Stijn Spaepen

Stijn received an MSc in Bioscience Engineering from KU Leuven in 2003. He joined the Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics of the same university to start his doctoral research on bacterial auxin production under the supervision of Jos Vanderleyden. After obtaining his PhD degree in 2008, Stijn investigated the role of auxin in plant-microbe interactions. In 2013, he moved to the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research studying the structure and functions of root microbiota. In 2018, he became Innovation Manager for the Leuven Institute for Beer Research, supporting the research groups in brewing science of the University of Leuven in their valorization tracks.