17 December 2014

Carlsberg Foundation Fellowships for Center for Synthetic Biology

Carlsberg Foundation

Congratulations to the following Center for Synthetic Biology affiliated researchers who have received Postdoc and instrument grants from the Carlsberg Foundation.

Eva Knoch

Project Title:Functional genomics of flavonoid biosynthesis in rice”.

Host Institution: Kazuki Saito's group. Metabolomics Research Group at RIKEN, Yokohama, Japan

Johan Andersen-Ranberg

Project Title:Plant Sunscreen - Functional characterization of carotenoids from algae and their role in photoprotection

Abstract: Carotenoids are abundant pigments on earth and are crucial components in the photosynthetic membranes of phototrophic organisms. Aided by unique knockout mutants of plant and algal species, Professor Krishna Niyogi has generated exceptional insight into how carotenoids and other components in Photosystem (PS) II contribute to photoprotection, especially by non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). Recently Prof. Niyogi and his team have begun to investigate novel carotenoids in algae with so far unknown functions. Studies on these carotenoids in knockout mutants and in plant transient expression systems, as developed during my PhD studies, will provide insights into their function and their role in NPQ. Elucidation of the native function of these carotenoids will provide new fundamental knowledge about how plants have evolved to protect themselves from exposure to excess light and will possibly enable engineering of more robust plant species.

Host Institution:Prof. Niyogi’s Laboratory, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology University of California, Berkeley, US

Martin Cramer Pedersen


Project Title: Towards a deeper understanding of soft quasi-crystals

Host Institution: Department of Applied Mathematics, Australian National University,  Canberra, Australia

Tomas Laursen:

Gratefully declined in favor of another prestigious fellowship.





Support for instruments was awarded to Tom Vosch and Heloisa Bordallo.

Congratulations!