Steffen Schweizer is a soil scientist and biogeochemist whose research focuses on the storage and dynamics of soil organic matter and its role in regulating key soil functions. His work integrates systems-based, interdisciplinary approaches across multiple spatial scales. He investigates how soil structure, reactive organo-mineral surfaces, and plant-soil-microbe interactions shape carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium cycles. Steffen studies these complex interactions in the context of how soils respond to environmental changes, including land use shifts, soil contamination, or climatic changes. A central aim of his research is to understand how fundamental soil processes influence soil health and ecosystem functionality, thereby supporting sustainable land management. Steffen’s teaching covers a broad spectrum of soil science, ranging from introductory lectures and applied field and laboratory training to specialized topics in soil hydrology and soil protection, with a particular focus on the agricultural context.
Summer semester
“Introduction to Soil Science” (Lecture, English, 2 h/week), “Applied Physics: Soil Hydrology” (Lecture, German) and “Basic field soil science” as well as “Excursion Fundamentals in Restoration Ecology” (Field exercises, approximately 1.4-2.1 h/week)
Winter semester
“Soil protection - Soil functions under different use” (Seminar, German, 2 h/week), “Analytical Characterization of Soil Resources” (Lecture and laboratory course, English and German, approximately 2 h/week), and “Agricultural Soil Protection” (Lecture, German, 0.9 h/week)
| 08/2024 | Research visit at the Cornell University, Ithaca (USA) | |
| 09-10/2023 | Research visit at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California (USA) | |
| 09-10/2022 | Research visit at the University of Queensland, Brisbane (Australia) | |
| since 08/2020 | Senior researcher and lecturer (‘Wissenschaftlicher Assistent’)
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| 12/2015-07/2020 | Researcher and doctoral candidate at the Chair for Soil Science, Technical University of Munich
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| 06-11/2015 | Scientific project associate at ETH Zurich (Switzerland) | |
| 10/2009-10/2015 | M.Sc. and B.Sc. Agricultural Sciences with major in soil sciences at the University of Hohenheim (Germany); “very good” (1.3 and 1.4/4) |
| 09/2021 | Early career scientist award (formerly “Fritz Scheffer Award”)of the German Soil Science Society for outstanding PhD thesis | |
| 10/2019 | Best Poster Award at SOM 2019 | |
| 09/2016 | Hans H. Ruthenberg Award for best M.Sc. thesis | |
| 07/2015 | NatureLife Sustainability Prize (Tropics and subtropics) | |
| 10/2013-10/2014 | Scholarship holder of the “Deutschlandstipendium” (Horsch M. GmbH) | |
| 11/2013 | Dr. Hermann Eiselen Research-Grant for field research in M.Sc. thesis | |
| 07/2013 | Award for Special Students' Commitment at University of Hohenheim | |
| 10/2011-09/2012 | Scholarship holder of the Südwestbank |
- Editorial advisory board, Geoderma
- Associate Editor, Frontiers in Soil Science
- Trusted Reviewer, Springer Nature Reviewer Communities
- Regular reviewer in diverse journals (https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/P-8150-2016)
Follow me
on Twitter @GeoSchweizer
on Mastodon @Schweizer
on Bluesky @schweizer.bsky.social
SPARKS - Smart Platform for Advanced Research & Knowledge of Soils
This project, supported by ProLehre, analyzes different AI-based chat platforms to enable novel forms of interactive learning during lectures and free-study based on specific soil knowledge.
Locating microbial metabolite hotspots to resolve soil energy and organic carbon dynamics (SoilEnergySpots)
This project is supported by the DFG (2025-2028) as part of the Special Priority Program 2322 ‘‘SoilSystems: Systems ecology of soils – energy discharge modulated by microbiome and boundary conditions”
Further information Contact: PhD student Sidra Ahmad
Potential uses of biochar and Terra Preta in Bavarian agriculture – contribution to climate protection and climate adaptation – project phase 2 – TerraBayt 2.0
This project is supported by the Bavarian State ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture and Forestry (2025-2027)
Further information
Inside the black box of N cycling: resolving N release from slurry to cropland soil through Energy fluxes and Organic Matter turnover – NEOM
This project is supported by the AgroMissionHub (2024-2025)
Further information Contact: Postdoc Dr. Cennet Yildiz
Soil Pores affecting Carbon Mineralisation at nanoscales (SoilPACMAN) - Determining how soil organic carbon dynamics are locally controlled by the organo-mineral microenvironment of microbes in the pore space
This project is supported by the ANR and DFG (2023-2026) as part of the bilateral French-German call in life sciences.
Project partners: Naoise Nunan (CNRS), Xavier Raynaud (Université Sorbonne)
Further information Contact: PhD student Haotian Wu
Linking land use intensity, biodiversity, soil microbial processes and organo-mineral interactions for a mechanistic understanding of N turnover in grassland ecosystems (BE_BioMON)
This project is supported by the DFG (2023-2026) as part of the Infrastructure Priority Program Biodiversity Exploratories.
Further information Contact: PhD student Narda Pacay Barrientos
Spatial data mining to resolve soil functions and organic matter dynamics (SoilCarbonHack)
This project is supported by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space and the European Union (NextGenerationEU) as part of the call “Digital transformation in education, science, and research” in the funding area “Strengthening the data skills of early career scientists”
Further information Contact: PhD student Yahan Hu