At the end of April, Ulm University honoured young scientists at an awards ceremony. At Villa Eberhardt, start-up funding and a young talent incubator grant were celebrated, the winners of Science Day were honoured, and University Teaching Certificates were presented. The event was organised by ProTrainU, the university's Graduate & Professional Training Center.
Dr Xingmao Chang (Institute of Organic Chemistry I) was awarded a so-called Start-up FundingA of up to 50,000 euros for his work on (supra-)molecular multi-qubit architecture. Two researchers from the Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conversation Genomics are also being honoured: Dr Dominik Melville is researching the 24-hour cycle in the microbiome of bats and Dr Magdalena Meyer is also working on the microbiome, this time as an indicator of the health of the European pond turtle. The start-up funding takes the form of material and personnel resources and is intended to help young scientists to sharpen their research profile and write funding applications for third-party funds.
The Junior Incubators also support young scientific talent and create space for innovative and creative research projects. This time, Dr Jana Dobelmann (Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conversation Genomics) will receive funding of up to 100,000 euros. As part of the "BeePath" project, the biologist is investigating how, for example, mites affect viral pathogens in bee communities.
In individual interviews, Professor Dieter Rautenbach, Vice President for Careers and Scientific Director of ProTrainU, presented the winners of the 4th "Young Researchers' Science Day" at Ulm University. Dr Melissa Hitzler from the Department of Clinical and Biological Psychology received 50,000 euros for first place. The clinical psychologist is investigating the role of Biology in the successful treatment of psychotherapy after childhood sexual abuse. Second place, and thus 30,000 euros, went to the physician Dr Sarah Schröder (Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery), who is researching drugs that kill pathogens without harming humans. Both young researchers impressed the Science Day jury with their proposal and a short, easy-to-understand pitch presentation.
At the award ceremony, the Vice President Education, Professor Olga Pollatos, also presented the University Teaching Certificates from the Baden-Württemberg University Teaching Methods Centre to the dedicated junior lecturers Dr. Julia Zinngrebe, Dr Andreas Allgöwer, Dr Mariam Bita Seyfang, Dr Johannes Roßkopf, Dr Jens Friedland, Dr Graciosa Patrícia Quelhas Teixeira, Dr Lisa Wohlgemuth, Leonie Langer, Dr Magdalena Meyer, Dr Sascha Haag, Dr Ulrike Hoffmann, Junior-Professor Michael Götz, Dr Theresa Unseld and Natalie Rupp.
Text: Daniela Stang