Gerhard J. Herndl

ORCID QR Code

0000-0002-2223-2852

Professor Emeritus of Marine Biology
Microbial Oceanography Group
Dept. of Functional & Evolutionary Ecology
University of Vienna, Austria

gerhard.herndl@univie.ac.at

+43-1-4277-764 31


Dept. of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry
NIOZ, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
The Netherlands

Research Interests

  • Marine Microbial and Molecular Ecology with emphasis on structure and function relationships in microbial communities
  • Microbial Oceanography (linking the thermohaline circulation to the biogeography of prokaryotes and to biogeochemical cycling of organic matter particularly in the meso- and bathypelagic realm)
  • Biotic and abiotic transformation of organic matter in the sea

Academic and Professional Honors

  • 2024 ERC Advanced Grant
  • 2022, 2023, 2024 Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Austria Leader Award
  • 2017 ASLO Fellow
  • 2014 Hutchinson Award of ASLO
  • 2013 Full Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
  • 2012 Most cited Aquatic Biologist of Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Labjournal, April 2012)
  • 2011 Wittgenstein Prize of the Austrian Science Fund
  • 2011 Recipient of an European Research Council: Advanced Grant
  • 2011 Corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
  • 2006 2006EurOceans Roland Wollast Awards for Scientific Achievements

Service to the University

  • 2020-2022 Director of the Vienna Doctoral School of Ecology and Evolution
  • 2018-2020 Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences
  • 2014-2016 Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences of the University of Vienna
  • 2014-2016 Deputy Head of the Department of Limnology & Oceanography
  • 2013-now Head of Division Bio-Oceanography
  • 2009-2013 Head of the Department Marine Biology
  • 2009-2013 Director of the PhD program of the Faculty of Life Sciences
  • 2012-now Director of the Faculty Center of Ecology
  • 2009-2012 Vice-Director of the Faculty Center of Ecology

Synergistic Activities

  • Since 2025 Member of the Austrian Biodiversity Commission
  • 2024-2029 Member of Commission of Biodiversity Austria of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
  • 2024-2027 Member of the G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award Subcommittee of ASLO
  • 2023 Member of the Organizing Committee of the ASLO meeting in Palma di Mallorca, Spain
  • Since 2023 International Advisory Committee of Global Ocean Negative Carbon Emission (ONCE)
  • Since 2022 Member of the Austrian Committee of the International Union for Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG)
  • 2021 Head of the External Evaluation Panel of the Biological Department at the University of Cyprus (14-15 Jan 2021)
  • 2020-2026 Member of the SCOR working group: Respiration in the Mesopelagic Ocean (ReMO): Reconciling ecological, biogeochemical and model estimates (WG 161)
  • 2014-2017 Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Red Sea Research Center at KAUST, Saudi Arabia
  • 2014-2016 Member of the Organizing Committee of the ASLO meeting in Granada, Spain
  • 2014-2016 Member of the Science Steering Committee of IMBER (Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research, co-sponsored by SCOR and IGBP).
  • Member of the international Organizing Committee of SAME-11, SAME-12, SAME-13, SAME-14, SAME-18
  • 2012-2013 Member-At-Large of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography
  • Since 2013 Full Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
  • 2011-2013 Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
  • 2012-2015 Head of the Scientific Advisory Board of the WasserCluster Lunz, Austria
  • 2008-2014 Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Sea at the Univ. of Oldenburg, Germany
  • 2005-2008 Member of the IMBER/SOLAS working group on Carbon Research from
  • 2005-2010 Member of the Steering Committee of the International Census of Marine Microorganisms (ICoMM) as part of the Census of Marine Life (CoML)
  • 2008-2012 Member of the SCOR working group: The Microbial Carbon Pump in the Ocean
  • 2006-2010 Associate Member of the SCOR working group: Role of viruses in marine ecosystems
  • 2003-2005 Member of the Advisory Board of the Dutch Marine Facilities of the Dutch Science Foundation
  • 2001-2007 President of the Microbiology Section of CIESM (Commission of the Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean Sea)

Manuscript Reviewer

Among others for:
Nature, Science, Nature Reviews Microbiology, PNAS, The ISME J, Environ. Microbiol., Biogeosciences, Limnol. Oceanogr., Molecular Ecology, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., Aquat. Microb. Ecol.

Grant Reviewer

Among others for:
NSF Biological Oceanography, ESF, NERC, DFG, ERC