Profile

Professor Garabed Antranikian is a distinguished German-Armenian microbiologist renowned for his pioneering research on extremophilic microorganisms and their industrial applications. Born in 1951, in Amman, Jordan, to Armenian genocide survivors, he pursued biology at the American University of Beirut. He earned his Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Göttingen in 1980 and completed his habilitation in 1988.

Since 1989, Antranikian has been a professor at the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), where he has led the Institute of Technical Microbiology since 1990. His research focuses on harnessing extremophiles for sustainable biotechnological processes, including biofuel production and industrial biocatalysis. He has coordinated major projects like the EU’s “Extremophiles” network and Germany’s “Biocatalysis 2021” and “Biorefinery2021” initiatives. Antranikian has authored over 235 scientific publications and holds 165 international patents. 

In academic leadership, he served as TUHH’s Vice President for Academic Affairs (2009-2011) and President (2011-2018). He is also the Director of TUHH’s Center for Biobased Solutions and Principal Investigator for the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST).  He is the Honorary President of the International Society of Extremophiles and a member of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology, where he has played an outstanding role in supporting the scientific and technological development of his native Armenia.

Antranikian’s contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the German Environmental Award in 2004 by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany for his contribution to ”Biotechnology for the protection of the environment”. He is a member of the Hamburg Academy of Sciences, the German National Academy of Science and Engineering, a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon, and an honorary member of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences.