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Sunset at the North Campus © Roland Baege​/​TU Dortmund
Funding from the European Research Council

Prof. Benedikt Sabaß Secures Proof of Concept Grant

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Portrait photo of Benedikt Sabaß: Prof. Sabaß is wearing a light blue shirt and smiling at the camera. There are bushes in the background. © Beran Kosan
Benedikt Sabaß is a professor of biophysics with a focus on medical physics in the Department of Physics.
The European Research Council (ERC) has selected Prof. Benedikt Sabaß from the Department of Physics for an ERC Proof of Concept Grant. In his project “BacForClimate”, he investigates ways to reduce methane emissions in cattle farming through feed additives. Prof. Sabaß, who was appointed to the Professorship of Medical Physics at TU Dortmund University in May 2025, had applied for the grant at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich. The funding amount for the project, which will now be carried out at both universities, is 150,000 euros.

In view of advancing climate change, new solutions are urgently needed to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of the most effective strategies is the reduction of methane emissions. A substantial share of this methane is produced by microbial processes in the rumen of cattle. Although feed additives can reduce this methane formation, the products available so far achieve emission reductions of only about 10 to 30 percent.

As part of a project funded by an ERC Starting Grant, low‑molecular compounds were discovered in the research group of Prof. Benedikt Sabaß at LMU Munich that significantly reduce methane formation. “We expect that feed additives based on our compounds could reduce methane emissions from cattle by more than 70 percent,” says Sabaß. “In addition, potent anti‑methanogenic compounds can also offer considerable metabolic benefits and save up to 12 percent energy.” These new methane‑inhibiting compounds can therefore improve feed efficiency in cattle, reducing both the ecological footprint and the costs of cattle farming. In this way, the use of climate‑friendly supplements becomes economically attractive for producers.

With his Proof of Concept project “BacForClimate” (A potent, new anti‑methanogenic compound for climate‑friendly livestock farming), Sabaß aims to elucidate the mode of action of the new compounds, assess their metabolic advantages, and develop a concept for market introduction. He then plans to work with partners from veterinary medicine and industry to develop products based on these compounds. “This project is intended to lay the foundation for the commercial success of our new technology and ultimately, we hope, contribute to solving an urgent problem,” says Sabaß.

Only researchers who have already received an ERC Grant are eligible to apply for a Proof of Concept Grant. The aim of the funding is to transfer ideas from ERC‑funded projects into practical application.

About the person

Prof. Benedikt Sabaß studied physics at Heidelberg University (Ruprecht‑Karls‑Universität) and earned his doctorate in theoretical physics at the University of Stuttgart in 2012. He then spent a year working in the automotive industry on the development of electric vehicles before returning to Heidelberg University for a postdoctoral position. From 2014 to 2016, Sabaß conducted research as a DAAD Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University (USA). He subsequently led a research group at the Institute of Biological Information Processing at Forschungszentrum Jülich. In 2020, the physicist accepted a call to the Professorship of Biophysics of Pathogenic Organisms at LMU Munich, where he headed the Cell Biophysics and Statistical Mechanics research group. His research project “BacForce” (Quantifying minute forces: How mechanoregulation determines the behaviour of pathogenic bacteria) is funded by an ERC Starting Grant. In May 2025, Sabaß moved to TU Dortmund University, where he has since held the Professorship of Experimental Physics/Medical Physics in the Department of Physics. The Sabaß research group at TU Dortmund University combines application‑oriented medical physics with fundamental biophysical research.

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