Announcing Microbiology Horizons, our new multidisciplinary journal
21 November 2025
The challenges facing society are multidisciplinary and evolving in nature. Powerful new tools are emerging in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning that can provide insights into large datasets that the human eye misses. There is also an opportunity to improve technologies based on imaging and sequence analysis to capture novel data. At the Microbiology Society, we recognise that microbiology offers powerful insight for addressing these future opportunities, and we are delighted to announce a new multidisciplinary journal joining our popular and successful portfolio: Microbiology Horizons.
The Editor-in-Chief of Microbiology Horizons is Dr Tania Dottorini, Chair of Bioinformatics in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham, UK. Tania’s research focuses on the development of novel multimodal and multiscale data analysis solutions, merging modern omics, bioinformatics, machine learning, deep learning and AI, to address complex questions in relation to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and resistant infectious diseases.
Announcing Microbiology Horizons as its first Editor-in-Chief, Tania said: “Microbiology and science are entering a new era, defined by data, intelligence, automation and integration. The complexity of the microbial world cannot be understood through isolated experiments or single disciplines. It demands a 360-degree perspective that connects genes, microbes, hosts, ecosystems, and societies through transdisciplinary studies.
My vision for Microbiology Horizons is to be a journal where this synergistic convergence is possible, a journal where microbiologists, data scientists, engineers, and social scientists come together to rethink how we study, predict, and design microbial systems. We are committed to publishing work that is both mechanistic and predictive, from molecular insights to planetary processes, and having a strong ethos to openness, reproducibility, and responsible innovation.
At Microbiology Horizons, our goal is to promote discovery research that can deliver insights and solutions that anticipate rather than react to global challenges.”
On why this is an important new journal for the community, Tania said: “Microbiology Horizons invests in artificial intelligence to explore new perspectives on microbes, examining how they behave, adapt, evolve, and interact across various environments and scales, from genes to entire ecosystems. What sets this journal apart is its focus on addressing significant challenges rather than solely concentrating on narrow topics. We are interested in research that connects microbial science to real-world issues such as antimicrobial resistance, food and water security, climate change, and the overarching goal of a sustainable world. Our vision is inclusive; we seek studies that integrate life sciences, data science, and the social and policy aspects of health, all through the lenses of One Health and Planetary Health. At its core, Microbiology Horizons is dedicated to uniting people and ideas. It serves as a platform for experimentalists and computational scientists to connect, promoting the open sharing of methods and fostering discoveries that enable us to anticipate problems rather than merely react to them.”
Chair of Publishing Panel and Microbiology Society Trustee, Professor Kim Hardie, said: “I am delighted that Tania has joined us as the first Editor-in-Chief of Microbiology Horizons. This new title is a vital addition to the Society’s successful and wide-ranging portfolio. Microbiology Horizons is the first Society title to take a fully multidisciplinary approach to the global challenges which microbiology will help overcome, as well as providing a home for innovation and new advances in the field. This is an exciting new journal at a time of real opportunity for microbiology research everywhere.”
President of the Microbiology Society, Professor Gordon Dougan FRS, said: “Science and microbiology in particular are undergoing huge change brought about by data and analytical methodologies. Microbiologists are being drawn into broader areas, including climate change, human non-communicable diseases, and the environmental sciences. This is through the ability to analyse metadata, genomes, and microbiomes at scale. We need to adapt as individuals and as a Society. I am delighted that Tania has stepped forward and volunteered to take this on. She will need the support of us all to make a success of this, so if you are interested, please get involved.”
Microbiology Horizons will provide a platform to discuss the development of new technologies and solutions based on microbiology, as well as cover the vital role of microbiology in addressing the global Sustainable Development Goals. You can submit now to Microbiology Horizons. Visit the journal website for more information on how to publish.
The Microbiology Society is a membership charity and a not-for-profit publisher. Every submission to our journals is an investment in microbiologists. Make a difference—publish for the community. Find out more about our portfolio and how to publish with us.