This course attempts to introduce the student to modern systems approaches applied to microbial ecology and it spans disciplines from nanobiology to systems modelling. It is based on the following basic questions which will be addressed in lectures, colloquia, computer modelling and laboratory exercises.

Ecophysiology: We will illustrate the unique features that determine the ecophysiological potential of microbial communities with an evolutionary perspective in mind.

Genomics: Microbial Geo-Genomics will be the overarching theme of this year's course. We will try to understand early earth history as it is documented in microbial genomes.

Phylogeny: In practical laboratory exercises we will analyze fragments of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial genomes, analyze the results with statistical methods and deduce geomicrobiological concepts from the genome and ecosystem information.

Ecosystem modelling: With the aid of computer supported models we will simulate interactions in complex biological systems and prepare ourselves for the discovery of life on Mars and Europa.

Exobiology: By studying interactions between microbes and the abiotic and biotic components of their habitats in terrestric ecosystems, we will learn how the diversity of microbial abilities has emerged, how it has shaped the modern earth environment and how this knowledge is applied to the search for life on other planets and on moons.

• Why prokaryotes inhabit every ecosystem
  What are the necessary physical and chemical conditions that allow for the existence and the broad natural distribution of microbes and what are the features that allow microbes to colonize every livable space on earth ?
   
• How prokaryotes interact with the environment
  How do microbes sense environmental signals and respond to them in diverse habitats and by what means do they "communicate" with each other, their hosts and the environment ?
   
• Why prokaryotes are metabolically diverse
  Why do microbes contain the greatest diversity of all living organisms with regard to types of energy metabolisms, catabolic pathways, metabolites and symbiotic relationships; but why do different species express a rather low diversity of known biosynthetic processes and shapes ?
   
• Why prokaryotes evolved as specialists
  Although microbes exist under all kinds of environmental conditions and express broad adaptations to physical and chemical extremes, why did evolution not lead to a single "super microbe" that possesses all the features necessary to exist everywhere and under all kinds of conditions ?
   
• How prokaryotes can be studied with molecular methods
  How are molecular and biochemical tools applied for phenotypic and genotypic identification of microbial species and how can they be used for diversity analyses and to evaluate the physiological potential of individual populations and its expression in whole communities ?
   
• How prokaryotes contribute to the evolution of life on earth and possibly on other planets
  How can the evolution of metabolic traits be linked to the role microbes play as biogeochemical agents in maintaining global physiology and climate and to their potential as pathogens ?
   
• Why prokaryotes offer excellent model systems for biological studies
  What kind of evolutionary concepts and generally valid biological principles can be derived from studying microbial ecosystems ?