About Michael T. Wolfinger



I am a computational RNA biologist and Principal Investigator at the University of Vienna, working at the interface of RNA structure, folding, design, and interpretation.

Michael T. Wolfinger

I lead research as a Principal Investigator at the University of Vienna and am affiliated with the Theoretical Biochemistry Group (TBI), a long-standing centre of RNA bioinformatics and home of the ViennaRNA Package. In 2023 and 2024, I served as a visiting professor at the University of Freiburg.

My work brings together method development and biological application, with a particular focus on RNA systems where structure changes the interpretation.

In addition to academic research, I founded RNA Forecast, through which I offer workshops, design reviews, and focused advisory support for research groups and biotech teams that need external expertise in computational RNA biology.

Research Profile

My publication record spans method development, comparative genomics, virus bioinformatics, RNA design, and molecular modelling. A recurring feature of that work is that it moves between formal method development and biologically concrete systems, especially where sequence alone no longer settles the question.

This includes work on:

  • RNA structure prediction informed by thermodynamics, probing data, and comparative evidence
  • folding kinetics and cotranscriptional effects in regulatory and designed RNA systems
  • comparative analysis of structured viral RNAs, especially in flaviviral untranslated regions
  • RNA-protein interaction modeling and structure-guided refinement workflows
  • machine learning methods where they accelerate a well-defined RNA analysis problem

Teaching and Collaboration

Teaching and collaborative work are a substantial part of what I do. Since 2005, I have taught computational RNA biology in university courses, workshops, and small-group settings, and I have worked with collaborators across virology, structural biology, synthetic biology, and RNA bioinformatics.

Much of that work sits at the boundary between computation and experiment: helping define which structural questions can be answered computationally, which ones need additional evidence, and how both sides can be brought into a usable workflow.