PHD@MDC 2020 355 PHD - MAX DELBRÜCK CENTER FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE
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PhD@MDC 2020 MDC INTERNATIONAL
PHD PROGRAM
67%
coming from
355 abroad
PhD 57% women
students 43% men
57
nations
2020 PHD RECRUITMENT
SPRING 2020 - cancelled
FALL 2020
37 new PhDs
9 central positions
22 group positions
3 iNAMES positions
3 MDC-NYU positions
332 applicants 64 interviewed cands.
51 nations 64% international
57% women 66% women
43% men 34% men
Our PhD application portal has been updated to version 2.0, as the old version from 2011 went
to retirement. The Fall 2020 recruitment was conducted in an entirely online form. This
enabled us having more candidates in the panel interviews than ever - as many as 64!
TRAINING
Due to the unprecedented situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, all training
activities had to be adapted for the alternative online formats. Our first step upon transition
to Emergency operation mode in Spring was assembling a collection of free online
training opportunities offered by various platforms, such as massive open online course
platforms (MOOC), and training pages of universities or other research institutes. Soon
after, we established a Training grants fund for professional courses. In Fall 2020, a
collection of online courses was offered at the MDC, within two topic modules: Science
communication and Time/Project management.
2020 Courses 2
Student seminar series
Good scientific practice Student Seminar in Sys Biology
Obligatory for all MDC PhDs Student Seminar in Sys Medicine
Science communication module 4
Science graphics and illustration Orientation sessions
Slidewriting & storylining for new PhDs
Creating a poster in science
Storytelling techniques for scientists
Almost there: preparing for viva defense
Collection of 107
Online writing hour
free online courses curated
from different training
Project & Time management module
platforms
From Surviving to Thriving
Applying Essential Project Management Data science, analysis and
Tools to the Research Project visualisation
Programming
Machine learning
Data management
Graduate School Training Grants
Life Science & Technologies
To encourage and support the development Research integrity & ELSI
of research-related skills tailored to the Team work & Management
individual needs, since Spring 2020 the MDC Career development
Graduate School awards educational Training Personal development
grants of up to 200 EUR for specialized online Well-being
courses that are not freely available on-site or Writing & Language
via online training platforms.
HIGHLIGHTS 2020 Transforming all Graduate School activities and services to the new online formats After the COVID-19 pandemic changed every aspect of our everyday work & life, new communication formats and workflows needed to be established within a very short timeframe. With the start of the Emergency operations at the MDC, the Graduate School moved all of its services to the online forms, as well as organised own or provided help & support with external online activities. Orientation session for the new PhDs, counselling sessions, administrative support, Student Seminars, annual TAC meetings, theses defences, even the 2020 Graduation ceremony, were organised and/or supported as online meetings and events. New PhD application portal and recruitment format A new, updated and improved PhD application portal saw the light of day shortly before the Fall 2020 recruitment round. New portal incorporates various features and options developed specifically for the MDC International PhD Program central recruitment, including different functions customised for the new online format of panel interviews. Development of the new Training curriculum Newly structured and improved training curriculum, in line with feedback received from our students, as well as requirements from the partner universities, tailored to the needs of the early-stage researchers, will be initiated in the beginning of 2021. Following the development of COVID-19 crisis, alternative online forms are prepared for all planned training opportunities. New structure of Student Seminars Student Seminars are now offered within two seminar series: Student Seminar in Systems Biology (students of the BIMSB-Mitte, every other Friday) and Student Seminar in Systems Medicine (students of the MDC-Buch, every Thursday). An info email on Monday morning informs students on the training events of the upcoming week. Erasmus+ program continues the MDC In 2019, the MDC, together with partners from Humboldt Universität, offered a possibility of conducting a master thesis research to the students of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (KNU), Ukraine. In 2019/2020, two students successfully conducted their internship programs at the MDC. In 2020, the program received European funds for its continuation, and we will be happy to welcome another 3 students from Kyiv, as soon as exchange activities are possible again. Initiation of iNAMES - MDC-Weizmann Helmholtz International Research School in Imaging and Data Science Our newly established iNAMES International Research School recruited its first 3 PhD students in Fall 2020. Please find details on the iNAMES webpage.
4 SPECIALISED RESEARCH SCHOOLS
iNAMES 3 Berlin partners (MDC, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin,
Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin)
1 Israeli partner (Weizmann Institute of Science,
Rehovot, Israel)
In late 2019, iNAMES - MDC-Weizmann Helmholtz International
Research School for Imaging from THE NAno to THE MESo, was
confirmed to receive 1.8 million EUR from the Helmholtz
Association’s Initiative and Networking Fund.
3 students +
2 associated 1st PhD Recruitment within Fall 2020 MDC central recruitment
8 tandem project proposals received for Fall 2020
3 PhD students + 2 associated projects recruited (starting in
2021)
Outlook 2021:
5 PhD positions
Kick-off event in Fall 2021
HEIBRiDS 4 Einstein Center Digital Future (ECDF) partner
institutions (Charité, HU zu Berlin, FU Berlin, TU Berlin)
6 Helmholtz Centers partner institutions
(MDC, AWI, DESY, DLR, GFZ, HZB)
Spring 2020: Online Recruitment
4 student publications
25 students + 5 participations at conferences with poster or oral presentations
5 associated HEIBRiDS Online Retreat, October 29-30
Workshop on Design Thinking, October 7
Outlook 2021:
HEIBRiDS Spring School 2021
Most recent paper: L. Weber, K. Thobe, O.A.M. Lozano, J. Wolf and U. Leser (2020) PEDL: Extracting protein-protein
associations using deep language models and distant supervision. Int. Conf. on Intelligent Systems in Molecular Biology, 36,
Supp.1, i490-i498. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btaa430
4 SPECIALISED RESEARCH SCHOOLS
MDC-NYU
2 student publications
All research visits and exchange meetings on hold due to
COVID-19 related travel restriction.
11
The program focused on the recruitment of excellent new
students
fellows: Isabella Douzoglou for the Birol lab, Lena Nitsch for
the Ludwig lab, and Philipp Stachel-Braum for the
Grosswendt lab. All new hosting labs have been established
within 2020, either at the BIMSB or at the joint
BIH/Charité/BIMSB Single Cell Focus Area.
Most recent paper: Sparks TM, Harabula I, Pombo A. (2020) Evolving methodologies and concepts in 4D nucleome
research. Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2020;64:105-111. doi:10.1016/j.ceb.2020.04.005
SignGene
3 German partner institutions
(MDC, Charité, HU zu
Berlin)
11
6 students in Israel
5 students in Germany 2 Israeli partner institutions
(HUJI, Technion)
students 3 PhD defenses
EMBO long-term and HFSP fellowship awarded to SignGene
graduate W. Minzel
ERC Advanced Grant for SignGene faculty Y. Ben-Neriah
Outlook 2021: Final project report in Spring
Most recent paper: Rozevsky Y*, Gilboa T, van Kooten XF, Kobelt D, Huttner D, Stein U*, Meller A* (2020) Quantification of
mRNA Expression Using Single-Molecule Nanopore Sensing. ACS Nano. 10.1021/acsnano.0c06375
EVENTS 2020
HEIBRiDS Online Fall 2020
Online Retreat Recruitment
HEIBRiDS
Workshop on
Design Thinking
circRTrain:
Student
MDC
Workshop “Taking
Online Graduation
stock: Choosing
Ceremony
the right job and
2020
preparing yourself
Entrepreneurship
MDC to get there”
Online Summer
Graduate School School, hosted by
Online Orientation Mashauri Ltd. and
sessions for new Technology, and
PhDs circRTrain partner
CRG
Photos & Images: Michael Gotthardt, Grietje Krabbe, Hanna Singer, Eirini Kouskoumvekaki, Sanja Drakulic, Canva, Communications MDC.
OUTLOOK 2021
IPSCC Online -
Carcer Research
UK Glasgow
June 14-16, 2021
circRTrain final iNAMES Winter
meeting School 2021
PhD Retreat 2021 1-day PhD
Excursions
Online SysBio
lecture series
“Cell fate
specification &
enginieering”
HEIBRiDS
iNAMES Kick-off
Spring School
Event Fall 2021
2021
Photos & Images: Felix Noak, David Ausserhofer, Hanna Singer, Christin Sünkel.
PUBLICATIONS
164 PhD-authored publications in 2020
51% with PhD student as a first author (84 publications)
70% graduates of class 2020 with publication(s)
45% graduates of class 2020 with first-author publication(s)
2.4 average number of publications per graduate of class 2020
In 2020, the first place of the PhD Publication Prize Awards was shared between Maria Ercu
(Klußmann Lab) and Monika Litviňuková (Hübner Lab). The funds for the first prize were donated by
the Dr. Pritzsche-Stiftung. Ricardo Paricio-Montesinos (Poulet Lab) and Jan Möller (Lohse Lab) were
awarded the second place, sponsored by the Society of Friends of the MDC.
Phosphodiesterase 3A and arterial
hypertension
Maria Ercu et al. (2020) Circulation. 142:133–149.
https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.119.043061
Cells of the adult human heart
Monika Litviňuková et al. (2020) Nature. 588:466–472.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2797-4
Single-molecule analysis reveals agonist-
specific dimer formation of
μ-opioid receptors
Jan Möller et al. (2020) Nature Chemical Biology. 16:946–954.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-020-0566-1.
The sensory coding of warm
perception
Ricardo Paricio-Montesinos et al. (2020) Neuron. 106(5):830-841.e3.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2020.02.035
33 GRADUATES
The COVID-19 crisis affected all aspects of University life, including the possibility of conducting the
(onsite) theses defences, resulting in a lower number of graduates this year. Congrats to all of them!
Andreani, Matteo Groenke, Nicole Lück, Jennifer Claudia
Anwar, Rabia Heimann, Andreas Miko, Henriette
Arlt, Birte Hüttemeister, Judith Müller, Laura Mara
Bogdanow, Boris Jeran, Stephanie Nickl, Bernadette
Bunatyan, Lena Kabrani, Eleni Pimpinella, Sofia
Cakmak, Nese Kanashova, Tamara Quinn, Hazel
Delgado Benito, Veronica Kempfer, Rieke Ramberger, Evelyn
Elmadany, Nirmeen Knape, Sara Ronen, Jonathan
Fernandes, Ana Miguel Kostova, Simona Ruzittu, Silvia
Geisberger, Sabrina Yasmin Larrosa, Madeleine Thiede, Katerina
Grinat, Johanna Lopez Cayuqueo, Irma Karen Zinnall, Ulrike
12 PHD REPRESENTATIVES
Photo: Michaela Herzig
Olya Oppenheim, Samantha Mendonsa, Ahla Ghauri, Kerstin Johanna Fentker, Sandhya Balasubramanian,
Leonie Milena Rosenberger, Jacobo Lopez Carballo, Nirmeen Elmadany, Somesh Sai, Thu Thi Pham,
Elisabeth Baumann, Marta Bastos de Oliveira. Thank you for your devoted work!
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