(June 28th, 2010) It’s already a while ago. In March, PhD students from across the Life Science disciplines met in Munich, Germany to share their research findings, discuss their scientific opinions and network within the local student community. A retrospective report from the third interact 2010 life sciences PhD symposium by Latika Bhonsle.
(Photo: Cool keynote speakers -- Susan Lindquist and Paolo Sassone Corsi, by interact 2010 life sciences PhD symposium)
It is 7.00 am on the 23rd of March 2010 and as the city of Munich awakes to yet another day, the main building of the LMU is witness to an unusual amount of activity. A band of PhD students in blue shirts rally around the venue that will today host the third interact 2010 life sciences PhD symposium. They, the organisers, have spent the last ten months working towards this day, which has now become an integral part of Munich’s student community. The one-day symposium will focus on presentations and posters by PhD students and is open to participants from all areas of life science interested in presenting their work to a broad scientific audience.
Munich has long since been home to three biologically oriented Max Planck Institutes - the MPI of Biochemistry, MPI of Neurobiology and MPI of Psychiatry -- as well as the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the two renowned universities Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) and Technische Universität München (TUM). Every year, this exceptional concentration of research facilities attracts more than a thousand graduate students from all over the world to Munich, where they begin their career as scientists.
The interact symposium was conceived with the aim of bringing together local PhD students and giving them a platform that would promote interdisciplinary exchange. The first symposium in this series was held in 2007. A ‘for PhD students, by PhD students’ event, interact is organised solely by PhD students on a voluntary basis and the event is supported both by the academia and industry.
At 8.30 am, the first delegates walk in and by 9.00 am the main auditorium is buzzing with excitement. Over 300 PhD students from various disciplines; among them ecologists, structural biologists, pharmacologists, botanists, biochemists are here to discuss the dimensions of PhD research in the life sciences and innovative strategies for solutions. This year, the symposium will be presided over by renowned scientists, Susan Lindquist and Paolo Sassone-Corsi, who will deliver keynote lectures during the course of the day.
The event opens with Professor Dr. Jörg Hoffmann, a Munich city councillor, welcoming the delegates on behalf of the city of Munich. One would expect a stern looking political figure but it’s a pleasant surprise to see how relaxed and straightforward he is. He talks of how Munich has developed into a centre for medical and life sciences research and how the student community is a strong presence here, while sharing humorous anecdotes from his days as a university student.
It is now time for the invited student speakers to address the audience. Elke Glasmacher (Helmholtz Center), Almut Graebsch (Helmholtz and LMU Gene Center) and Christian Jung (TUM) take the stage one by one and shed light on the intricacies of their PhD thesis topics: the discoveries they made, the challenges they overcame and the conclusions that were reached. Each talk is followed by an open question and answer round, mediating the very exchange that this symposium aims to foster.
This is followed by Paolo Sassone-Corsi’s talk on ‘Epigenetics and metabolism: the circadian clock connection’. Paolo is the Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics in the department of Pharmacology at the University of California. His research focuses on the mechanisms of signal transduction that are able to modulate nuclear functions and, in particular, gene expression, chromatin remodelling and epigenetic control. An outstanding scientist and a gifted speaker, he enthrals the audience, while bringing home the point that an interlocked transcriptional-enzymatic feedback loop governs the interplay between cellular metabolism and circadian rhythms.
It is now time for a coffee break and students throng to the poster boards. Walking down the wide corridors, one comes across topics ranging from bioinformatics to biophysics, developmental biology to psychology, cell biology, immunology and virology. The participants, belonging to different research institutes, varied labs and having different foci of interest, have the opportunity on this day to step out of their lab routine and appreciate the work of their contemporaries.
Downstairs in the central hall, the students mingle over lunch. Susan Lindquist and Paolo Sassone-Corsi speak with them and share their scientific opinions. The air is charged with excited voices as students brainstorm on new experiments, discuss novel approaches and put some thought into trouble shooting. The walls echo with the voices of future researchers and scientists that will help shape the world of tomorrow.
The second session of talks showcases the research of Eleni Karakasili (LMU Gene Centre), Max Rabus (LMU Biology), Kathrin Schneider (LMU Biology) and Michael Stiess (Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology). All speakers are well-poised and eloquent. The audience is equally interactive, posing interesting queries and suggestions go back and forth before the stage is set for the second keynote lecture.
Susan Lindquist walks up to the podium and tells the audience about ‘Protein folding driving evolutionary change’. Susan is a member and former Director (2001-2004) of Whitehead Institute, a Professor of Biology at MIT and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Her pioneering work in protein folding has demonstrated that alternative protein conformations have profound and unexpected effects in fields as wide ranging as human disease, evolution and biomaterials. Her work on yeast prions has provided evidence for a mechanism of protein-only inheritance and contributed to a structural understanding of amyloid fibre formation.
She starts her talk with a funny video demonstrating the public’s disbelief in evolution. As her talk proceeds, Susan takes us into the world of chaperones, protein folding and describes how this relates to our understanding of evolution. The audience hangs on every word and she ends to a huge round of applause.
During the day, the audience has been asked to evaluate the student speakers and poster presenters, and vote for their favourites. After dinner, the votes have been counted and the results are in. Michael Stiess is awarded the ‘best student speaker’ award while Thomas Michael Thestrup and Anselm Geiger walk away with the ‘best poster’ award. Coincidentally, all three winners are working at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology.
The evening now changes pace as the stage is set for the after-symposium party. The party starters turn out to be the two keynote speakers themselves; it is a joy to watch Susan Lindquist and Paolo Sassone-Corsi encourage the students to move onto the dance floor and unwind after a long day. Music and laughter fills the air, as yet another interact symposium comes to a successful end.
As we bid them goodbye, we congratulate the organisers for putting on a good show and wish the participants a well-earned party. Watch this space for more news on the follow up symposium in 2011.