Julia Vorholt-Zambelli
Professor
Department of Biology, ETH Zürich Institut für Mikrobiologie
Biography
Prof. Dr. Julia Vorholt is Full Professor at the Department of Biology, ETH Zurich, and Co-Director of the Swiss NCCR Microbiomes. She studied biology at the Universities of Bonn and Marburg and earned her PhD on methanogenesis biochemistry under R. K. Thauer at the Max-Planck-Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology. After postdoctoral research with M. E. Lidstrom in Seattle, she established a group on methylotrophic bacteria at MPI Marburg. From 2001–2006, she led a CNRS group in Toulouse, pioneering research on plant microbiomes. Joining ETH Zurich in 2006, she became Full Professor in 2012 and served as Director of Studies from 2020–2022. Vorholt is an elected member of EMBO, Leopoldina, and the US National Academy of Sciences. Her honors include two ERC Advanced Grants, the Otto-Hahn and Feodor-Lynen Medals, and the 2025 Novonesis Biotechnology Prize.
