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Graduate School of Life Sciences

2010 Dec

2010 December - the Xmas newsletter

newsletter No 5

Graduate Schools study trip to Brussels

Editorial

Dear GSLS members and friends,

This time of year makes you look back. +++ Two highlights were the Graduate Schools Day with the river boat trip in July, and the International Doctoral Students´ Symposium in October. +++ Other outstanding events were the two interview rounds recruiting new fellows. The first round took place last January when 13 fellows were accepted, the other one took place in November with 18 more fellows. Today 275 doctoral students are members of the GSLS.  23 doctoral students finished with their dissertations in 2010 and the doctoral degree was conferred on them. Another thirteen doctoral students have handed in their dissertations and they will defend early next year. +++ New last year was the first study trip with the destination Brussels. Eighteen doctoral students enjoyed this trip, and there will be another study trip to Berlin next year. +++ The UWGS got addition with a new Graduate School, the Graduate School of Law, Economics & Society. “I am very glad the time of planning is over now”, says the newly appointed director of the GSLES Prof. Dr. Ralf Schenke. And so is the GSLS: we are happy to welcome the GSLES  as new partner, and we wish a good start and success! +++ Last but not least the protests and demonstrations of the University´s governance, students, and staff against the planned budget cut of 1,1 million euros was another extraordinary event. However, the Bavarian State Ministry of Science, Research, and Art says that they keep supporting the universities such to remain the number 1 in Germany in 2011. +++ Finally, please note that the GSLS office will be closed "between the years" and that doctoral students may again submit their thesis after 03 January 2011. +++

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

wishes your GSLS team

1. Featured Paper

The first round of 2011 for the featured paper contest has been opened: win a prize of 250 euros for a conference participation or external research stay. All GSLS doctoral students may send their publications dating from December 2010 onwards to gabriele.blum(at)uni-wuerzburg.de and run for the next "Featured Paper". Closing date: 15 April 2011

2. Doctoral Students´ Affairs
  • Meet the people of the Doctoral Students´Council (DSC)

DSC Elections

  • Candidates wanted! Please contact the DSC

Writing Contest

  • A major part of the 5th International Doctoral Students´ Symposium was the Writing Contest. Find five significant papers here

For your messages

  • Are you looking for new friends to play cards with? Do you want to share your research findings with somebody from another section? You may post any message here

Greetings from…

  • Find first impressions of a doctoral student who is spending a few months in Cape Town, South Africa. – You are welcome to post YOUR experiences here.

FAQ of the month

  • Where would I find information on the official Ph.D. degree requirements for my graduate program?
  • I´m having a dispute / disagreement with someone in my graduate program / department / in the University administration. Are there any resources /ombudspeople in the Graduate School available to help me?
  • I would like to brush up my English. Where do I register for classes?

3. GSLS Newsdesk

The GSLS welcomes new PIs!

  • PD Dr. Robert Blum, Institut für Klinische Neurobiologie
  • Prof. Dr. Christoph Kleinschnitz, Neurologische Klinik und Poliklinik
  • Daniel Murphy, PhD, Lehrstuhl für Physiologische Chemie
  • Dr. Christoph Reinhardt, Institut für Klinische Biochemie und Pathobiochemie
  • Prof. Dr. Jens Volkmann, Neurologische Klinik und Poliklinik

GSLS Calender

  • Doctoral students may submit their thesis again after 03 January 2011
  • The summer semester 2011 registration is between 10 January and 04 February 2011

New: Ph.D. Graduation Regulations

  • Doctoral students who are pursuing the degree Ph.D. can now officially register for this study program when they re-register for the summer semester. Read more in the Ph.D. Graduation Regulations (in German)

International Doctoral Students

New Award

  • Serendipity Award of the University of Bavaria honors incidential findings. Incidential findings were for instance the discovery of America in 1492, the discovery of X-rays, of Penicillin or Viagra, the instant adhesive, or cosmic backround radiation. This award is given for works which show transferable approaches and which exceed established methods in an innovative and creative fashion. The prize is awarded for the first time in 2011 and includes 1,000 euros prize money. Doctoral students may apply by 31 January 2011

Awarded

  • The Bioelectromagnetics Society in Seoul awarded Henning Hintzsche, section Biomedicine, the 2010 Second Place Platform Award for his research on Micronucleus frequency 
  •  The Society for Free Radical Research - Europe awarded Rajaraman Gnana Oli with a travel award to their international meeting in Orlando, USA, for his excellent scientific achievement in the field of Free Radical Research

Study Trip 2011

  • The next study trip is planned to visit Berlin in early summer

New: PIs and Team

  • Leadership and Team Building workshops for PIs and team are custom-tailored and held on request

New: Workshop for GSLS and non-GSLS Doctoral Students

  • Joint workshop for GSLS and non-GSLS doctoral students on the challenge of original writing: Copyright

Transferable Skills Workshops

  • Find the 2011 schedule with a number of new workshops - supportive for your thesis and for your time as a postdoc

4. University News

Welcome GSLES!

  • The Graduate School of Law, Economics & Society was inaugurated on 23 November 2010. They will start "with a research training group on Governance in a global society and economy, comprising doctoral students from all three faculties participating in the GSLES”, states the newly appointed director of the GSLES Prof. Dr. Ralf Schenke.  (in German) 

Funding for Publications

  • Publication in Open-Access Journals may be funded by a 2011 funding program of the University of Würzburg. Please register by email at the library after having made sure to meet with the DFG standards (in German)

Excellence Group

  • Physicists and Biologists are excellent as measured by the number of publications, excellent researchers, and students´ mobility as well as of Marie-Curie-projects and Erasmus-Mundus-Masters. Würzburg physicists and biologists are top in the Europe wide excellence ranking

Scientific Findings

  • Nano experts verify the physics of vortex and antivortex pairs
  • The Robert-Koch-Institute gave permission for research on the “behavior” of human embryonic stem cells. (in German)
  • Advanced biomaterials and scaffolds for tissue engineering place high demands on materials and exceed the passive biocompatibility requirements previously considered acceptable for biomedical implants
  • Even pathogenic bacteria can suffer from stress, e.g. when they are getting attacked by the immune system of their host. How do salmonella bacteria react to such stress?
  • Multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains that are resistant against traditional antibiotics are another threat for especially sick and weak people. This is why as much as four million hospital patients in Europe suffer from an infection while they are in hospital. Researchers have found a promising method for treatment

Awarded

  • Multiple-Sklerose-Research Award. For his outstanding research on multiple sclerosis Professor Rudolf Martini, Neurological Clinic Würzburg, was awarded the Skorbek Award. (in German)  

University Protests against Planned Budget Cuts

  • 3000 students, staff and the university governance were marching against planned budget cuts of 1.1 million euros in the education sector. Read the Open Letter to the Bavarian Minister President Horst Seehofer (in German)
  • Politicians visit the University. The state government took these protests seriously and came to Würzburg to discuss matters. Read more (in German)

More than 22,000 Students at the University in 2010

  • 42% out of the current 22,128 students at the university are male; 12,830 are female. The percentage of internationals is at approx. 7% (1,522)

Passion Flower: medicinal plant of 2011

  • Because the passion flower is both exceptionally beautiful and has got sedative extracts it was chosen the medicinal plant of 2011 by the Study Circle of Medicinal Plants´ Development History of this university. (in German) 

The University´s Event Calender

  • Talks, exhibitions, symposia, and more  

5. Off Campus

Life on Earth

  • Up until now, it was believed that all life required phosphorus as a fundamental piece of the ‘backbone’ that holds DNA together. The discovery of an organism that thrives on otherwise poisonous arsenic broadens our thinking about the possibility of life on other planets

Scientific Findings

  • Embryos from different species don't just look the same - there are striking parallels between individual development and the development of a species on the level of gene expression, too.
  • Scientists have identified human DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) variants that enhance the predictive power of a test used to measure prostate specific antigen (PSA), a protein produced by normal prostate cells that is elevated when cancer is present
  • A new material will make it possible to check wounds without changing the dressing: if an infection arises, the material changes its color

Cooperation

  • Internationality: new German-Japanese collaboration in the field of Computational Neurosciences, a joint inititiative of the DFG, The German Federal Ministry of Research and Education and the Japan Science and Technology Agency
  • Interdisciplinarity. Food Law is not only subject to Public Law but also to Competition Law or Civil Law. The Research Centre for German and European Food Law belongs to the Faculty of Law, Business and Economics at the University of Bayreuth

Grants

Jobs

  • Life Science Incubator, catalyzing start-ups supports business ideas. It is a bridge between science and the health care market researching on Chemical Biology of Neurodegenerative Diseases 
  • Career Venture 2011

News from...

  • ... "Bologna". Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is getting serious in regard to university autonomy. They are re-introducing the degree Diplom-Ingenieur (in German)    
  • ... London. Angry students set fires, smashed windows, fought riot police and forced their way on to the roof of a building in Westminster to protest against the forthcoming rise in university tuition fees turned violent
  • WikiLeaks: threat or challenge?

Würzburg Events

Scheme of a typical GPCR with its c-terminus fused to the fluorescent protein GFP. After excitation with laserlight of 488nm the corresponding emission intensity can be detected. Such fluorescent labeled proteins are used for example to detect their localization using the confocal microscopy technique;
by Susanne Nuber, section Biomedicine

contact: liebert(at)gsls.uni-wuerzburg.de

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