Claudio Avignone Rossa obtained his BSc degree in Chemistry (1987), followed by a Licentiate Degree in Biochemical Sciences (1989) and a PhD in Biochemical Sciences (1994) from the University of La Plata (Argentina). He was appointed Associate Professor of Biotechnology at the University of Quilmes (Argentina) in 1994 and Research Fellow at the Microbial Physiology Group at the University of Amsterdam from 1995 to 1999. He joined the University of Surrey in 1999, where he is now a Professor of Systems Microbiology.