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01 – Biochemist Dr. Gillian Dornan (FMP): fundamental biology, self-reflection, and all round professional development

The first guest of the Marthe Vogt Podcast is Dr. Gillian Dornan, a postdoctoral researcher at the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP).

In this episode, we discuss how not to loose motivation, the importance of self-reflection in career planning, and how to deal with mental health issues in academia.

Originally hailing from Vancouver, Canada, Gillian received her BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences followed by a MSc Molecular Genetics from the University of Leicester in the UK. Afterwards, she joined the labs of Lori Passmore and Andrew Carter at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge where she was inspired to switch to the study of the structure-function relationship of macromolecular complexes.

Taking a leap of faith, Gillian joined John Burkes lab in Victoria, Canada as his first graduate student where she completed her PhD on how the class I PI3K lipid signalling enzymes are regulated and how they are involved in human disease. Gillian joined the lab of Volker Haucke at the FMP in July 2019 to study the class II PI3K proteins, how they are regulated and their roles in the cell.

The interview was conducted by Natalia Stolyarchuk.

Aquatic ecologist Dr. Mina Bizic (IGB): exploring life in water and dealing with dual careers in science

In the second episode, we meet with an aquatic microbial ecologist Dr. Mina Bizic. Mina holds a temporary position for principal investigator (DFG Eigene Stelle) in the Department of Experimental Limnology of the Leibniz-Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin, Germany.

In the interview she talks about her childhood in Serbia, her fascination for natural sciences, her role models, and balancing career and family.

Dr. Mina Bizic was born in Belgrade, where she finished her Diploma thesis in general biology and aquatic ecology. After her studies, she was offered the position of research assistant at the Institute of Oceanography and Limnological Research (IOLR) in Israel. Working at the institute encouraged her desire to follow an academic path. She received her PhD from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (MPI) in Bremen, Germany, after which she continued her postdoctoral research at IGB in Berlin, Germany. Her research interests include the Global Carbon Cycle with respect to methane formation and carbon dioxide sequestration by phytoplankton blooms.

The interview was conducted by Natalia Stolyarchuk.

03 – Mathematician Dr. Luisa Andreis (WIAS): probability theory, friendship with colleagues, and role models in maths.

The guest of this episode is a postdoctoral researcher at the Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics (WIAS) Dr. Luisa Andreis.

In this episode, we talk about the importance of mutual support between colleagues in science and whether it‘s possible to organize a math conference with just female speakers in the program.

After studying Mathematics at University of Torino, Luisa obtained a PhD in Computational Mathematics at the University of Padova, with a thesis in statistical mechanics. She then moved to WIAS, in Berlin, to work as a post-doc in the group Interacting random systems, where she widened her research interests and her collaboration network.

She has been a visiting researcher at Institute Henri Poincaré in Paris and Haussdorf research institute for Mathematics in Bonn. She works at the boundary between physics and mathematics and is mainly interested in studying rigorous mathematical properties of systems inspired by questions arising in natural science and in understanding universality in nature and in mathematics.

04 – Theoretical chemist Dr. Elisa Palacino Gonzalez (MBI): quantum chemistry and stand-up comedy

The guest of the fourth episode of the Marthe Vogt Podcast is a postdoctoral researcher of Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy Dr. Elisa Palacino Gonzalez.

We discussed what makes up the job of a theoretical chemist, and how it differs from the regular chemist. Elisa told why she likes to have multiple hobbies and shared her experience as a stand-up comedian.

Elisa Palacino Gonzalez graduated with a Licenciatura in Chemistry from the Universidad de Extremadura, Spain in 2013. Then she moved to Munich, Germany to join the Theoretical Chemistry group of Prof. Wolfgang Domcke from the Technical University of Munich, where she worked on her master thesis in the field of theoretical spectroscopy, until 2014.

She continued her research in this field with her PhD studies in the “theory of nonlinear optical spectroscopy of molecular ensembles and single molecules” from 2014 to 2019. In her doctoral work she developed numerical methods to simulate and analyze nonlinear time-resolved optical spectroscopic signals of molecular model systems following the interaction with several UV pulses of femtosecond duration.

Following this strong interest in the field of molecular spectroscopy, after finishing her PhD in 2019, she moved to Berlin to join the group of Dr. Benjamin Fingerhut at the Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy as a postdoctoral researcher. Since then she has been extending her expertise in theoretical spectroscopy and quantum dynamics to study vibrational problems in the infrared regime in close collaboration with the experimental group of Prof. Thomas Elsaesser.

The interview was conducted by Natalia Stolyarchuk.

05 – Physicist Melanie Budde (PDI): developing new materials and finding passion for teaching

The guest of the fifth episode of the Marthe Vogt Podcast is physicist Melanie Budde, who had recently completed her doctoral research at the Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik (PDI) and made a decision to continue her career outside the academic research. In this episode she reflects about her own doctoral experience and shares some tips on how to make your PhD time as smooth and positive as possible and take the most of it for the future.

Melanie studied Nanotechnology with a focus on semiconductor and physics at the Leibniz University Hannover. After her master she moved to Berlin to start her Ph.D. thesis on the MBE growth and doping of p-type oxides at the Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik (PDI). The thesis is embedded in the Leibniz ScienceCampus “GraFOx” which connects multiple research partners with the shared goal to increase the knowledge in oxide materials.

Her focus lies on the fundamental research of the materials. This mainly involves the growth of high crystal quality thin films and their electrical properties. As part of her work at PDI she was able to get first insights into science communication which changed her career path. Now she would like to become a physics teacher after she defended her thesis.

The interview was conducted by Natalia Stolyarchuk.

Biochemist Dr. Annita Louloupi (BIMSB MDC): unlocking secrets of RNA, dealing with overwork, and dancing for body and mind

In the sixth episode of Marthe Vogt Podcast we are welcoming biochemist Dr. Annita Louloupi – the winner of this year’s Marthe Vogt Award, presented annually by the FVB to an outstanding early-career woman scientist, active in a field covered by one of the FVB’s institutes.

In this interview, Annita tells about the main results of her doctoral thesis, reflects on her time as a doctoral student, shares how she dealt with an overwhelming workload and what lessons she learned from it.

Annita Louloupi studied biology at the University of Crete and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Amsterdam. She has completed her PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (MPIMG). Currently, she works at the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, where she is involved in several different projects that revolve around post-transcriptional gene regulation. 

Listen the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts

The interview was conducted by Natalia Stolyarchuk.