Category Archives: Meet the expert

Meet the expert

Don’t judge a book by its cover – scRNA-Seq tells you a cell’s story

The motivation of most scientists is the drive to unravel the mysteries surrounding us. Speaking from the perspective of a biomedicine student, one of the biggest mysteries in modern biology remains the smallest unit of life – a cell. Although almost three hundred years have passed since the discovery of the cell (Robert Hooke, 1665), it remains a major challenge to investigate individual cells. However, … Continue reading Don’t judge a book by its cover – scRNA-Seq tells you a cell’s story »

Meet the expert

How to organize a summer school: Answers from the experts

Did you ever wonder how a scientific conference or summer school is organized? Who selects the speakers and more importantly, who decides which abstracts are selected for a presentation? And what are the criteria for the poster awards? Well, during my visit to the ENII  (European Network of Immunology Institutes) Summer school of Immunology in Sardinia a few weeks ago, I became curious and decided … Continue reading How to organize a summer school: Answers from the experts »

Meet the expert

Good Scientific Practice: Your Opportunity to Shape the Future of Science

“Science is a business shaped by information, facts, novelties.“ “The common aim is to push the boundaries of what is possible.“ “Higher, faster, further.“ “Good, better, the best.“ “Science is a tough business.“ “Publish or perish.“ Statements reflecting a system peppered with expectations and very limited space for individuality and creativity – features in fact required for above mentioned approaches. However, these are sentences a … Continue reading Good Scientific Practice: Your Opportunity to Shape the Future of Science »

Meet the expert

Talking to the bigwigs: from TLRs to microbiota, precision medicine and the love to do research

Networking and exchanging ideas is undoubtedly one of the major reasons for attending a conference. And yet, many PhD students (including us) are often shy about approaching the leaders and visionaries of our research field. This year, we decided to change our behavior: we challenged ourselves to finally start conversations with some invited speakers. The conference “Molecular Mechanisms of Inflammation” in Trondheim was ideal for … Continue reading Talking to the bigwigs: from TLRs to microbiota, precision medicine and the love to do research »

Meet the expert

How immunity controls behavior

Prof Michael Pankratz and his research group at the LIMES (Life and Medical Sciences) institute study the molecular mechanisms underlying brain physiology and behavior. To understand these complex circuits they make use of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model organism. Shedding light on how the immune system is linked with behavior, Prof Pankratz explains us why Drosophila is a suited model to study … Continue reading How immunity controls behavior »

Meet the expert

Welcome, Prof. Wilhelm!

After working at the National Institute for Medical Research (UK) and at the National Institutes for Health (USA), Christoph Wilhelm joined the cluster in July and was appointed as assistant professor for Immunopathology in September last year. We talked to him about the different mindsets he encountered on his way and his ideas on how to develop his research as well as the German research … Continue reading Welcome, Prof. Wilhelm! »

Meet the expert

There is no free lunch – BFB event: “Dine with a Managing Director”

Have you ever asked yourself what life as a manager in industry is like? To give students answers to this question the BFB (Bonner Forum Biomedizin) set up the event “Dine with a managing director“ . There, eight students and young postdocs from life science had the chance to get first hand impressions on what life and a career in industry are like and ask … Continue reading There is no free lunch – BFB event: “Dine with a Managing Director” »

Meet the expert

Working in a safety level four lab in Sierra Leone

Benjamin Meyer is currently finishing his PhD at the Institute of Virology in the group of Prof. Drosten. In the context of the recent Ebola outbreak, he joined the European Mobile Lab Team (EMLab), a pan European project, to perform Ebola diagnostics in Sierra Leone as part of the WHO GOARN emergency response. His PhD project originally dealt with development and implementation of serological assays … Continue reading Working in a safety level four lab in Sierra Leone »

Meet the expert

Beauty and the beast: research on sea urchin sperm

Sea urchins – wonderful to look at, painful to step on. These spiny little creatures, with shells normally measuring between 3 and 10 cm in diameter, come in colours from black to shades of green, brown, purple, blue, and red. Originally called “sea hedgehogs”, urchins inhabit all oceans of the Earth and can be found from the intertidal region to depths of 5000 m, depending … Continue reading Beauty and the beast: research on sea urchin sperm »

Meet the expert

Success Comes from the Heart

Bonn is full of extraordinary scientists doing extraordinary research. One particularly extraordinary scientist is PD Dr Dagmar Wachten, who currently leads her own Max Planck Minerva research group at research center caesar. Her research deals with developmental processes with a special focus on sperm and heart development. “We use different imaging techniques and most of them are related to molecular imaging, meaning we want to … Continue reading Success Comes from the Heart »