Biosketch

Prof Florian Bauer

I studied in France (Paris and Bordeaux) and obtained my Ph.D. at the University of Bordeaux in 1992 in the field of Cellular and Molecular Biology, receiving the highest accolade for this degree in the French system.

After working on fermentation-related issues in several Asian and African countries, I joined the University of Stellenbosch (Department of Microbiology) in 1994, and was appointed Senior Researcher at the Institute for Wine Biotechnology, Department of Viticulture and Oenology, in 1998. I was promoted to full Professor in 2006, and have chaired (rotational) the Department of Viticulture and Oenology (2010-2011). In 2013, I was awarded the South African Research Chair in Integrated Wine Science, and was promoted to Distinguished Professor in 2015.

My research exploits the tremendous scientific opportunities offered by the well-established biological model system Saccharomyces cerevisiae (colloquially known as baking, brewing or wine yeast), and by the rapid development of novel system-wide biological analysis tools (sometimes referred to as "omics"). My project portfolio covers the full value chain from curiosity-driven to wine-relevant biotechnological research, and the results of my work have been reported in >90 peer-reviewed articles (hindex (Scopu) of 32), book chapters, and many invited conference proceedings and presentations. I hold two patents and have developed several commercially released wine yeast strains.

I am editor or associate editor, including the handling of manuscripts, of 3 highly respected journals, BMC Microbiology (since 2012, IF=3.4), FEMS Yeast Research (IF= 2.6) and Yeast (IF of 2). Previously, I was Member of the Editorial Applied and Environmental Microbiology (by many considered to be the leading journal, IF = 3.7).

I have been an invited speaker, including for keynote/opening lectures, at many international and local conferences.

Other international roles include the “Conseil d’Orientation” of the UNESCO Chair for Wine: Culture and Tradition, my role as “External expert” on the Scientific Advisory Panel of the “Institut Jules Guyot”, Université de Bourgogne, France, my membership of the “Finance and Policy Committee (FPC) of the International Yeast Community” (coordinates the International Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology Meetings, and role of Commissioner on the International Commission on Yeast (ICY).

My recent reviewing activities include journals such as Applied and Environmental Microbiology , Genetics, BMC Genomics, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry,Yeast, Journal of Applied and Industrial Microbiology, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, BMC Microbiology, Metabolomics, FEMS Yeast Research and others.

I am also frequently invited by international funding agencies to evaluate funding applications, and have acted as a reviewer of several funding applications for the

Finally, my supervision activities (23 completed PhD and 38 completed MSc) include M.Sc. degrees awarded by international Universities, such as Universitaet Mainz

(B. Petzold, M. Jukel), Ecole Superieure de Biotechnologie de Strasbourg (G. Jakubetz) and Technical University Munich (T. Schnierda), and the examination of, or acting as official opponent in international Ph.D. defences (Chile, Sweden, France, Spain.