Dr. Thomas Alcock completed his PhD at the University of Nottingham in 2018, where he also performed his first postdoctoral project. Whilst there, he worked on the mineral nutrition of crucifers, Brazil nuts and cowpea, and led a sustainability assessment of oil crop production. In 2020, he joined the TUM as a postdoc within the Professorship of Crop Physiology, where he worked intensively on rapeseed nutrition. 

In September 2025, Thomas founded the Plant Micronutrient Physiology research group, funded by the Emmy Noether Programme of the German Research Foundation (DFG). He is the principle investigator of the project "MaizeNutriUp: a holistic assessment of combined iron, zinc and selenium accumulation and translocation from root to shoot to grain under water limitation in maize".

Meanwhile, Thomas is also acting as the Scientific Coordinator of the TUM Crop Physiology ICP-MS facility.

Photo credit: Andreas Heddergott/TUM

Doctoral student working on the role of root apoplastic barriers on micronutrient uptake selectivity in maize.

Christina grew up on a family farm that focuses on agriculture, forestry and pig farming. They grow barley, wheat, rapeseed, and corn as the main crops. She gained in this time, and even beyond, a great deal of practical experience in agriculture.

She achieved her allgemeine Hochschulreife in the field of agricultural, biological, and environmental engineering at FOS Schönbrunn. She then received her Bachelor of Science degree in “Molekulare Biowissenschaften” from the Paris-Lodron University in Salzburg. 

She is now actively supporting the Plant Micronutrient Physiology research group as a technical assistant responsible for elemental analysis, transcriptomics and general lab processes.