about me

I'm currently a Postdoctoral Research at the Microbial Systems Ecology Group at ETH Zürich and a Walter Benjamin Fellow funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). My research focuses on microbial community dynamics, functional redundancy, bacterial interactions and synthetic bacterial community models (SynComs).

My background combines biophysics and microbiology, with both experimental and computational work on microbial interactions and bacterial community ecology. I hold a PhD in Microbiology from LMU Munich, where I investigated synthetic gut communities and the microbiome's role in colonization resistance against enteropathogens in the group of Prof. Dr. Stecher.

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Education & Research Experience

Since 06/2025: Walter Benjamin Fellow – Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)
Since 04/2025: Lecturer, ETH Zürich – Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering
Since 06/2023: Postdoctoral Researcher, Microbial Systems Ecology Group, Department of Environmental Microbiology, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), ETH Zürich
Main Project: Elucidating the effects of functional redundancy and bacterial interaction networks on functional stability of microbial communities
2019–2023: PhD Microbiology, LMU Munich – summa cum laude
Thesis: Ecology of a Synthetic Gut Bacterial Community
2016–2018: M.Sc. Physics & Biophysics, LMU Munich
Thesis: Influence of Delay in Toxin Expression on Two-Strain Bacterial Competition in Escherichia coli
2012–2016: B.Sc. Physics, LMU Munich
Thesis: Quantum Confinement in Ligand-Stabilized Organometall Iodide Perovskite Nanocrystals

Selected Publications

Weiss AS et al. (2024). "Cell Systems Voices: How can concepts from ecology enable insights about cellular communities?" Cell Systems. DOI
Weiss AS et al. (2023). "Nutritional and host environments determine community ecology and keystone species in a synthetic gut bacterial community." Nature Communications. DOI
Weiss AS et al. (2021). "In vitro interaction network of a synthetic gut bacterial community" ISME J. DOI
Weiss AS et al. (2020). "Dynamics of ColicinE2 production and release determine the competitive success of a toxin-producing bacterial population" Scientific Reports. DOI

See metrics and the full list on Google Scholar

Awards & Honors

2024 – Dr. Hildegard and Heinrich Fuchs Award, PhD Award of the Medical Faculty of the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich (LMU)
2024 – PhD Award of the Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM), Germany
2023 – PhD Thesis awarded with summa cum laude, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich (LMU)
2022 – NK & Irene Cheung Family Scholarship, Keystone Symposia
2022 – EMBO Travel Grant, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBL)
2022 – Seeon Conference Poster Award, German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology (DGHM), Germany

Teaching & Supervision

Elective course for Master and PhD Students, Experimental Microfluidics, ETH Zürich.
Bachelor Course, Practical course in Microbiology for Environmental Science, ETH Zürich.
Co-Supervision of PhD Students, Microbial Systems Ecology Group, ETH Zürich.
Bachelor Course, Practical course in Microbiology for Environmental Science, ETH Zürich.
Supervised BSc and MSc students at ETH Zürich and LMU Munich
Supervision of Master Course, Practical course : Animal Models, Microbiota and Pathogens, LMU Munich.

Academic and Institutional Service

Peer reviewer for: Science, Nature Communications, ISME Journal, ISME Communications, npj and others
Conference organization: Core organization team for MEEhubs2026, a hubbased conference on microbial ecology and evolution.
Postdoc representative at the Institute for Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics (IBP), ETH Zürich.