Rate My Professor Benjamin Schwessinger

Professor Benjamin Schwessinger is a Professor in the Division of Plant Sciences within the Research School of Biology at the Australian National University, where he holds the position of Associate Director Research and leads the Schwessinger Group on plants, fungi, and evolution. He earned his PhD from the Sainsbury Laboratory and John Innes Centre in Norwich, United Kingdom, focusing on receptor kinase-mediated immune signalling in plants. Following his doctorate, he undertook postdoctoral research at the University of California, Davis, in the Department of Plant Pathology, studying plant immune signalling in rice. Schwessinger joined the Australian National University in 2015, initially supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award, and later as an ARC Future Fellow, establishing his independent research group.

His research investigates plant-microbe interactions, with a particular emphasis on agronomically and environmentally significant fungal pathogens such as wheat stripe rust fungus (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) and myrtle rust. Employing approaches from biochemistry, bioinformatics, genomics, and evolutionary genetics, his group elucidates mechanisms of host colonization, characterizes fungal pathogenicity factors, examines genome architecture's role in host adaptation, and develops sequence-based pathogen detection methods. Key projects include synthetic biology for detecting pathogen molecules in crops, genomics of wild Australian brewing yeasts, and surveillance of airborne pathogens. Schwessinger has contributed to editorial roles, including an editorial overview on biotic interactions, and serves on committees such as the Research School of Biology Equity Committee, eLife's Early Career Advisory Board, and as a protocols.io ambassador. His major awards include the ACT Emerging Scientist of the Year Award in 2022 for advancements in pathogen genomics and biosecurity, as well as contributions to COVID-19 response; EMBO and HFSP Long-Term Fellowships in 2012; and the ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award in 2015. Notable publications encompass 'Sexual recombination in cereal rust fungi: Knowns and unknowns of pathogen evolution and adaptation' (PLoS Pathogens, 2025), 'Genome biology and evolution of mating-type loci in four cereal rust fungi' (PLoS Genetics, 2024), 'A Wheat Protoplast Assay for Positive Effector Screening and Investigation of Host-Pathogen Interactions' (Methods in Molecular Biology, 2025), and earlier influential works on plant innate immunity perception of microbial signatures (Annual Review of Plant Biology, 2012). His efforts significantly advance Australian plant biosecurity, safeguarding agricultural crops and native ecosystems from invasive fungal threats.