After his undergraduate study in Biochemistry at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, Sebastian Falk obtained his PhD at the University of Heidelberg, where he worked on the co-translational targeting and folding of membrane proteins. During his postdoctoral stay at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Munich in the lab of Elena Conti, Sebastian shifted his research focus to RNA biology. When he established his lab at the Perutz, Sebastian then set out to unravel the mechanisms of small RNA biogenesis and their roles in gene silencing. Sebastian has already contributed important discoveries and mechanistic insights into the biogenesis of piRNAs in nematode worms. “With the security of tenure, I can now focus on more long-term research goals, which is really exciting”, says Sebastian. “I'm thrilled to continue my work at the Max Perutz Labs and the Vienna BioCenter Campus, one of Europe’s leading hubs for RNA biology – especially small RNA research – which provides great opportunities for collaboration.” Looking ahead, the Falk lab continues to build on the work started six years ago. “We have fully reconstituted the small RNA amplification pathway, but unraveling the mechanistic details will continue to keep us busy for some time”, Sebastian explains. “Moving forward, we aim to shift our focus from small RNA biogenesis to the mechanisms of small RNA-mediated gene silencing in the nucleus.” Nuclear RNA interference remains a highly complex and largely unexplored process, presenting many unanswered questions and exciting opportunities for discovery.