Category Archives: Family and Science

Parenting in science – an interview with professor and mother Eva Kiermaier

Continuing with our series about Family And Science we interviewed Prof. Eva Kiermaier who recently gave birth to her second child. She started as a junior group leader at the Life and Medical Sciences (LIMES) Institute in Bonn and became professor in June 2018. Previously, she pursued her postdoc in the lab of Michael Sixt at the Institute of Science and Technology (IST) in Austria. … Continue reading Parenting in science – an interview with professor and mother Eva Kiermaier »

Look into my father’s eyes: On the joy and trouble of becoming a father during the PhD

Sigmund Freud once stated “I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.” This was some time ago but nonetheless the role of the father is a very current issue as researchers and society are just finding out how important fathers are for the development of their children (here and here). Managing parenthood during the PhD is … Continue reading Look into my father’s eyes: On the joy and trouble of becoming a father during the PhD »

Mother and early career scientist – how to combine parallel roles?

About the author: Nóra Balzer is a 27-year-old Hungarian-German bio-informatician, married to a German scientist, and mother of 2-year-old David. In her doctoral studies, she aims at finding epigenetic changes in the offspring related to maternal obesity. She likes reading, writing and spending as much time with her family as possible. The desire to have a child and the wish to begin an academic career … Continue reading Mother and early career scientist – how to combine parallel roles? »

How to square the circle – our new series: Family and Science

You might know the movie “Groundhog Day” (German: “Und täglich grüßt das Murmeltier”), in which Phil (Bill Murray) experiences the same day over and over again. Well, sometimes our typical Monday morning lab seminar reminds me of this movie: We never really start at the scheduled 9 o’clock; we initially have some 15 min chit-chat about the previous weekend, talk about general lab business and, … Continue reading How to square the circle – our new series: Family and Science »