The Group Current and Past members
The MayerLab
We are the Molecular Evolution research group at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. We represent a small yet awesome group of PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and undergraduate students with a passion for applying and repurposing the Darwinian algorithm.
In practice, we make use of biological selections to identify tailored biomolecules from vast populations of modified bacteriophages or recoded bacteria. We like our approaches as they rely on our creativity and problem-solving skills to overcome the myriad of challenges we face, when trying to repurpose the Darwinian algorithm.
We also celebrate our successes, go together through failures, and overall, try to have a good time inside and outside of the lab.
Current group members
Clemens Mayer
still looking for a job title
Clemens obtained his Master in Biotechnology (2009) from Graz University of Technology. After completing his PhD at ETH Zurich with Don Hilvert (2014), he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge with Sir Shankar Balasubramanian (2014-2016) and the University of Groningen with Gerard Roelfes (2016-2018). In October 2018, Clemens was appointed first as Assistant and in 2023 as Associate Professor at the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, where he leads the Molecular Evolution group.
Ana Rita Pereira Oliveira
Postdoctoral researcher
Rita obtained her PhD in Molecular Biosciences at ITQB-NOVA Portugal (2022), in which she was studying a highly active enzyme, formate dehydrogenase, as a biocatalyst for carbon dioxide reduction to formate, a sustainable fuel. Rita is engaged in exploring the potential of enzymes in our favor and fascinated by understanding, exploring, and applying enzymes to solve daily problems. She joined the MayerLab in 2022, where she is working on engineering better enzymes through an in vivo selection platform.
Felix Kaspar
DAAD PRIME postdocotral researcher
Felix studied Biotechnology (BSc 2016) and Biochemistry (MSc 2019) at the TU Braunschweig (Germany). During this time, he completed research stays in Australia (University of Queensland and Charles Sturt University) and the USA (University of Alabama). After completing his PhD at the TU Berlin in early 2021, he returned to Braunschweig with independent funding. In the summer of 2024, he joined the MayerLab as a DAAD PRIME fellow. His research focuses on unusual enzymatic transformations in the context of organic synthesis
Titia Rixt Oppewal
PhD student
Titia obtained her BSc from University College Utrecht in 2015. She then continued to study Chemistry at Leiden University (2017), and subsequently moved to the University of Strasbourg for her MSc in Chemical Biology (2019). Her first Master research project was in supramolecular chemistry, after which she moved to Groningen to work on photocatalysis using artificial metalloenzymes. Titia joined the Mayer lab as PhD student in September 2019. Outside of the lab she spends most of her time climbing, reading, or playing games with friends.
Suzanne C. Jansen
PhD student
Suzanne obtained her BSc in Life Science and Technology (cum laude, 2018) and Msc in Biomolecular Sciences (summa cum laude, 2021) the University of Groningen. Her Master research projects focused on "controlling the yeast cell cycle via the optogenetic dynamic perturbation of cAMP levels" and "the synthesis and characterization of a novel carbohydrate and its utilization by probiotic bacteria". Suzanne joined the Mayer lab as PhD student in February 2022. In her free time she enjoys making music, bouldering, and watching movies
João Maehara Said dos Reis
PhD student
João earned both his BSc in Chemical Engineering (2018) and his MSc in Biotechnology (2022) from the University of São Paulo. For his Master's research project, he focused on developing a biotechnological process for producing threonine. He also worked in the Sao Paulo State Institute for Technological Research (IPT) for 7 years in the areas of bioprocess development, metabolic engineering, and DNA Data Storage. João joined the MayerLab as a PhD student in July 2024. He is passionate about traveling and loves to study languages, science, and economics.
Hui Li
PhD student
Hui obtained his BSc from Northwest A&F University in 2017 (Bioengineering) and his MSc from QIBEBT, CAS in 2020 (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology). Before moving to Groningen in November 2022, he worked on genome editing, metabolic engineering and microbial physiology. In the first part of his PhD, Hui focused on expanding the structural diversity of lanthipeptides. In July 2022, he joined the Mayer Lab to identify hybrid macrocyclic peptide binders by phage display. Outside of the lab, Hui likes reading and plays table tennis in a club.
Open Vacancy
PhD student
We are looking for a PhD student, who wants to join us for awesome research in the field of continuous enzyme evolution! If you are interested, press here
MayerLab alumni
PhD students & Postdocs
Rudy Rubini (2018-2023) Scientist @Peptone
Undergraduate Researchers
Ingrid Budau, MSc thesis (2024)Pauline van Beers, BSc thesis (2024)
Tristan van Beek, Honours College Project (2023-2024)
Ada Ozgirin, Honours College Project (2023)
Olaf Muskee, MSc thsis (2023)
Emiel Broekman, BSc thesis (2023)
Tim Ziegelmeier, Internship from TU Munich (2022)
Siem Pauws, BSc thesis (2022)
Ivar Jansen, BSc thesis (2021)
Houdijn Beekhuis, MSc thesis (2020-2021)
Anthony Kromodimedjo, BSc thesis (2020)
Mark Folkertsma, BSc thesis (2021)
Ilya Ivanov, MSc thesis (2019)