Since 2009, Franz has been studying the effects of artificial light at night on a wide range of biological processes, from gene expression to land-water interactions and ecosystem functions. Franz was head of the research platform “Loss of the Night” and chair of the European COST action “LoNNe” (Loss of the Night Network). He is currently Work Package leader within the Horizon Europe-funded project “Aquatic Pollution from Light and Noise (AquaPLAN)” (2024-2028) and speaker of the IGB programme area “Aquatic Biodiversity in the Anthropocene”.
