Ackermann, Martin, Prof. Dr.

ETH Zürich Prof. Dr. Martin Ackermann Molecular Microbial Ecology BU F07 Überlandstrasse 133 8600 Dübendorf Phone: +41 58 765 5122 E-Mail:

Martin Ackermann has an been an Associate Professor of Molecular Microbial Ecology at ETH Zurich since August, 2008. Prior to becoming an Associate Professor, he was a Swiss National Foundation (SNF) Professor at ETH Zurich since March, 2006.

Martin Ackermann was born in Schwyz, Switzerland in 1971. He studied Biology at the University of Basel and did his PhD with Urs Jenal and Steve Stearns on the evolution of aging. After his PhD he worked for two years as a postdoc with Lin Chao at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). In 2004 he joined Sebastian Bonhoeffer's group at ETH Zurich.

Martin Ackermann's group uses experimental evolution with bacteria to investigate fundamental questions about evolutionary biology. The main focus is on phenotypic variation - phenotypic differences between individuals with or without underlying genetic differences. The group investigates how selection acts on the mechanisms that control the level of phenotypic variation, and how the level of phenotypic variation can influence the course of evolution. A second area of research is the evolutionary origin of aging. Experiments with bacteria are used together with theoretical models to investigate when and why aging originated in the history of life.