Ilka Bischofs-Pfeifer

Dr. Ilka Bischofs-Pfeifer leads the Research Group 'Complex Adaptive Traits (CATs)' at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg and is affiliated with the BioQuant Zentrum at the University of Heidelberg. Her work focuses on bacterial stress responses, sporulation, and population dynamics in beneficial Bacilli.

• Education: PhD in Theoretical Physics (2004, University of Potsdam)
• Key Positions: Emmy Noether Research Group Leader (2010), ERC Starting Grant Principal Investigator (2011)

Her research explores how gene regulatory networks control complex adaptive traits in bacteria, particularly in Bacillus subtilis. Key projects include studying spore quality-quantity tradeoffs, peptide-based signaling networks, and stress-associated phenomena like methane formation via reactive oxygen species. She combines microscopy, molecular microbiology, and synthetic biology to engineer 'smart' CATs for future biotechnical applications.

Recent publications highlight interdisciplinary work on methane production, sporulation strategies, and ratiometric sensing systems. Her group's findings bridge molecular mechanisms with population-level behavior in Gram-positive bacteria.

Scientific Awards

• Emmy Noether Fellowship (2010)
• ERC Starting Grant (2011)

Her lab supervises doctoral and master's students while collaborating on stress-response studies with relevance to human health and environmental science. The group maintains facilities at the BioQuant Zentrum in Heidelberg.