Alexander Harms (Biozentrum / University of Basel and D-HEST IFNH / ETH Zürich) received the 2023 SSM Encouragement Award for the successful combination of highly original research with effective teaching, outreach, and community service activities. His young research group is exploring a new world of bacteriophage biology by isolating new phages with fascinating capabilities in order to reveal the underlying molecular mechanisms (Maffei, Shaidullina, et al., PLoS Biology (2021)) and Maffei et al., Nature Communications (2024)). This highly creative approach is bridging the traditional gap between deeply mechanistic studies and the broader scope of microbial ecology and evolution research. Many of these phages have been isolated in collaboration with high schoolers, and Alexander’s group is widely sharing them with the microbiology community. In addition to education and community service, Alexander has also integrated outreach projects in his work and, e.g., organized an art exhibition of colorized phage electron microscopy pictures for the general public. He presented his award lecture “Going viral in the community with research, teaching, and outreach on new bacteriophages” at the SSM General Assembly 2023 in Lausanne.