Böttcher, Thomas

Proof of Concept Grants support researchers from an existing or recently completed ERC project in exploring the potential for directly applying the results of basic research.
Bacteriophages are viruses that exclusively infect bacteria and offer major potential to address antibiotic resistance and advance biotechnology. But their broader use is limited by slow, unsystematic phage identification and inefficient, unscalable purification methods that introduce harmful contaminants. These challenges create critical bottlenecks and underscore the need for rapid, safe, and reliable phage capture technologies.
In his ERC PoC PhageTRAP project chemist Thomas Böttcher proposes a modular platform that selectively captures and releases phages using synthetic recognition motifs. Validated on clinically relevant and environmental phages, this approach integrates chemistry and microbiology to enable scalable purification, high-throughput screening, and rational selection of phages. PhageTRAP has strong translational potential, with clear industrial, clinical, and commercial applications.

Thomas Böttcher is a Professor of Microbial Biochemistry at the University of Vienna, holding a joint appointment with the Faculty of Chemistry and the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science. His research group is focused on the chemistry of microbial interactions, elucidating metabolites that mediate microbe-microbe, microbe-host and microbe-phage interactions and developing species-specific antibiotics, anti-virulence compounds and chemical probes for precision microbiome interventions. His work aims to expand fundamental understanding of microbial chemistry and create tools for targeted microbiome modulation.