Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Michael Schloter
Director of the Research Unit for Comparative Microbiome Analysis"Environmental- and human health are interlinked as acknowledged by the “Planetary Health” concept. Thus, improving environmental quality means prevention of diseases. The crosstalk of environmental microbiota with our microbiome plays a key role in this respect."
"Environmental- and human health are interlinked as acknowledged by the “Planetary Health” concept. Thus, improving environmental quality means prevention of diseases. The crosstalk of environmental microbiota with our microbiome plays a key role in this respect."
Academic Pathway
Michael Schloter is a microbiologist by heart. Already during his diploma studies and his PhD, which he did at the LMU in Munich and the University of Bayreuth respectively, he was fascinated by the unbelievable diversity of microorganisms and their possibilities to adapt also to conditions which have been considered as hostile for life. After finishing his PhD, he joint research groups in Brazil and US, where he identified microbes, which support plant growth under the presence of abiotic and biotic stressors and developed strategies to implement those microbiota into agricultural management as bioinocula. This concept of using the functional potential of microbiota to support the health and performance of Eukaryotes motivated him since that time and stimulated his research.
Back in Germany he got employed the GSF – National Research in 2001 where he became a group leader focusing on soil microbial ecology and further sharpened the idea of using microbiota to improve the sustainability of agriculture. In 2007 he finished his habilitation and became Professor for Microbiology at the TU Munich in 2010. In 2011 Helmholtz Munich offered him the position as a director of the Research Unit for Comparative Microbiome Analysis. Since that time he broadened his research to other microbe – host systems, with a focal point of the human microbiome and its link to human health. As a result of his research he became PI of the German Center for Lung diseases (DZL) as well as the Central for Food and Nutrition (ZIEL) at the TU Munich.
Michael Schloter received numerous honors. From 2019 – 2021 he was amongst the 1 % most cited scientists worldwide. In 2021 he became member of the Bavarian Academy of Science.
His vision is to define strategies how to improve the use of the functional potential of microbiomes associated to humans to improve our health and to reduce the burden of Environmental Diseases like allergies and infections. To do so Michael is part of national and international coordinated actions and consortia, which aim to promote microbiome research and to set standards for analysis.
Work and Expertise
Professional Background
Principle investigator at German Center for Lung Diseases (DZL)
Director Research Unit for Comparative Microbiome Analysis
Professor for Microbiology at TU Munich
Honors and Awards

Member of the Bavaria Academy of Science

Amongst the 1 % of highly cited researchers worldwide

Heinrich Baur Research Award
Publications
Read more2022 Review in People and Nature
Creating ecologically sound buildings by integrating ecology, architecture and computational design.
2022 Review in Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science
Soil water status shapes nutrient cycling in agroecosystems from micrometer to landscape scales.
2022 Scientific Article in Nature ecology & evolution
The supply of multiple ecosystem services requires biodiversity across spatial scales.
2022 Scientific Article in Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science
Biocrusts: Overlooked hotspots of managed soils in mesic environments.
2022 Scientific Article in Environmental Pollution
Exudates from Miscanthus x giganteus change the response of a root-associated Pseudomonas putida strain towards heavy metals.
2022 Scientific Article in Archives of Microbiology
Rhodococcus pseudokoreensis sp. nov. isolated from the rhizosphere of young M26 apple rootstocks.
2022 Scientific Article in Frontiers in Environmental Science
Microplastics in soil induce a new microbial habitat, with consequences for bulk soil microbiomes.
2022 Scientific Article in Biology and Fertility of Soils