Martin Senz, born in 1982, received his diploma and subsequent master's degree in biotechnology from the TFH Berlin. From 2007 he was employed as a research assistant at the same university in the Department Biotechnology. In 2008 he started work on his doctorate at the Technical University of Berlin and completed it in 2011 in the department Applied and Molecular Microbiology on the topic “Process-technical stabilization of the probiotic lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus acidophilus”. This was followed by a postdoc period at the Technical University of Berlin, during which he coordinated various food microbiological and biotechnological research projects. Since May 2015, Dr. Senz has headed the department Bioprocess Engineering and Applied Microbiology (BEAM) and since 2020 the Research Institute for Biotechnology and Water (FIBW) at the Research and Training Institute for Brewery (VLB) in Berlin.

Focus

As head of the FIBW, a large part of his work is applied R&D through publicly funded research projects and within the framework of industrial cooperations. The focus is usually on fermentation processes and the development of corresponding products/preparations, be it to produce the microorganisms themselves (e.g. as starter cultures) or to develop defined fermentation processes for the production of (novel) foods, feed and beverages. The functionalities mediated by the microorganisms have always played a central role. This is also reflected in the research activities of the institute and is discussed in detail at the VLB Symposium on Acidic Fermented Non-Alcoholic Beverages.