Jiří Friml

Prof Jiří Friml is a professor and group leader at the Institute of Science and Technology (IST) in Austria.

He obtained his PhDs at the University of Cologne in Germany and at the Masaryk University, in Brno, Czech Republic. He then carried on as a research associate at the University of Tubingen in Germany, where he soon became a group leader. Since then, Jiří held professorship positions at the University of Gottingen, the University of Gent (VIB) in Belgium and the IST Austria.

At IST, his lab investigates the unique properties of auxin-mediated hormone signaling, which integrates both environmental and endogenous signals. Employing methods spanning molecular physiology, developmental and cell biology, genetics, biochemistry, and mathematical modeling, the group focuses on auxin transport, cell polarity, endocytic recycling, as well as non-transcriptional mechanisms of signaling. His work provided insights into the mechanisms governing plant development and showed how signals from the environment are integrated into plant signaling and subsequently alter plant growth and development.

During his career, he has been awarded many prestigious awards like The Otto Hahn Medal, EMBO Young Investigator Award, Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize, Odysseus Award, Körber European Science Award, EMBO Gold medal, Charles Albert Shull Award and Erwin Schrödinger Prize to name a few.