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News
Bruno, Greta und Nahja in Greifswald at the CONCENTRATE Kick-Off Meeting
Bruno, Greta and Nahja attended the CONCENTRATE kick-off meeting in Greifswald. All projects were presented here, and participants had the opportunity to get to know each other during the many interesting sessions and coffee breaks. The transregional project pursues the following goal: to understand the molecular and microbial processes that contribute to the stabilization of glycans (sugars) in the ocean. In an interdisciplinary approach, the research team combines laboratory experiments with measurements in natural marine habitats. The focus is on the interactions between algae, bacteria, fungi, their glycans, and proteins, which are investigated down to atomic resolution in the ?ngstr?m range (length scales of about 0.1 to 1 nanometer, i.e., 0.1 to 1 billionth of a meter).
The next meeting will take place at the University of Bremen. We are looking forward to it!
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AG Reintjes wins three Teaching Excellence Awards at the MarMic Retreat
At this year's MarMic retreat at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, our group received several awards: Greta received first prize for her presentation on sugar degradation by marine, selfish bacteria and second prize for the best tutorial in the grant writing workshop. Laura, Mahum, and Nahja won prizes for the laboratory practical they designed and conducted.
Laura wins the North German Science Slam Championship
Laura won the North German Science Slam Championship on October 22, 2025. This means she will advance to the finals in Düsseldorf, where she will once again attempt to convince the audience of the existence of selfish marine bacteria on November 15, 2025.
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Laura shows videos about her research cruise on “TheSaltyCell.”
While Laura is on her research cruise on the Ostsee, she records short videos on how life is on board a reseachvessel. You can watch them on Nahja's Instagram channel “TheSaltyCell.”
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Laura & Nahja at "Science Goes PUBlic"
On October 16, Laura and Nahja were at the Rüssel in Bremerhaven to talk about their research. The “Science Goes PUBlic” format brings original topics from the world of research to selected pubs and bars in Bremerhaven and Bremen. Each event lasts only 30 minutes and is different every time. Afterwards, there is time for questions and discussions with our scientists.
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34. Meeresumweltsymposium in Hamburg
Laura's first conference presentation
Our doctoral student Laura Pareigis was invited to the Marine Environment Symposium as a science slammer. This event brings together many experts in environmental research. Topics included wind farm technology, natural marine and climate protection, regulations for nature reserves, and ammunition disposal. Does a lecture on marine microbiology fit in here? Of course! We are also investigating a small part of the global carbon cycle and want to understand how selfish bacteria are related to the climate. The Science Slam marked the end of the two-day symposium.
MiCarb at the Ocean Floor Symposium 2025
In September, the third Ocean Floor Symposium took place with the theme “Transport, Transformation, and Preservation of Organic Matter: From Ocean Surface Waters to the Seafloor.” Researchers from Germany and abroad discussed processes such as the transformation of organic matter in water bodies, lateral transport from the continental shelf to the deep sea, and modeling of carbon fluxes. This year's Ocean Floor Symposium took place in the new Marum building on the campus of the University of Bremen. Greta gave a presentation titled “Competitive Strategies in Oceanic Carbon Cycling: Selfish, Sharing, and Scavenging Bacteria,” and Nahja and Oliwia had posters about their master's theses.
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Start-Up of Dr. Greta Reintjes
In addition to her research, Greta Reintjes is the founder of a start-up that is currently being funded by the MAX!mise program of Max Planck Innovation. The company is revolutionizing the filtration market with a novel filtration device and smart filters. These make filtration easier, standardized, and sustainable—thanks to reusable units. Areas of application include science, environmental monitoring, and industry (drinking water, groundwater, wastewater).
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Nahja aka. The Salty Cell goes live!
Nahja Busse launched her science communication channel on Instagram. Here she explains topics in marine microbiology with humor and entertainment value. You can find her as “TheSaltyCell”!
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Between wind turbines and oyster reefs
Research expedition on the North Sea June/July 2025
The FS Heincke of the Alfred Wegener Institute was home to our doctoral student Laura Pareigis and bachelor's student Gregor W?hle for 2.5 weeks. Both took part in an expedition on the North Sea, where they took samples for DNA analysis of bacteria and investigated the sugar uptake mechanisms of the local bacterial community at three different locations in the North Sea. The voyage went from Bremerhaven to the coast of Borkum, where samples were taken during the first week. Other researchers examined the oyster beds between wind farms. They even had too avoid a storm in the Jadebusen bay near Wilhelmshaven before the voyage continued to Helgoland. There, our two interns, Mieke Kaiser and Lucie Lemke, came on board. The last stop was the Sylt outer reef. With boxes full of samples and new impressions, the research trip ended a day earlier than planned. We were too efficient!
Explorer Day in our laboratories
As part of the "Kinder Uni" (Children's University), children were able to discover the secret life of marine microbes in the event Discovery Tours with Dr. Greta Reintjes and Dr. Christina Roggatz. They conducted experiments in the laboratory, observed microbes under the microscope, and learned about the role these tiny organisms play in the ocean.
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A life between the lab and the stage
The article about the science slams by our doctoral student Laura Pareigis
During the day she conducts research, and in the evening she presents her findings to an interested audience. How Laura Pareigis came to Science Slam and what this format has to offer you can read here:
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Procaryotes under pressure
Research expedition North Atlantic 2024
In May 2024, our colleague Laura Pareigis spent three weeks aboard the research vessel Atlantic Explorer. The team consisted of cooperation partners from various American and Danish universities. Their goal was to investigate enzymatic sugar degradation in the Atlantic Ocean. The research expedition was themed “Prokaryotes under pressure.” In particular, they investigated how sugar degradation occurs in the deep sea and under pressure. During this expedition, Laura took samples for our research in Bremen and established contacts with many researchers. Between 4.5-meter-high waves in the North Atlantic, card games, and many hours of sample processing at 4°C, new insights and acquaintances were made.