MCI Professorship for Harald Schöbel

The Entrepreneurial School® awards professorship to Dr. Harald Schöbel, BSc

In recognition of his outstanding achievements in research and teaching, and his exemplary contributions to the development of the Entrepreneurial School®, MCI recently awarded the title of professor to Harald Schöbel from the Department of Biotechnology & Food Engineering. Surrounded by friends and colleagues, he received the honor from MCI Rector Andreas Altmann and Franz Pegger, Head of the Academic Council, before sharing exciting insights into his research areas in his inaugural lecture.

Harald Schöbel holds a degree in physics from the University of Innsbruck and completed a research fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in the USA. In 2011, he earned his PhD from the Institute of Ion Physics and Applied Physics in Innsbruck. Following that, he worked as a Senior Optical Design Engineer at Swareflex GmbH, while also obtaining a bachelor's degree in Management & Economics in 2012.

Schöbel joined the MCI Department of Biotechnology & Food Engineering in 2015 and became a Senior Lecturer in 2019. His teaching focuses on topics such as technical physics, biophysics, biostatistics, and mathematics. Beyond teaching, he leads several research projects in applied biophysics and biotechnology.

For his exceptional research achievements, Schöbel has received numerous awards, including the Eduard Wallnöfer Foundation’s Recognition Prize (2017 & 2022) and the State award of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (2011). He was also awarded his doctorate in the presence of the Austrian President ("Promotio sub auspiciis Praesidentis rei publicae", 2012).

In his inaugural lecture, titled “Physics in the Life Sciences: How Do Physics and Biotechnology Come Together, and What Does Sunburn Have to Do with It?”, Schöbel explored the role of light in driving various biotechnological processes, such as UV-LED surface disinfection and light-controlled production of metal nanoparticles.