Eight “Highly Cited Researchers” at CeMESS

About the researchers

David Berry is Professor of Human Microbiome Research at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, CeMESS at the University of Vienna and member of the Cluster of Excellence "Microbiomes drive Planetary Health". His research focuses on the physiology and ecology of the human microbiome and its role in host health, including in early life development, protection against pathogens, inflammation, and cancer. Berry is co-founder of the Joint Microbiome Facility of the Medical University of Vienna and University of Vienna. He has authored more than 130 papers and been invited to present at more than 80 conferences and institutes. Berry is an ERC grantee and coordinator of an FWF Research Group. 

Lucia Fuchslueger is a Junior Research Group Leader at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science and member of the ECH, University of Vienna and the Cluster of Excellence "Microbiomes drive Planetary Health". Her research explores soil biogeochemistry, focusing on how microbes influence soil carbon storage, nutrient cycling, and plant interactions in the rhizosphere. She investigates how climate change alters soil microbial communities, their activity, and physiology by analyzing carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus turnover across natural and agricultural ecosystems. More about her research can be found here. 

Thilo Hofmann is Professor of Environmental Geosciences at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Sciences, CeMESS at University of Vienna. His research focuses on the environmental impacts of emerging contaminants, including PFAS, as well as the fate of microplastics, plastic additives, and nanomaterials. Hofmann co-directs the University’s Environmental and Climate Research Hub, integrating over 70 groups across disciplines. Author of 260+ papers, he has received major awards in environmental chemistry and holds guest professorships at Duke University (USA) and Nankai University (China). More about his research can be found in this video and article.

Thomas Rattei has been Professor for In Silico Genomics since 2010 and is head of the Division of Computational Systems Biology (CUBE) at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science of the University of Vienna. Thomas Rattei’s research covers a wide spectrum of topics from bioinformatics, genome and metagenome analysis and systems biology. He has long-standing expertise in developing and applying computational methods for the interpretation of large-scale sequence information. He’s also a key researcher of the Cluster of Excellence "Microbiomes drive Planetary Health". 

Andreas Richter has been Professor of Ecosystem Science at the University of Vienna since 2011, and Head of the Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science since 2021, where he heads the Division of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research. He’s also member of the Cluster of Excellence "Microbiomes drive Planetary Health". His research focuses on soil ecology, specifically how soils respond to climate change and the feedbacks this generates for biogeochemical cycles and the global climate. In 2023, Richter received the Philippe Duchaufour Medal from the European Geosciences Union. He has been continuously listed among the Highly Cited Researchers since 2018. More about his research here.

Adrian Tett is a junior research group leader at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science in the Division of Computational Systems Biology (CUBE), University of Vienna. Their group develops and utilises computational approaches to understand the human microbiome in relation to health and disease. Beyond microbiomes of industrialized populations, Tett and their team use ancient microbial fossils and pre-industrialised populations to determine how industrialisation and lifestyle changes have dramatically and rapidly changed the co-evolved human microbiome.

Michael Wagner is Professor of Microbial Ecology at the University of Vienna and Deputy Head of the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, which he co-founded in 2019. He’s also Director of Research of the Cluster of Excellence "Microbiomes drive Planetary Health". His research focuses on nitrification, single-cell microbiology, and the microbiology of sponges and wastewater treatment plants. Together with colleagues, he discovered the Comammox bacteria, key players in the global nitrogen cycle. Wagner received the Wittgenstein Award in 2019, serves as Director of Research of the Cluster of Excellence "Microbiomes drive Planetary Health" since 2023, and became spokesperson of the Centre for Advanced Studies at the University of Vienna in 2025. He has been continuously listed among the Highly Cited Researchers since 2014. More about his research can be found here. 

Wolfgang Wanek is Professor for Physiological Ecology and Ecosystem Research at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science. He’s also member of the Cluster of Excellence "Microbiomes drive Planetary Health". His research focuses on biogeochemical cycles in plant–soil–microbe systems. Specifically, he investigates the roles of plants and soil microbes and their interactions in regulating ecosystem processes. In recent years, his work has focused, among other topics, on the interactions between the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles in terrestrial ecosystems and their responses to climate change and land use.