 After showing interest in natural sciences in his youth , he studied at the University of Innsbruck . However , his university career was interrupted by the need to complete military service . He was stationed as a translator in eastern Europe during World War II , before being captured and placed in a prisoner of war camp . He was released in 1948 , subsequently returning to Innsbruck to complete his studies . After completing his doctorate in 1950 , Moser worked in England for six months , researching the symbiotic relationships between plants and fungi . Upon his return to Austria , he took up a position with the Federal Forestry Research Institute , where he remained until 1968 , taking part in influential research on the use of mycorrhizal fungi in reforestation . He began lecturing at the University of Innsbruck in 1956 , and in 1972 he became the inaugural head of the first Institute of Microbiology in Austria . He remained with the Institute until his retirement in 1991 . His studies continued until his death in 2002 . An influential mycologist , he received a number of awards throughout his life , and numerous fungal taxa have been named in his honour . 
