Tanja Schneider studied biology in Bonn, Germany, specialized in microbiology and obtained her PhD in 2004. Following a postdoctoral training at the Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, University Hospital Bonn, she joined industry from 2011 until 2012. During that time she worked at the Peptide and Cell Discovery Department at Novozymes A/S, Denmark in the course of a Marie Curie Actions fellowship. Returning to Germany, she became a junior research group leader within the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). In 2014 she completed her habilitation in Medical-Pharmaceutical Microbiology and was appointed Professor of Pharmaceutical Microbiology at the University of Bonn in 2015.