GASB TEAM
German Association for Synthetic Biology (GASB)
Steering Committee
The steering committee is GASB’s official representation and is annually elected through the members meeting. As the main operational board, the steering committee ensures the proper function of the association and represents GASB externally.
Please contact each individual member of the steering committee directly with your questions or use our contact form for general requests.
We are looking forward to getting in touch with you! You can contact us in German or English!

René Inckemann
Head of Steering
René is the current head of the steering committee of GASB. He also is a PhD student working on establishing chloroplasts as chassis for Synthetic Biology. For him GASB offers the opportunity to connect the different stakeholder of the field in order to establish Synbio as a key discipline in Germany. Feel free to contact him if you are interested in GASB or if you want to reach out to us in any way.

Jan Kalkowski
Vice Head of Steering
Jan is the current Vice-Head of Steering at GASB. He is currently doing his master thesis on cell-free synthetic biology. For Jan GASB offers the perfect opportunity to establish SynBio as a key discipline in academia and industry within Germany. Feel free to contact him if you are interested in GASB or if you want to reach out to us in any way.

Jonathan Funk
Chief Financial Officer
Jonathan is a Master student in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology at the Technical University of Denmark. He is researching Artificial Intelligence and its applications in Protein Engineering in Synthetic Biology. He is the financial officer of GASB, he helped redesigning the website and with the organization of events and conferences.

Vinca Seiler
Officer for Education
Vinca is pursuing her master thesis in the field of Synthetic Biology at the University of Marburg. She got in touch with SynBio in 2019 through iGEM. Since then she is interested in getting people into contact with SynBio. She is one of the Officers for Education of GASB and is interested in the general organisation of the association and additional helps to organise events and webinars.

Janine Wanke
Officer for Academic Collaboration

Alexander Niederau
Officer for Education
Alex is a PhD student in the field of Plant Biotechnology at the University of Freiburg. Since his participation in iGEM 2019 he is passionate about SynBio and science communication. Within GASB he is one of two Education Officers and responsible for our educational projects.

Hendrik Cooper
Officer for Industry Collaboration
Hendrik joined the GASB steering committee in 2017 to contribute to the growing field of Synthetic Biology. He is the current Officer for Industry Collaborations and is focusing on bringing the academic and industry part of Synthetic Biology closer together. Hendrik is doing his masters at Technical University Darmstadt. Feel free to contact him if you have questions or ideas!

Jillian Hoffmann
Administrative Officer
Jillian graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Biomolecular Engineering at the TU Darmstadt. During her studies, she was particularly interested in the research areas of plant biotechnology and synthetic biology. After participating in iGEM 2020, she came across GASB, in which she has been active ever since. Whether you have general comments, questions or ideas, feel free to contact her.

Marvin Albers
Officer for Human Resources
Marvin is a PhD student at VU in Amsterdam and is responsible for our member administration and recruitment within GASB. As for many, iGEM was the door opener for his interest in Synthetic Biology. In GASB he is interested in our internal development and growth as an organisation. If you are interested in joining GASB and want to know more – contact him!

Marwan kaufmann
Officer for Outreach and Collaboration
Right now, Marwan is finishing his MSc in Biomolecular Engineering and working as research intern at the Centre for Synthetic Biology of TU Darmstadt. There, he is involved in the development of novel protein sensors. As Officer for Outreach and Collaborations, Marwan strives to increase GASB’s interaction with various groups and communities, be it for collaborations, public outreach, or recruitment. If you are interested in GASB or even working with us, please contact him!

alexander pattberg
Officer for Politics
Alexander is the current Officer for Politics. In that role, he is managing a team of people who try to bridge the gap between science and politics and shape the SynBio ecosystem in Germany. He is currently finishing his Master’s degree in Biology with a focus on Molecular and Synthetic Biology.

Cedric Brinkmann
IT Officer
Cedric is studying Mathematics and Data Science at the Philipps-University Marburg. Since his participation in iGEM 2019, he is interested in the intersection of SynBio and Data Science, particularly in the field of synthetic genomics and laboratory automation. As IT Officer, he is responsible for the strategic planning, implementation and maintenance of the IT infrastructure at GASB.

Andrea Aquize
Officer for Association Collaboration

Michael Burgis
Officer for Website and Online Representation
Michael is currently doing his MSc in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the Philipps University of Marburg. Within GASB Michael is administering the website and is responsible for the online representation of the association. Any feedback on the website content/design can be directed towards him.

Christian Rauch
Officer for Legal Affairs and Data Security
Christian is currently doing his PhD at the Center for Synthetic Microbiology in Marburg where he focusses on metabolic engineering in bacteria. Before joining GASB in early 2022, he was active in other associations for science communication.
As the Officer for Legal Affairs and Data Security, he keeps an eye for potential legal roadblocks for GASB projects and works to circumvent any issues that might arise before they become problems.
Active Members
Whether it is through organizing the next conference, panel discussion or realizing their own project ideas, the active members of GASB leave their footprints on the road to establishing a SynBio community in Germany. In collaboration with small interdisciplinary teams our active members support us realizing our events and projects. Do you want to contribute or are you just curious what possibilities lie ahead? Become Active!
Project Leaders

Antonia Schetle
SynBio Masteratlas

Alexander Niederau
BioBits

Janine Wanke
GASB Conference 2023
Active in GASB

Anna Tichá
SynBio Masteratlas

Julia Macholl
BioBits

Carolina Elizondo
Association Collaboration

Jillian Hoffmann
SynBio Masteratlas

Sara Gilles
BioBits

Carina Küstner
Association Collaboration

Johanna Möller
SynBio Masteratlas

Michael Spädt
BioBits
Social Media

Marvin Hildebrandt
Developer

Gaukhar Sagindykova
SynBio Masteratlas

Tamina Kirsch
BioBits

Hinrik Plaggenborg
Politics
Sponsoring
Steering Committee Alumni
Nicolas Krink
Anne Löchner
Daniel Hürtgen
Max Mundt
Luis Carreira
Katrin Messerschmidt
Robert Grießmann
Anna Trodler
Simon Kelterborn
Kasia Lipinska
Robert Klein
Svenja Vinke
Fabian Rohden
Jakob Schweizer