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Dr. Leonhard Urner Transfers From the University of Oxford

The State of NRW Funding a New Junior Research Group at TU Dortmund University

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Dr. Leonhard Urner has transferred from the University of Oxford to TU Dortmund University. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia is funding his junior research group with 1.25 million euros.
As part of the Return Program of the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Culture and Science, Dr. Leonhard Urner from the University of Oxford is coming to TU Dortmund University as a promising young scientist. Through the program, the state is providing 1.25 million euros of funding for five years to establish his independent junior research group. With this working group, Dr. Leonhard Urner will be researching an active ingredient to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which will then be developed into a drug in the future.

As part of the Return Program of the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Culture and Science, Dr. Leonhard Urner from the University of Oxford is coming to TU Dortmund University as a promising young scientist. Through the program, the state is providing 1.25 million euros of funding for five years to establish his independent junior research group. With this working group, Dr. Leonhard Urner will be researching an active ingredient to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which will then be developed into a drug in the future.

The aim of the NRW return program is to bring excellent young researchers from top international institutions back to Germany, more precisely to North Rhine-Westphalia. The 2021 call for proposals focused on research relevant to medicine, inviting young scientists from all over the world to submit their project proposals in this field. Following a competitive application process, six outstanding young researchers managed to set themselves apart and secure the funding. Dr. Leonard Urner was one of them.

Dr. Leonhard Urner studied at Freie Universität Berlin, where he also obtained his doctorate. During this time, he specialized in organic chemistry and supramolecular chemistry with the aim of understanding and controlling the molecular properties of soap. After completing his doctoral degree, he spent three years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, where he succeeded in developing soaps that simplify the examination of bacterial membranes. “The proteins anchored in the membranes are an important starting point for developing new active ingredients,” explains Dr. Leonhard Urner. “In order to isolate these proteins, they are extracted from biomembranes and cleaned using soaps. If conventional soaps are used for this, the sensitive structures of the proteins are often damaged, making them impossible to accurately examine. That motivated me to develop soaps that can be used to make intact membrane proteins suitable for drug research.” He is building on these results with his new junior research group “AntiBac” at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. The goal is to research new active ingredients for combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria in order to better treat resistant bacterial infections in the future.

A unique infrastructure in the field of drug research

The researchers in the program can decide for themselves at which NRW university they wish to continue their research. The chemist opted for Dortmund: “TU Dortmund University offers a unique infrastructure in the field of drug research”, says Dr. Leonhard Urner. “Researchers from a wide variety of disciplines come together here. Since our long-term goal is to transfer our findings into a medical application, the location also offers ideal conditions with the Lead Discovery Center and the Drug Discovery Hub.”

The “AntiBac” team started working at the beginning of the year. In addition to Dr. Urner’s position, a postdoctoral position, two doctoral positions and two graduate assistant positions are also being funded. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia will be funding the junior research group with a total of 1.25 million euros until the end of 2026.

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