 230 employees. www.dsmz.de

PhDr. Sven David Mueller, M.Sc.
Leibniz-Institut DSMZ
+49 4953 12616300
email us here
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube
X
Other