Prof. Dr. Jan-Peter Duda

Research interests

I am deeply fascinated by the long and eventful histories of life and Earth. As a geobiologist, I explore the complex interrelationships between organisms and environment across scales by combining approaches from geomicrobiology, paleontology, sedimentology, and biogeochemistry. My research is directly related to various other fields such as origins of life research and astrobiology.

Professional Career

2022 – today     Full Professor (W3) of Geobiology & Head of the Department of Geobiology,                             University of Göttingen
2021 – 2022      Juniorprofessor (W1) of Sedimentology & Organic Geochemistry, University of                             Tübingen
2020 – today     DFG Emmy-Noether Research Group Leader University of Tübingen
2018 – 2019      Visiting Scholar University of California Riverside
2014 – 2020      Assistant Professor, Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen
2011                   Visiting Doctoral Student, NIGPAS, Chinese Academy of Sciences
2010 – 2014      Dr rer. nat., University of Göttingen, Germany; with “summa cum laude”
2007 – 2010      MSc Geosciences, University of Bremen
2004 – 2007      BSc Geosciences, University of Bremen

Academic Honors

2023      Visiting Professor Northwest University Xi’an, PR China
2020      DFG Emmy-Noether Fellowship (DU 1450/7-1)
2018      DFG Research Fellowship (DU 1450/4-1)
2014      Best Oral Presentation Award, 3rd Int. Conf. of Geobiology, Wuhan, China
2013      Young Scientist Award, Paläontologische Gesellschaft & Palaeontological Society China
2011      DAAD PhD fellowship

Significant university service (University of Göttingen & Göttingen Campus)

- Faculty board member (Faculty of Geosciences & Geography; since 2025)
- Institute board member (Geoscience Center; since 2025)
- Teaching faculty member (International Max Planck Research School for Solar System Science,    hosted by the MPI for Solar System Research; since 2024)
- Study committee member (Faculty of Geosciences & Geography; since 2023)
- Spokesman & member “Origin of Life” group (Göttingen Academy of Sciences & Humanities in Lower    Saxony; since 2014)

Professional service

Functions in Scientific Societies & Committees, e.g.

- Vice president, Paläontologische Gesellschaft (PalGes) (since 2025)
- Panel member, Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF) (since 2024)
- Overseas Academic Expert 111 Center at Northwest University Xi’an, China (since 2023)
- Voting member, Subcommission on Precryogenian Stratigraphy, International Commission on   Stratigraphy (ICS), International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) (since 2022)
- Spokesman, Geobiology section, Paläontologische Gesellschaft (PalGes) (since 2016)
- Corresponding member, Terminal Ediacaran Stage Working Group, Subcomission on Ediacaran   Stratigraphy, International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), International Union of Geological   Sciences (IUGS) (since 2015)
- Advisory board member, Paläontologische Gesellschaft (PalGes) (2015–2024)

Editorial work Reviewer scientific journals & books, e.g. Astrobiology (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.), Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France (BSGF), Cambridge Elements (Cambridge University Press), Carbonates and Evaporites (Springer), Geobiology (Wiley), International Journal of Earth Sciences (IJES, Springer), Marine and Petroleum Geology (Elsevier), Nature (Nature Research), Newsletters on Stratigraphy (Schweizerbart), Organic Geochemistry (Elsevier), PalZ (Paläontologische Zeitschrift) (Springer)

Reviewer scientific institutions & foundations, e.g. Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF); German Research Foundation (DFG), Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowships

Research Funding (principal investigator)

2022      DFG Project (DU 1450/8-1): “Linking Redox-Cycling to Hydrogeology: Sedimentological
               Controls on the Capacity of Aquifers to Reduce Nitrate and other Dissolved Electron
               Acceptors” (part of DFG-FWF project within Weave initiative)
2020      DFG Emmy-Noether Project (DU 1450/7-1): “Reaching for life in the distant past – deciphering
               the geobiology of modern and ancient hydrothermal sulfides”
2018      DFG Project (DU 1450/3-2): “Kerogen in Archean rocks: Biotic vs abiotic signatures – Pt. II”
               (within DFG SPP 1833 "Building a Habitable Earth")
2017      DFG Project (DU 1450/5-1): “Paleoecology vs taphonomy: Unraveling the molecular fossil
               record of the Mesoproterozoic Lakhanda Lagerstätte (SE Siberia, Russia)”
2015      DFG Project (DU 1450/3-1): “Kerogen in Archean rocks: Biotic vs abiotic signatures” (within
               DFG SPP 1833 "Building a Habitable Earth")

Publications (Peer Reviewed Only)