One of our PhD students, Daniela Schranner, visited the international PhD Symposium at the European Molecular Biology Lab (EMBL) in Heidelberg from 22nd – 24th of November (http://phdsymposium.embl.org/). The EMBL is one of the world’s leading research institutes and operates from six sites in Europe (Heidelberg; Hinxton, UK; Hamburg; Barcelona; Rome; Grenoble). The goal of the EMBL is to perform basic molecular biology research and train international scientists to become great researchers in a field of molecular biology.
Every year, the EMBL organizes an international PhD symposium where PhD students from around the world can present their work, attend workshops, connect with each other and learn from experienced researchers and top scientists (even nobel laureates) in the field of molecular biology. Networking is essential for PhD students during all phases of a PhD. In her PhD project, Daniela wants to characterize the extreme capacities of the human metabolism. Together with the Helmholtz Center in Munich she uses molecular biology methods to analyze small molecules in human blood samples of elite athletes. “Being an exercise scientist myself, I consider it essential to connect with researchers from a field where I don’t have a lot of experience yet, but which is vital for my PhD. I wanted to attend conferences, learn there about current topics and connect with fellow PhDs at an early phase of my PhD.” The talks at the symposium were diverse and ranged from surprising cancer prevention tools (https://swallowthesponge.org/), over how scientist can connect to academia and business (Dr. Chibeza Agely), to how fish colour their skin (Dr. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Nobel laureate for Physiology or Medicine, 1995). Next to the great speakers, this symposium was excellent to connect with other PhD students and share your experiences with them.