“Biology today is a Big Data science”

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LMU’s Faculty of Biology is celebrating its 50th anniversary and, concurrently, the Biocenter can look back on 20 years of interdisciplinary research. During this time, biology has come a long way in both technologies and methods. Particularly the advent of Big Data and AI has opened up new opportunities for research in biology. In this interview, Professor Herwig Stibor talks about these changes and the future challenges for research and teaching.

As you arrive at this anniversary, what makes your faculty special?

We are certainly one of the largest and most diverse biology faculties in the country and in Europe. We offer the entire spectrum of biological disciplines and all the subjects that make up modern biology, from A for anthropology to Z for zoology. Despite this wide scope, we still have enough critical mass in each field to acquire and conduct large research projects such as Collaborative Research Centers. On the website of the German Research Foundation (DFG), we are listed as one of the faculties with the highest level of third-party funding for biology in Germany, which underlines our success in this area.

Another key feature is our strong interconnectivity. Biology is closely connected with other disciplines like chemistry, geosciences, medicine, and physics. These links extend beyond the university to non-university institutions such as the Max Planck and Helmholtz Institutes. Such collaborations allow us to think outside the box and foster interdisciplinary research at a high level.

Biology has changed a lot in recent decades. Which developments do you think have particularly shaped the subject?

The discipline has undergone significant evolution in terms of both technologies and methods. On the one hand, our methods are constantly undergoing continuous improvement, and on the other, there are always disruptive developments coming along that open up completely new possibilities, such as the CRISPR genetic scissors.

At the same time, biology today is a Big Data science. Fifty years ago, the possibilities were often limited because the available data was limited. Today, the volumes of data we generate through microscopy, sequencing, or imaging are enormous. The bottleneck is no longer the gathering of the data, but the storing and processing of this information. Indeed, data management, storage capacity, and data analysis are the key challenges today. As a result, biologists increasingly need mathematical and computer-based skills. AI, too, is becoming ever more important. The combination of cutting-edge microscopy, AI, and modern computation opens up possibilities that were unimaginable 20-30 years ago. For fields like protein structure analysis and protein folding, for example, AI is a very important tool. Computations that used to take years can now be done in a very short time.

The founding of the Biocenter was an important milestone for the faculty. What advantages did the Biocenter bring to the faculty?

The Biocenter brought together all of the disciplines that were previously spread all over Munich. Today, scientists can encounter so many others just walking through the corridors. Sharing laboratories and equipment is much easier. The physical proximity has done a great deal to advance networking within our discipline. The Biocenter gave that initial spark to many interdisciplinary projects, and synergies have been created. This not only facilitates research but also interdisciplinary teaching.

What is it that makes the faculty’s offering for students stand out?

Our students gain a uniquely broad insight into biology. In their Bachelor’s degree, they get to know the entire discipline. Our degree courses are very practice-oriented and research-focused. Master’s programs such as Human Biology, Molecular Cell Biology, Ecology, Plant Sciences, or Biochemistry and Bioinformatics then offer students the opportunity to specialize. What’s important to us is that students still have the chance to see beyond their specialization. That is why we allow them to choose up to a third of their lessons from other disciplines.

Biology is a global research field. How is internationality reflected in your faculty?

We have very diverse international links, for instance with partner universities. And our internationality can also be seen in our students. All Master’s programs are taught in English, which allows international students to access them. Over 60 percent of our Master’s students come from abroad — from more than 80 countries. The entrance exams can be sat anywhere in the world. This diversity doesn’t just enrich campus life, it also enriches the teamwork and international networks among our graduates.

Which research topics will be the focus in the coming years?

Biology is increasingly being confronted with questions that are prognostically forward looking. Big Data is everywhere — the ability to deal with huge volumes of data is becoming crucial. When we think of global climate change, for example, we want to know how ecosystems will evolve under certain scenarios. This is not just about overall ecological relationships but also about the ability of organisms to adapt at a molecular level.

Topics such as biodiversity loss or personalized medicine will also continue to grow in importance. The same goes for synthetic biology: We are now at a point where we have a good understanding of the molecular basis and are able to use it in targeted ways. The aim now is to create life forms that evolution has so far not produced — or to give them properties that don’t exist in nature to date. Of course, this also raises questions that go beyond the boundaries of biology and where ethical and social issues become important.

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Are there any current research projects you would like to highlight?

We are currently leading two large DFG research collaborations: One is a Collaborative Research Center studying how plants adapt to changes at the molecular level, with the main focus being on the mechanisms of photosynthesis. The other is a Collaborative Research Center in the field of genetics, which is examining the interaction between plants and microorganisms that play a role in nutrient supply. In addition to those, there are numerous other projects being carried out in all fields of biology.

Innovative research requires a modern infrastructure. Are you well set up in that regard?

Yes, I think our faculty has some of the most cutting-edge equipment in Germany. With our infrastructure, we cover all size ranges and are able to analyze everything from the smallest biological units such as single molecules to entire ecosystems. We have one of the best microscopy centers in Germany with the Center of Advanced Light Microscopy (CALM). It has a complete park of state-of-the-art instruments. Some of these instruments were developed right here and push the limits of what a light microscope can achieve. We have invested heavily in modern equipment like mass spectrometers and technologies for analyzing genetic data, which can be used to automatically generate and analyze large volumes of data in a short space of time. Of course, this also includes the corresponding computational capacity at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre.

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Last year, you held a number of workshops on strategic development. What were the key challenges you identified?

On the one hand, we need to modernize our technology infrastructure in a specific and targeted manner after 20 years. On the other hand, we have to secure our existing range of disciplines at the same time as strategically integrating new, forward-looking fields. We’re using new programs for appointing professors — such as through the Hightech Agenda Bavaria — to cover innovative topics like AI in biology or symbiosis research with professorships. Ideally, these new professorships will be able to serve as bridges linking different subject areas, thus creating synergies. In our new professor appointments, we also need to make sure that we have sufficient mathematical expertise in-house, since computational biology, i.e. the handling of large amounts of data, has become such an integral part of biology.

Where do you see your faculty in 10 or 20 years?

This is always a difficult question. As the saying goes, a vision without money is a hallucination. Of course we need the resources, that much is clear. We want to maintain our third-party funding strength so that, when combined with LMU’s basic funding, we are able to keep pace in an increasingly competitive environment. We will also endeavor to maintain our internationality. Our goal remains to represent the entire breadth and depth of biology at the highest level in research and teaching.