Back this week from my visit to China, three weeks of inspiring scientific discussion, cultural exchange and of course great food (I've gained >4 kg 😳). Super grateful to my hosts including Lichao Fan, Huadong Zang, Fan Ding, Jie Zhou, Luo Yu, Weichao Wu, Tida Ge.

Density-dependent feedback and higher-order interactions enable coexistence in phage-bacteria community dynamics Abstract. Diverse phage-bacteria communities coexist at high densities in environmental, agricultural, and human-associated microbiomes. Phage-bacteria coe

🚨NEW PAPER @isme-microbes.bsky.social on phage-bacteria dynamics. Collab between us and @joshuasweitz.bsky.social labs. "Density-dependent feedback and higher-order interactions enable coexistence in phage-bacteria community dynamics". 👉 doi.org/10.1093/isme...

Quit ChatGPT: right now! Your subscription is bankrolling authoritarianism | Rutger Bregman As a historian, I’ve studied the major consumer boycotts of history. We can take down ChatGPT and send a powerful signal to Silicon Valley, says author and historian Rutger Bregman

Strong reason to #QuitGPT
(just as I was warming to AI - but at least there are many alternatives) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Interactions between polypropylene microplastics and emerging contaminants increase soil respiration and alter microbial community structure Emerging contaminants (ECs) are increasingly detected in terrestrial environments, where they can adversely affect soil ecosystems. Biodegradable ECs …

New paper alert! With Ciska Veen @ciskaveen.bsky.social , Lama Ramadan, Esmer Jongedijk et al.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The science is clear. The stakes are real.

AGU condemns the repeal of the EPA Endangerment Finding — a decision that rejects the overwhelming evidence and undermines climate accountability.

We will continue to defend science and advocate for evidence-based policy.

buff.ly/wX1BQ2t

The project will be co-supervised by Maire Holz and myself @zalf.bsky.social as part of @bexplo.bsky.social.

You will spend time in the greenhouse and the lab as well as in data synthesis and conceptual thinking.

jobs.zalf.de/jobposting/a...

Great CMFI symposium today with Kirsten Küsel @kuesellab.bsky.social and many cross-cutting discussions of groundwater, soil & health. Thanks to @cmfi.bsky.social for the invitation

We have an open position for a bioinformatics/theoretical microbial ecology PhD student to study viral strategies in the global Microverse! Join us at the @microverse.bsky.social at @uni-jena.de, please apply through this link:
jobs.uni-jena.de/jobposting/9...

My colleague Christian Poll offers a PhD position in our group at University of Hohenheim, we would be glad if you share this opportunity with potential candidates. His project EcoFuture KAP4 is an interesting collaborative project with University of Tübingen. dbges.de/assets/Uploa...

Arjen Lubach, a Dutch comedian, wearing a white chortle and a dark tie, putting on a red cap with white letters NAAGGA, meant to look like a MAGA cap worn by Trump supporters. More red caps on the desk.

Brilliant idea by @arjenlubach.bsky.social:
The NAAGGA hat.
‘Naagga’ means ‘No’ in Greenlandic.
Sold out already!

lubach.shop/product/naag...

It’s EGU abstact time! Welcoming submissions in “Microbial metabolism and turnover in soil: new insights into C cycling and soil function”, with keynote @michaeladippold.bsky.social and convenors @katerinageorgiou.bsky.social and Sergey Blagodatsky. Deadline Thu 13:00 CET www.egu26.eu/session/56566

New publication alert - Pushing the envelope on isotope labelling approaches in SOC tracing, with Tida Ge and colleagues www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Our #EGU26 session “Microbial metabolism and turnover in soil: new insights into C cycling and soil function” is welcoming abstracts: Support deadline on Mon!

with S. Blagodatsky & @katerinageorgiou.bsky.social & keynote @michaeladippold.bsky.social

meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU26/sessio...

Welcome! You are invited to join the global launch of the Earth Rover Program and the release of our inaugural report, which explores how a new scientific concept, ‘soilsmology’, is shaking up our und... We are delighted to invite you to the global launch of the Earth Rover Program and the release of our inaugural report, ‘Soilsmology: Transforming our Understanding of Soil’, which explores how an eme...

Do please join me on World Soil Day, 5 December, 2pm GMT, for the global launch of the most exciting thing I’ve ever been involved with:
The Earth Rover Program, developing a new scientific approach which will massively enhance our understanding of #soil.
Register: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

China’s CO2 emissions have been flat or falling for past 18 months, analysis finds World’s biggest polluter on track to hit peak emissions target early but miss goal for cutting carbon intensity

At last a little bit of good #climate news
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

Next #job hire: Our own PhD position within #MultiStress to be funded as KAAD scholarship @unituebingen.bsky.social is out: You're East African scholar interested in #maize #root & #rhizosphere traits +their response to #biotic & #abiotic stress? Ready to perform work in #Germany & #Kenya? APPLY NOW

PhD position - Ecological, Molecular and Genetic Aspects of Nematode-phage Hitchhiking

Great PhD opportunity to discover how phages disperse with nematodes through soil. Applications close next week! An exciting project extending Lisa van Sluijs @w-u-r.bsky.social and our work on phage hitchhiking doi.org/10.1016/j.so...

Wow, US govt. agencies not even pretending at apolitical status anymore

Keen to come from China to Tübingen for a PhD? The 2026 CSC-Tübingen PhD scholarship call is open, including an opportunity to join our team to investigate soil phage ecology in synthetic communities uni-tuebingen.de/de/114003

JOB ALERT! We are looking for a LAB MANAGER (7-year position!) to help us build the MOLECULAR BIODIVERSITY lab in our @terra-cluster.org at @unituebingen.bsky.social. Are you a NGS wet lab expert, and you like the idea of supporting research on natural biodiversity, then apply!

Please re-post!

An upland landscape in Scotland with trees and open areas.

PhD opportunity with me at University of Edinburgh linked with Forest Research, funded by E5 DTP.

On the microbial mechanisms of soil carbon cycling in tree-planted upland soils. Apply before 14th Dec. Please share with your network.

Pic: one of our Scottish sites.

e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...

Last week was filled with amazing discussions about our TERRA excellence cluster - including an intense planning workshop for the Diversitorium, a unique experimental platform to investigate geo-biosphere interactions in the field, greenhouse and lab.

Job Alert! We're hiring a BIOINFORMATICIAN / NGS SPECIALIST to support our new Molecular Biodiversity Lab in the @terra-cluster.org at @unituebingen.bsky.social. Like the idea to use your skills for understanding biodiversity? To work on diverse questions in a wonderful place? Apply!
Please repost!

Use your chance to join the #TERRA team @unituebingen.bsky.social: 7-year position waiting for sbd. to advance #bioinformatic analysis in the context of bio-geo-diversity relations. Tübingen itself is a convincing reason, but our amazing #cluster team even more. We look forward to your application!

Our Fast and Phageous team this morning at the start of the Tübingen #ErbeLauf

Today wraps up our week at #DBG2025!

Great! We look forward to your application!

This is part of our second-phase project in the SoilSystems Priority Program, in which we will investigate microbial cooperation in soil: soilsystems.net/projects-par...

We are hiring! On the search for an ambitious post-doc with hot skills in metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and bioinformatics to join our EcoEnergeticS project with
@michaeladippold.bsky.social

Find the ad here: uni-tuebingen.de/zh/266340

This is part of our second-phase project in the SoilSystems Priority Program, in which we will investigate microbial cooperation in soil: soilsystems.net/projects-par...