Max Kerr Winter receives Ammodo Fellowship for fungi research project
On April 3rd, the Ammodo foundation announced that AMOLF/VU researcher Max Kerr Winter is one of the five recipients of the Ammodo Fellowship. The Ammodo Foundation stimulates the development of art, science and architecture. With this new fellowship they want to enable early-career researchers to expand their international networks and to carve out a clear vision for their future academic career. Each fellow receives between 100.000 and 200.000 euros. As an AMOLF/VU postdoctoral researcher, Max will work on getting a better understanding of fungal behavior.
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) help regulate the earth’s climate and ecosystems by forming complex underground networks that draw down carbon and provide essential nutrients to over 70% of land plants. The exchange of carbon and soil nutrients occurs via a “market”, where both fungi and plants can discriminate between trade partners and allocate their resources to maximize rewards. However, the mechanisms by which these fungi make such decisions remains a mystery. Such complex behavior is particularly surprising given that the fungus does not have a brain, central nervous system, or even a well-defined body plan!
Max wants to use the Ammodo fellowship to elucidate the ways in which such a decentralized organism can integrate information from its environment to make (close to) optimal trading decisions. At AMOLF he is working in the group of Thomas Shimizu (Physics of Behavior) and is also collaborating with Nachi Stern (Learning Machines). Together they are studying fungi as a type of physical learning system.
When asked for a response to the granted fellowship, Max says:
“I am very lucky to be performing this work in the groups of Tom Shimizu at AMOLF and Toby Kiers at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam), two world experts on fungal research, as well as collaborating with many excellent colleagues across these two institutions and beyond.”
Watch video about Max and the Ammodo Science Fellow 2024
