Announcements

Dr. Martin Koller was awarded his Ph.D. degree by Graz University of Technology, Austria, for his thesis on polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production from dairy surplus streams. This work was carried out as part of the EU-FP5 financed project, WHEYPOL (“Dairy industry waste as source for sustainable polymeric material production”), and was supervised by Gerhart Braunegg, one of the most eminent PHA pioneers. As a senior researcher, he worked on biomediated PHA production, encompassing the development of continuous and discontinuous fermentation processes and novel downstream processing techniques for sustainable PHA recovery. His research focused on cost-efficient PHA production from surplus materials using bacteria and haloarchaea and, to a minor extent, on the development of PHA for biomedical use.

Moreover, Dr. Martin Koller coordinated the EU-FP7 project ANIMPOL (“Biotechnological conversion of carbon containing wastes for eco-efficient production of high added value products”), which, in close cooperation between academia and industry, investigated the conversion of the animal processing industry´s waste streams toward structurally diversified PHA and follow-up products. In addition to PHA exploration, he was also active in microalgal research and in the biotechnological production of various marketable compounds from renewables using yeasts, chlorophyte, bacteria, archaea, fungi, and lactobacilli.

He currently holds more than 90 Web of Science listed articles in high-ranked scientific journals (h-index 40), has authored more than 20 chapters in scientific books, edited eight scientific books and seven journal Special Issues on PHA, delivered plenty of invited and plenary lectures at scientific conferences, and continues to support the editorial teams of several distinguished journals.

Now, Dr. Martin Koller is active as a research and project manager for the Institute of Chemistry at the University of Graz as a member of the university´s Research Management and Service unit. He is also a lecturer at the FH Joanneum (University of Applied Sciences, Graz) and an external supervisor for PHA-related projects.

The following is a short interview with Dr. Martin Koller:

1. What are your research areas?
   Microbial biopolyesters.

2. What are the latest developments in your research field?
   Biopolyester production from ethically clear resources (waste materials); novel fermentation regimes; new, robust production strains (Next Generation Industrial Biotechnology).

3. Do you have any valuable suggestions you would like to share with young students and early career researchers?
   Stay curious!

4. What do you think of the development of Open Access in publishing?
   Personally, I am fully committed to Open Access publishing; however, in my opinion, fees are often too high, also for not exceptionally high-ranked journals.

We are thankful for Dr. Martin Koller’s time and his support for Bioengineering.