Chang Ding

Dr. Chang Ding is a Group Leader in the Department of Molecular Environmental Biotechnology at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany. He holds a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the National University of Singapore (2014) and a Bachelor of Engineering in Environmental Science from Tsinghua University, China (2008). His career includes postdoctoral research at the National University of Singapore (2014–2015), a Humboldt Research Fellowship at UFZ (2015–2018), and a Scientist role at UFZ (2018–2023) before assuming his current leadership position.

Ding's research focuses on anaerobic microbial processes critical to environmental sustainability, including:

• Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and nitrogen cycle innovations
• Energy-efficient wastewater treatment with resource recovery
• Transformation pathways of trace organic contaminants in engineered ecosystems
• Development of automated bioreactor systems and proteomic methodologies (e.g., metaproteomics, protein stable isotope probing)

His recent publications emphasize microbial detoxification mechanisms for pollutants like antibiotics, halogenated compounds, and artificial sweeteners, often leveraging cutting-edge techniques in genomics, enzymology, and reactor engineering. Articles consistently explore bioremediation strategies for wastewater and contaminated environments, with frequent collaborations across European and Asian institutions.

Awards & Honors:

• Humboldt Research Fellowship (2015–2018)

He leads the Anoxic Microbial Transformation group and contributes to EU-funded projects (e.g., RESPIMMOX, CLEANER) investigating anammox bacteria and micropollutant removal. Ding also develops open-source scientific tools, including a Raspberry Pi-based bioreactor control system and computational pipelines for protein stable isotope probing.