German research institute specializing in fungal infection biology, natural product discovery, and microbial biotechnology with strong EU consortium experience.
Leibniz-HKI is a German research institute specializing in natural product chemistry and infection biology, with deep expertise in fungal pathogens and their interactions with hosts and microbial communities. They discover and characterize bioactive natural compounds produced by microorganisms, study how fungi cause disease in humans, and develop new approaches to diagnose and treat fungal infections. Their work spans from fundamental microbiology — understanding bacterial-fungal interactions and microbial electrochemistry — to applied research on gut microbiome engineering, antimicrobial compounds, and sustainable bio-based materials.
Core focus across OPATHY (pathogenic yeast diagnostics), FunHoMic (fungus-host-microbiota interplay), HDM-FUN (host-directed therapy for invasive fungal infection), and FUNBIT (fungal-bacterial interplay).
MORPHEUS focuses on natural products, bioorganic chemistry, and biosynthesis; e-MICROBe on microbial electrochemistry for new bioproductions.
BestTreat developed gut microbiome engineering tools using metagenomics and metatranscriptomics; FunHoMic studied microbiota interactions with omics technologies.
e-MICROBe (their largest ERC grant at EUR 2M) investigates extracellular electron transfer and electro-respiration for novel bioproduction pathways.
FUNBIT and FUNBIOSIS both investigated interspecies communication and symbiotic relationships between fungi and bacteria.
UPLIFT (2021-2025) applies their enzyme expertise to upcycling plastics for food packaging — a departure from their infection biology core.
In their early H2020 period (2015-2018), HKI focused on fundamental microbial interactions — fungal-bacterial symbiosis, omics-based diagnostics, and gut microbiome engineering with tools like metagenomics and metatranscriptomics. From 2019 onward, their work sharpened toward two distinct poles: applied medical mycology (host-directed antifungal therapies, immunology of candidiasis and aspergillosis) and bio-based chemistry (natural product biosynthesis, microbial electrochemistry, plastic upcycling). The shift suggests a maturing institute that moved from broad exploration of microbial communities toward translational applications in both medicine and green chemistry.
HKI is converging on translational infection biology and microbial biotechnology, making them a strong partner for projects bridging fundamental microbiology with clinical or industrial applications.
HKI balances leadership and partnership nearly equally — they coordinated 4 of 9 projects, including their largest (e-MICROBe, ERC-COG). Their consortia are moderately sized, and with 62 unique partners across 19 countries they clearly function as a well-connected hub rather than a closed shop. This signals an institute comfortable both driving research agendas and contributing specialist expertise to larger teams.
HKI has collaborated with 62 distinct partners across 19 countries, indicating a broad European network with no narrow geographic bias. Their MSCA training networks and multi-partner RIA projects suggest strong ties to both academic and clinical research communities.
HKI sits at a rare intersection: they combine world-class fungal infection biology with natural product discovery and microbial biotechnology under one roof. Few European institutes can offer both the pathogen expertise (from diagnostics to host-directed therapy) and the chemistry capabilities (biosynthesis, metabolomics, microbial electrochemistry) needed for projects spanning infection biology and bio-based innovation. Their Jena base places them in Germany's strong life sciences corridor, with Leibniz Association backing that ensures long-term institutional stability.
