 He continued to pursue and personally fund his research in the field of smut fungus taxonomy and obtained his PhD in taxonomic botany at Uppsala University in 1985 (under supervision of Prof. Jan Axel Nannfeldt).His doctoral thesis, "Carpathian Ustilaginales", was published in the academic journal "Symbolae Botanicae Upsalienses".In 1986 he obtained a 1-year DFG-scholarship in Germany and worked in the field of smut fungus taxonomy at the University of Tübingen, Institute of Botany, Department of Special Botany and Mycology (with Prof. Franz Oberwinkler).