Dr. Frederik Bak

Biography

Frederik Bak is an Assistant Professor in Microbial Ecology at the University of Copenhagen. His research primarily focuses on plant-microbe interactions and the assembly of microbial communities in wheat roots. He employs a variety of techniques, with expertise in amplicon and shotgun metagenomics sequencing, bioinformatics, and machine learning to analyze rhizosphere microbiomes. One of his significant projects, INTERACT, explores synthetic communities in the wheat rhizosphere for studying plant-microbe interactions. In addition to his primary research, Bak is investigating subsurface microbial ecosystems using metagenomics, aiming to cultivate previously uncultivated bacterial strains in clayey till and understand the conditions that support bacterial life in low nutrient environments. He strongly believes in the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration, working alongside data scientists and soil scientists to enhance the field of microbial ecology. His educational background includes a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Copenhagen and he has supervised various bachelor’s and master’s students. Bak has also been involved in teaching applied microbiology at the MSc level and has taken on leadership roles within the departmental research committee and post-doc association.

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Experience

Awards