SZILVIA Z. TÓTH
Group Leader, Senior Scientist
My career is around photosynthesis, one of the marvels of Earth.
I had the chance to learn from great scientists at the University of Geneva, where I did my PhD, and at the Max-Planck Institute of Plant Physiology where I spent two years as visiting scientist. I have chosen the BRC as host institute because of the great working atmosphere and excellent research groups.
GROUP MEMBERS
VALÉRIA NAGY
Research associate
Valéria obtained her MSc degree in Biology in 2008 at the University of Szeged. As a PhD student, supervised by Drs. Gyozo Garab and Szilvia Z. Tóth, she investigated ascorbate-dependent alternative electron transport processes in plants and the role of ascorbate in the regulation of hydrogen production in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtiii at the Institute of Plant Biology, Biological Research Centre in Szeged (BRC). After defending her PhD in 2015, she spent one and a half years as a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Dr. Yagut Allahverdiyeva-Rinne, at the University of Turku. In 2017, she returned to the Laboratory of Molecular Photobioenergetics and she is working on biological process development to improve the photoautotrophic hydrogen production in green algae.
ANDRÉ VIDAL-MEIRELES
Research Associate (until 2021)
André obtained his M.Sc. diploma in Bioengineering in 2012 at the University of Porto (Portugal). As a Ph.D. student, supervised by Dr. Szilvia Z. Tóth, he investigated the regulation of ascorbate biosynthesis in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii at the Institute of Plant Biology of the BRC; during the first year of his Ph.D. studies, he joined the group of Prof. Dr. Ralph Bock at the Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (Potsdam, Germany) as a guest student. After defending his Ph.D. in 2018, he continued working as a research associate at the group of Szilvia Z. Tóth, where he studies the assessment of the lifetimes of the oxygen-evolving complex subunits of C. reinhardtii under various environmental conditions. Currently he is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Münster.
LÁSZLÓ KOVÁCS
Senior Research Associate
László Kovács finished in Ph.D. at the University of Szeged in 2002 and he was a Marie-Curie fellow at the University of Sheffield between 2004 and 2006. His primary research interest is carotenoid biosynthesis and turnover in photosynthetic microorganisms. He has expertise in various biochemical and photosynthesis-related biophysical techniques and in HPLC.
SOUJANYA KUNTAM
Research Associate
Soujanya Kuntam obtained her MSc degree in Biochemistry from Bangalore University, India, in 2010. As an ITC fellow under the supervision of Dr. Ferhan Ayaydin (Institute of Plant Biology, BRC), she worked on optimizing in vitro culturing and Agrobacterium mediated transformation of Golden pothos and rice. She continued as a PhD student under his supervision and was involved in developing novel dyes and fluorescence-imaging based approaches for live cell imagining in both mammalian and plant cells, with focus on localization and dynamics of lipid droplets in plant cells; defending her PhD in 2016. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Laboratory of Molecular Photobioenergetics and investigating the roles of PHT transporters in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
TÜNDE TÓTH
Research Associate
Tünde obtained her MSc degree in Biology in 2009 at the University of Szeged. As a PhD student, supervised by Prof. Herbert van Amerongen (Wageningen University, The Netherlands), Drs. Gyozo Garab and László Kovács (Institute of Plant Biology, BRC Szeged), she investigated the macroorganisation of the photosynthetic thylakoid membranes and their physiological responses to environmental changes in cyanobacteria and plants. During her PhD studies she also spent a year in the group of Prof. Alfred Holzwarth at the Max-Planck Institute For Chemical Energy Conversion (Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany). After defending her PhD in 2014, she spent three years as a research associate in the group of Dr. Zoltán Gombos, in the BRC. She also spent three years as a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Noam Adir, at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Currently, she is working on development of alga-based photovoltaic devices using green algae and cyanobacteria.
DÁVID TÓTH
Junior Research Associate
Dávid Tóth obtained his MSc degree in Biology in 2015 at the University of Szeged. As a Ph.D. student, supervised by Szilvia Z. Tóth, he aims at identifying novel phosphate transporters in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and he investigates phosphate/ascorbate transporters in Arabidopsis thaliana.
ANNA PODMANICZKI
Junior Research Associate (until 2021)
Anna Podmaniczki obtained her Msc degree in Biology in 2015 at the University of Szeged. As a Ph.D. student, under the supervision of Szilvia Z. Tóth, she investigated the photobiological hydrogen production of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and the effect of ascorbate on the donor side of photosystem II.
ESZTER SZÉLES
PhD Student
Eszter Széles obtained her MSc degree in Biology in 2018 at the University of Szeged. As undergraduate student, she investigated the physiological effects of immobilization on Symbiodinium microadriaticum cultures. Currently she is a PhD student, supervised by Szilvia Z. Tóth, and she is developing microfluidic devices for morphological and photosynthetic investigation of green algae.
ÉVA HERMAN
Laboratory Assistant
Éva Herman studied Biology as a BSc student at the University of Szeged. Supervised by Zoltán Gombos and Hajnalka Laczkó-Dobos, she investigated the role of xanthophylls and lipid desaturation in temperature dependent photoinhibition in cyanobacteria. In 2012 and 2013 she spent one month at Saitama University, Japan, as a guest student in the laboratory of Professor Nishiyama Yoshitaka. Currently working as a laboratory assistant in the group of Szilvia Z. Tóth.
NIA PETROVA
Research Associate
Nia Petrova obtained her MSc degree in Plant biotechnologies in 2015 at the University of Sofia (Bulgaria). During her PhD studies, under the supervision of prof. Sashka Krumova and prof. Stefka G. Taneva at the Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, she investigated the thermodynamic stability of the photosynthetic complexes in higher plants and cyanobacteria. Nia defended her PhD thesis in 2020. Nia’s current research interests are in the field of electrical current production by algal bio-photoelectrochemical cells.
ZSOMBOR DABOSI
Laboratory Assistant
Zsombor Dabosi studies Biology as a BSc student at the University of Szeged. Under the supervision of Valéria Nagy and Szilvia Z. Tóth he is researching biological process development to improve the photoautotrophic hydrogen production in green algae. In addition to investigation, he is working as a laboratory assistant in the group of Szilvia Z. Tóth. He has been the member of the group since 2021.