Research group Tragust

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Defence_Tabea_Streicher

Defence_Tabea_Streicher

Defence_Tabea_Streicher

Defence_Lukas_Koch

Defence_Lukas_Koch

Defence_Lukas_Koch

31.08.2026: A busy month, but so proud: first Tabea defended her PhD thesis at the beginning of the month and then Lukas defended his PhD thesis at the end. Both did extremely well!

In between we went to the XX. International Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects    in Freiburg, but somehow I have misplaced the pictures Baptiste send me :(

(for older news see here)

What we are interested in

We are broadly interested in evolutionary and ecological questions relating to host-parasite and host-microbe interactions. Hence our work encompasses a range of topics including immune defense strategies, emerging infectious diseases, and defensive symbiosis to name a few. Check out our current projects, our publications, and our group members for more.

What we do

We mainly utilise experimental manipulations in laboratory settings but are not shy of sampling in the field combining behavioral observations with immunological, microbiological, chemical-analytical, and molecular methods to span our research from molecules through to the whole organism.

Nuptial flight collections of Lasius niger queens

Nuptial flight collections of Lasius niger queens

Nuptial flight collections of Lasius niger queens

What we work with

Ants our are our main workhorses, but we have lately expanded to other social insects including the honeybee and bumblebees and think that the invasive ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis is an excellent model organism. Our microbes include a spectrum of bacteria, fungi, and viruses but also the whole host-associated microbial community.

Camponotus nicobarensis performing acidopore grooming

Camponotus nicobarensis performing acidopore grooming

Camponotus nicobarensis performing acidopore grooming

Who we are

Simon Tragust in beesuit

Simon Tragust in beesuit

Simon Tragust
in beesuit

We are a small group of people currently including a PhD (Lukas Koch) a teachers degree student (Vera Neumer), a BSc-Thesis student (Tim Kaufmann) and soon a PostDoc (Pina Brinker) under the auspices of the head (Simon Tragust).

We do teaching

We believe that integrating students into our research leads to positive interactions between teaching and research. We always have plenty of projects and ideas. If you are interested in joining contact our head Simon Tragust.

Kids university with Simon Tragust © Maike Glöcker

Kids university with Simon Tragust © Maike Glöcker

Kids university with Simon Tragust © Maike Glöcker

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