The participants voted for the ten best out of the almost 400 science posters presented at the Botanik-Tagung, International Conference of the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG). DBG’s awardees will receive 142 Euros each, since DBG was founded 142 years ago. The list with the names of first authors and the titles of the awarded posters, as well as single photos of each of the hand-overs of the certificates are summarized here:

During the International Conference of our German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) the Botanik-Tagung, plant geneticist Dr. Henryk Straube received the Wilhelm Pfeffer Pize, microbe scientist Dr. Eliza Loo got the Eduard Strasburger Prize, and bioinformatician Dr. Martin Lewinski’s work was awarded with the Horst Wiehe Prize. The three awardees were invited to present their research in a plenary lecture. Also cell biologist Dr. Pratibha Kumari was handed over the certificate for the best plant science paper, awarded in 2023, during DBG’s biannual science conference. Their excellent plant research results will help future research in measuring rare DNA nucleotids, improving plant health, analyzing RNA binding proteins, or looking into plant cell division.
Details about this year’s science awards can be retrieved from the press release published beforehand: “Roots are like human guts, new enzyme discovered, and new lab method established”.

Registration is open for DBG's second Eduard Strasburger Hot Topic Workshop. It focusses on "Co- and posttranslational control in chloroplasts" (#DBGHotTop2024) and will be organized in Münster, Germany, from 18 – 20 November 2024. Attendance to the workshop is free for early career researchers (ECRs) and made possible through DBG's funding. The workshop will be organised by Dr Jürgen Eirich and Jens Mühlenbeck from the Institute for Plant Biology and Biotechnology at Münster University.

The next Eduard Strasburger Hot Topic Conference will focus on “Co- and posttranslational control in chloroplasts” in Münster, Germany, from 18 – 20 November 2024. It will be organized especially for early career researchers (ECR), who will be invited to join the meeting without any fees. Some of well-known speakers in this field have already confirmed their participation, according to the organizers Dr. Jürgen Eirich and Jens Mühlenbeck from the Institute for Plant Biology and Biotechnology at Münster University. Stay tuned for more information to come.  

The nominations for the three prestigious awards for aspiring early career plant scientists are open now. DBG members and others, please nominate suitable candidates for the Eduard Strasburger Prize, the Wilhelm Pfeffer Prize and the Horst Wiehe Prize. Also read "Übersicht der Wissenschaftspreise der DBG". Application deadline is 1^st May 2024 for each of them.

Summary table (in German, pdf)

Update 08 April 2024: all 60 grants have already be allocated.

To support participation of early career plant scientists (ERC) in our International Conference of the German Society for Plant Sciences (BT2024: Botanik-Tagung 2024 15^th to 19^th September 2024 in Halle a.d.S., Germany), DBG provides a maximum of 60 travel grants up to 400 Euro each for members, who actively take part in the conference with a talk or a poster. DBG reimburses traveling and accommodation costs as well as registration fees. Grants will be allocated according to the order in which applications are received; until 25^th May the latest. It therefore is advantageous to apply rapidly.

Details are in our intranet (login required)

The topics in the master theses ranged from parasite defence over a hands-on model for teaching, an interactive database to help people protecting endangered plants, the search for resistances in crops up to the effects of microplastics as well as drought stress, just to name a few. They received the prizes for best master theses which were awarded by DBG last year. The 18 awards at the participating universities were given to eight female and ten male students for their excellent studies. The following summary provides their names and research details.

To list of awardees and research topics

In 2022 DBG has awarded 15 early career plant scientists and their outstanding master theses. The diverse range of topics included research results that were published in a Nature article. The many topics covered: nickel resistance in a Noccaea caerulescens infecting pathogene, genetic markers to identify the alga Pantocsekiella, ER-tonoplast membrane contact sites, whether some endemic Euphorbia species resulted from polyploidisation, Glyoxalase I among Arabidopsis thaliana ecotypes, how Galium wirtgenii adapts to restored meadows, how heat and nitrogen amounts influence growth and development of potato plants, invention of an in vivo NADH/NAD+-monitoring system in pattern-triggered immune response, how N-deficiency in Helianthus annuus induces UV-screening compounds, a new electro-physiologic method to characterize the PIN-FORMED8 transport protein, how stomatal morphology impacts gas exchange, transcriptional control of photosynthetic gene expression, how lipids regulate the membrane-actin interface in polar growing plant cells, antibacterial gene silencing approaches, as well as mesofauna biodiversity in tree cavity habitats.
The DBG warmly congratulates the successful award winners and thanks the contact persons who managed the selection process at the individual universities and handed over the certificates.

Names of the awardees and contents of awarded theses

From the more than 300 displayed scientific posters presented at Botanik-Tagung 2022, International Conference of the German Society for Plant Sciences, participants and a jury selected the ten best posters in a two-step selection procedure. Votes from participants were given priority over committee votes. The early career plant scientists were rewarded for their scientific work presented on the respective posters and received an endowment of 140 Euros reach, since our German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) has turned 140 this year.

Awarded early career scientists and the titles of the presented posters (pdf file)

BT22: Application for Travel Grants

The DBG supports young scientists actively taking part in the Botanik-Tagung (28 August to 1 September 2022 in Bonn, Germany) and provides a maximum of 100 travel grants up to 350 Euros for early career participants.

Requirements

• You must be a member of the DBG (membership applications are possible any time; become a member)
• You are a young scientist doing a PhD or writing your Master thesis without holding a full position
• You are working on a topic of plant science
• You are presenting a poster or giving a (short) oral presentation
• You provide evidence of your expenses with receipts after the conference
• Multiple financial support is excluded

Application

Please complete the > application form, which will be transmitted to the treasurer of the DBG. You will receive a notice afterwards.

Deadline

Please submit your application for a travel grant (read details here) until 24^th May 2022 the latest. The travel grants to visit the Botanik-Tagung, International Conference of the German Society for Plant Sciences (in Bonn, Germany, 28 August to 1 September 2022), will be allocated according to the order in which applications are received. Being fast therefore is of advantage.

Decision

You will receive an e-mail regarding the approval of your travel grant application.

Reimbursements

Traveling Costs

DBG reimburses either a second-class train or bus ticket or it covers the travel allowance for car usage.

Accommodation Costs

The DBG reimburses accommodation costs not exceeding the maximum of the legally established levels of the tax office.

Registration fee

The DBG reimburses registration fee.

> Application form

> Reimbursement  

16 excellent Master theses in the plant sciences were awarded by our Society in the preceding year. The awarded persons (twelve female and four male scientists) did research in the following topics and questions:  

At which site parasites infect host plants; how plant defence strategies against pathogenic bacteria evolved; plant-microbe interactions; evolution of C3-C4 intermediate photosynthesis; localization of membrane transport proteins; genetic structure of allopolyploid marsh orchids; karyotype evolution in sugar beet; role of cyclophilin in the redox regulatory network; status of the threatened plant Sand Silvercrack; terpene biosynthesis in cyanobacteria; functional characterization of enzymes involved in violaxanthin biosynthesis; pathogen hypersusceptibility and defence in Arabidopsis suppressor mutants; localization analysis of enzymes involved in Lewis a-epitope formation; glutaredoxins as well as habitat requirements of alpine tussock graminoids.

The prizes, which have been awarded for eight years in a row by now, are supported by a certificate and a financial appreciation and were coordinated at the participating universities thanks to DBG’s local representatives. DBG congratulates all awardees, thanks the contact persons involved and wishes all awardees success in their further careers.  

All awardees’ names and titles of the master theses are listed here

Sorry, in German only

Auch wenn  die Verleihungen und die Übergabe der Urkunden dieses Jahr Pandemie-bedingt auf Distanz und nicht bei Abschlussfeiern stattfanden, konnte die DBG wieder mehrere herausragende Master-Abschlussarbeiten in den Pflanzenwissenschaften auszeichnen. Die vielfältigen Arbeiten aus den 12 Hochschulen, von denen die DBG Mitteilungen erhielt, thematisierten: 

• CAM-Photosynthese und physiologische Charakteristika
• Pflanzenmerkmale und Attraktivität für bestäubende Insekten
• wie eine Glykosilierung die Geißel-Bewegung beeinflusst
• Evolution der RNA im Moos Physcomitrium patens
• Tetrapyrrol-Synthese
• in vivo-Analyse der Protein Translokation in Peroxisomen
• physiologische Stressantwort in Synechocystis
• neue Modellorganismen zur Erforschung der frühen Landpflanzen-Evolution
• wie Genom-Duplikationen und wiederkehrende Hybridisierung die Artbildung beeinflusst
• zwei neue Methoden: neu etabliertes optogenetisches System, Genom-Editierung mittels CRISPR/Cas9 in der Grünalge Volvox carteri
• wie man kontinuierlich Wasserstoff produzieren könnte, wenn man verschiedene Organismen geschickt miteinander kombiniert.

Die DBG dank den Kontaktpersonen an den Universitäten, für Ihr Engagement bei der Auswahl der besten Master-Arbeiten des vergangenen Jahres, die in diesem Jahr mehrheitlich an weibliche Forschende verliehen wurden.

Zu den Titeln, Preisträger*innen, Bildern und Abstracts

Sorry, report in German only

Ihre Ergebnisse und Forschungsarbeiten über die vielfältigen Interaktionen zwischen (Nutz-)Pflanzen und Mikroben tauschten knapp 20 angehende Wissenschaftler*innen aus drei Ländern im Februar in Königswinter aus. Die Tagung thematisierte sowohl Symbiosen als auch Pflanzen-Pathogene. Eine externe Vortragende berichtete über Jobs außerhalb von Universtäten und ein Mitmach-Workshop ermunterte die Teilnehmenden über Chancen und Risiken der öffentlichen Kommunikation ihrer Forschungsthemen nachzudenken. Einig war man sich, dass es ein großes Interesse an der Interaktions-Forschung geben sollte, da diese dazu beiträgt, anwenderfreundliche Lösungen für den Erhalt der Pflanzengesundheit und der Ertragsmengen zu bieten. Die fünf Organisator*innen des Eduard-Strasburger-Workshops der DBG von angehenden Nachwuchskräften der Sektion für Interaktionen für andere junge Pflanzenwissenschaftler*innen fassen die Veranstaltung zusammen.

Robert Hoffie, who tweets as @ForscherRobert on Twitter received the Section's first award for excellent science communication on 13th February 2020.

Sorry, futher details available in German only.

Erstmals haben wir unseren neuen Preis für Wissenschaftskommunikation verliehen. Die Auszeichnung ging an Robert Hoffie, Doktorand am Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung in Gatersleben (IPK). Als @ForscherRobert engagiert sich der Pflanzenforscher in Sozialen Medien, erklärt geduldig den Stand der Forschung über moderne Methoden in der Pflanzenforschung und scheut - wenn es nötig ist - auch nicht die Auseinandersetzung mit Politikern.
„Wenige andere Pflanzenwissenschaftler sind so engagiert in den sozialen Netzwerken wie Robert Hoffie“, sagte Prof. Dr. Stefan Rensing, Sprecher der Sektion. Er wünsche sich mehr Wissenschaftler wie Robert Hoffie, die unsere Themen in die Öffentlichkeit tragen und unsere Sichtbarkeit erhöhen.

Die Auszeichnung verlieh die Sektion am 13. Februar, während der jährlichen Konferenz Molecular Biology of Plants in Dabringhausen (Nordrhein-Westfalen). „Der Preis ist für mich Motivation und Bestätigung zugleich“, erklärte Robert Hoffie. Denn der aktuelle Stand der Wissenschaft sei das Beste, was wir haben, um zu fundierten Einschätzungen zu kommen. "Worauf, wenn nicht darauf, sollen wir unsere Einschätzungen denn künftig sonst stützen?“ fragt sich der 28-Jährige. Zwar könne die Wissenschaft nicht die Politik ersetzen, werde aber selbst immer mehr zu einem gesellschaftlichen Akteur.

Quelle: IPK beim idw

Temperature regulation in tree canopies, heavy metals and herbivory, speciation, development of fluorescent sensors for hypoxia investigations, a phytopararetrovirus of sugar beet, (bio-)synthesis and chemistry of suberin and leucine, as well as the development of orchards in the city were topics of the ten awarded master theses, which were given DBG's awards for best plant science master theses in 2019. The work was carried out at the universities of Bayreuth, Bielefeld, Bonn, Dresden, Cologne, Leipzig, Münster, Oldenburg, Rostock, Salzburg, and the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie. DBG thanks all involved jury members at the universities.

​read more about all 10 awarded theses

From the more than 190 posters presented at Botanikertagung 2019 in Rostock, Germany, participants chose several as best papers. The awarded presenters received a document as well as 137 Euros each since the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) today was 137 years old.

Awarded young scientists and their poster titles (pdf file)

How climate change influences growing seasons length in woody plants and survival of flowers, the substances that influence shape changes of plastids, and the proteins that spur phloem differentiation are in the research focus of the four plant scientists who will receive the science prices of the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) this year. Dr. Constantin Mario Zohner, Dr. Jessica Lee Erickson, Dr. Moisés Expósito Alonso and Dr. Eva-Sophie Wallner will get their awards during the Botanikertagung, the International Plant Science Conference in Rostock, Germany. From 16^th to 18^th September, the four will present their research results to the more than 420 conference participants.

Members, especially early career plant scientists, can receive funding for visiting another lab or institute. For example to leant new methods and  scientific techniques or to initiate a new pilot study. Funding is restricted to those who will not receive funding elsewhere. DBG offers up to 50 travel grants each year for early career plant scientists of up to 400 Euros each. Our Executive Board reviews the applications and gives you feedback about its decision (normally within one week).

DBG offers travel grants for early career scientists, who want to visit another lab / institute for example to leanr new methods and scientific techniques or to initiate pilot studies with up to 400 Euros each. 

> application process

> payment of grants

> online application form

The nominations for the three prestigious awards for aspiring early career plant scientists are open now. DBG members and others, please nominate suitable candidates for the Eduard Strasburger Prize, the Wilhelm Pfeffer Prize and the Horst Wiehe Prize.

Summary: table (pdf, in German)

The DBG awards the two young plant scientists Dr. Aleksandra Sapala (MPI for Plant Breeding Research Cologne, Dr. Richard Smith at Prof. Miltos Tsiantis) and Dr. Jutta Baldauf (Bonn University, Prof. Frank Hochholdinger) with its Best Paper Prize. Sapala has shown why plants have puzzle cells, how this shape emerges and what advantages they provide for the plant. In the journal eLife (DOI: 10.7554/eLife.32794) she also demonstrates that in plants physics play just an important role as biochemistry or genetics. Baldauf described extensive gene expression complementation in maize hybrids driven by evolutionary younger non-syntenic genes in the journal Current Biology (DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.12.027). These SPE genes could be used to identify high-yield plants. Both awardees will receive their certificates next year during the Conference Botanikertagung in Rostock, Germany. The financial endowments were already presented to them.

Read more about DBG’s support of young scientists

The DBG awarded the two scientists Dr. Katja Meyer (Bielefeld University, WG Prof. D. Staiger) and Dr. Max Lauterbach (Mainz University, WG Prof. G. Kadereit, now Australia) with the Best Paper Prize in Plant Sciences 2018. Meyer adapted the iCLIP technique for plants and identified numerous rhythmic transcripts to be directly regulated by the clock-controlled RNA-binding protein AtGRP7. She published the results in the Journal Genome Biology (DOI: 10.1186/s13059-017-1332-x). Lauterbach identified genes putatively encoding novel C4 proteins through a comparison of five chenopod species with different photosynthetic types. He published the results in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science (DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2017.01939). The awardees will receive their certificates next year during the Conference Botanikertagung in Rostock, Germany. The financial endowments were already given to them.

Read more about DBG’s support of young scientists

Linda Titkemeier's Master thesis was awarded with the Prize for the Best Plant Science Master Thesis, which was carried out at Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg in the year 2017

Title of awarded thesis

"Development of suitable supports for plant specification courses.
A research on German High School and college students to determine their knowledge of native plants, their diversity and growth."

This research is the first to compare the knowledge of Biology college students before and after taking part in a plant specification course and the first to take a focus on how to further improve study supports.

The final programme for the Eduard-Strasburger Workshop of the DBG is ready and lists speakers and titles of the talks. The paper also informs about the venue and public transportation. The conference will take place in Bonn, Germany, from 17^th to 19^th April 2018. Orgnizers Dr. Stefanie Müller-Schüssele und Dr. Mareike Schallenberg-Rüdinger are looking forward to an interesting meeting.

> Programme (pdf)

From 17^th to 19^th April early career plant scientists will meet to discuss research on mitochondria at Bonn University under the title Power Plants in Plants – Mitochondrial Functions in the Green Lineage. Interested people are invited to register until 10^th March 2018. The Eduard-Strasburger Workshop funded by the DBG is organised by Dr. Stefanie Müller-Schüssele und Dr. Mareike Schallenberg-Rüdinger who look forward to an interesting meeting, which will allow early careers scientists to meet, network and discuss their recent results.

> Poster: speakers and schedule (pdf file)

> Registration Form (Word .dotx file)

> Venue: Bonn University, Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology (IZMB), Kirschallee 1, 53115 Bonn, Germany

Why an invasive pest slug devoured some lettuces while others remain untouched was one of the topics of the honoured master theses (little hint: it were not the salads themselves). The other young plant scientists elucidated specific functions of N-glycosylated proteins in plants, analysed the effects of inhibited chloroplast's development on genetic expression, tested, which substances of an invasive plant contributed to substantial crop failure. One thesis clarified three algal taxa of Trachelomonas, that were validly described already 100 years ago. For the fourth time the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) has awarded outstanding MSc theses. This year they were given to three female and two male biologists from the universities of Bielefeld, Münster, Salzburg, Kiel as well as LMU in Munich. The summaries and images of the outstanding works are now on the website.  
See overview

Sorry, in German only

Der 3. Eduard Strasburger Workshop mit dem Titel Two Genomes in one Cell - Communication and Conflict lockte mehr als 40 Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler der Polyploidie- und Hybridisierungsforschung nach Bremen. Dort thematisierten sie, welche Schwierigkeiten Zellen meistern, die ihre Chromosomensätze mischen oder gar vervielfältigen. Der Workshop fand vom 30. August und 1. September 2017 statt unter der Regie der Nachwuchswissenschaftler Dawit Girma Tekleyohans, Niklas Buhk und Thomas Nakel der Universitäten Oldenburg und Bremen. Die vorwiegend jungen Nachwuchskräfte reisten aus mehreren Nationen an, darunter Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz, Schweden und Pakistan, was die internationale Relevanz des Themas unterstreicht. Die Organisatoren berichten in ihrer Tagungsnachlese unter anderem über neue Modellpflanzen, einen Genomschock, eine Methode zum Nachweis von drei Eltern und in welcher Weise junge Forschende bevorzugt wurden.

From the 235 posters presented at Botanikertagung 2017 in Kiel an expert jury chose several as best papers. The awarded presenters received a document as well as 135 Euros each since the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) today was 135 years old.

Awarded young scientists and their posters (pdf file):

This summer, young plant scientists will focus on Two genomes in one cell - communication and conflict. From August 30 until September 1, 2017, they will come together in Bremen in the 3rd Eduard Strasburger Workshop. The Workshop supported by the DBG brings together young and senior plant scientists and opens a forum for talks and discussions as well as for networking. Registration deadline for the popular workshop that will be organized by young scientists from the Universities of Bremen and Oldenburg (Dr. Dawit Girma Tekleyohans, M.Sc. Thomas Nakel, M.Sc. Niklas Buhk) is on July, 31.

> Poster (pdf file)

> Invitation and topic (pdf file)

> Registration (pdf file)

> details on website: http://www.uni-bremen.de/en/molgen/strasburger-2017.html">http://www.uni-bremen.de/en/molgen/strasburger-2017.html

The society supports young scientists in granting travel allowances for members of the DBG who participate at the Botanikertagung by presenting an oral paper or a poster (author or coauthor). The international Botanikertagung will take place in Freising Weihenstephan from August 30th to September 3rd, 2015. It will be provided either for students / graduates or for young researchers who lack a full salary.

Travel allowances and application: Details and Application Form (Intranet)

> become a member of the DBG first

Sorry - in German only:

Von Nachwuchswissenschaftlern für Nachwuchswissenschaftler

Wenn Sie Postdoc oder Doktorand sind, eine Idee für einen Workshop über eine aktuelle pflanzenwissenschaftliche Thematik mit interdisziplinären Ansätzen haben und eine Plattform für einen lebendigen Austausch von Doktoranden untereinander veranstalten möchten, schicken Sie Ihr Konzept bitte an den Vorstand der DBG, der Ihre Veranstaltung im Rahmen eines Eduard Strasburger-Workshops mit bis zu 5.000 € unterstützt. Bitte wenden Sie sich jederzeit an den Präsidenten der DBG. Der zweite Eduard Strasburger-Workshop fand im September 2016in München statt und hatte den Titel "Phylogenomics - The next generation of evolutionary botany". In ihrer Tagungsnachlese thematisieren die Organisatorinnen Susann Wicke und Dörte Harpke nicht nur die Tagungsschwerpunkte sondern auch die Sorgen der Nachwuchskräfte.

Details im aktuellen Ausschreibungstext (pdf)

The German Botanical Society has awarded the best Master theses of the previous year. Their abstracts are now on the website. Besides names of the awardees also titles and results are provided as texts and some of them also in images. The theses were carried out at seven universities.

DBG verleiht drei Wissenschaftspreise

Zur Eröffnung der Botanikertagung 2015 wurden die drei Preise der DBG zur Auszeichnung hervorragender Nachwuchswissenschaftler verliehen:

Eduard Strasburger-Preis 2015
an
Dr. Andreas Fleischmann
Evolution of genome size and chromosome number in the carnivorous plant genus Genlisea (Lentibulariaceae), with a new estimate of the minimum genome size in angiosperms. Ann Bot. 114(8): 1651-1663
mehr in der Pressemitteilung und in der Laudatio (pdf)

Wilhelm Pfeffer-Preis 2015
an
Dr. Manuel Steinbauer
The Effect of Spatial and Environmental Drivers on Patterns in Species Richness and Composition, Dissertation Uni Bayreuth
mehr in der Pressemitteilung und in der Laudatio (pdf)

Horst Wiehe-Preis 2015
an
Dr. Jonas Zimmermann
Design and valuation of DNA-Barcoding high throughput methods for analyzing diatom diversity: a test case along a south-north gradient in Central Europe (Rivers Lusatian Neisse/Oder), Dissertation Uni Giessen
mehr in der Pressemitteilung

Small Natural Products in Ecology and Evolution

From 21^st to 23^rd September 2014 (2 p.m. to 2 p.m.) the first Eduard Strasburger-Workshop of the German Botanical Society (DBG) will take place in Nuremberg, Germany. Entitled “Linking the biochemistry of small natural products to ecology and evolution” it is organized from young plant biologists for young plant biologists exclusively. The location where the participants will meet is the Hostel in Nuremberg located in the famous 500 year-old castle. Please send your application until 31st August to the organizers Dr. Nadine Meitinger and M.Sc. Daniel Geiger from the Department Biology at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology of the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU).
Application form (pdf)

Sorry, in German only

Drei Nachwuchsforschenden verlieh die DBG Preise für ihre hervorragenden Arbieten am Eröffnungstag der Botanikertagung 2013:

Eduard Strasburger-Preis 2013
an
Dr. Adrian Alder
The path from β-carotene to carlactone, a strigolactone-like plant hormone. Erschien in der Zeitschrift Science und ist Teil seiner Dissertation
mehr in der Pressemitteilung und in der Laudatio (pdf)

Wilhelm Pfeffer-Preis 2013
an
Dr. Dominik Großkinsky
Characterisation of Cytokinin mediated Resistance and Biocontrol Effects against Pseudomonas syringae in Arabidopsis and Tobacco. Dissertation an der Uni Graz
mehr in der Pressemitteilung und in der Laudatio (pdf)

Horst Wiehe-Preis 2013
an
Dr. Martin Bringmann
Identification of novel components that connect cellulose synthases to the cytoskeleton
mehr in der Pressemitteilung und in der Laudatio (pdf)

Students look for locations which offer internships and lecturers search for destinations for excursions: We therefore asked colleagues who are members of the DBG for ideas and experiences in our 2012 survey. All information is without guaranties. You are always welcome to complete or improve the listings that this nucleus of information pool will evolve. We hope that you will profit from the list.

please downlaod table "Excursions and Internships" (pdf)

Sorry, in German only

Auch dieses Jahr übernimmt die DBG wieder drei Patenschaften für Nachwuchsforscherinnen und -forscher im Rahmen des RISE-Programms (Research Intership in Science and Engineering) des DAAD. Das heißt sie ermöglicht drei jungen Wissenschaftlern einen Mitarbeiter für die eigene Dissertation für sich gewinnen zu können.
Wie das RISE-Programm funktioniert

Sorry, in German only

Auch dieses Jahr fördert die DBG ausländische Studierende, die einer hiesigen Doktorandin oder einem Doktoranden zur Hand gehen. Organisiert wird der Austausch, bei dem Nordamerikanische und Britische Studierende in deutsche Hochschulen und pflanzenwissenschaftliche Labore schnuppern, vom Deutschen Akademischen Austauschdienst (DAAD). In diesem „Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE)“ genannten Programm koordiniert der DAAD die Zusammenführung der Doktoranden-Praktikanten-Paare und erstellt das Ranking unter den eingegangenen Bewerbungen. Drei dieser Stipendien in diesem Jahr finanziert wieder die DBG.

Details zu RISE

Bericht über eine frühere Doktoranden-Praktikanten-Zusammenarbeit in den Pflanzenwissenschaften

Details beim DAAD

Vincent Kaltenbach's Master thesis was awarded with the Prize for the Best Plant Science Master Thesis, which was carried out at Universität Münster in the year 2024 with the title:

Investigation of the oxidosqualene cyclase family from Arabidopsis thaliana

Candidate oxidosqualene cyclases from Arabidopsis thaliana are consistently localized at lipid droplets, which may represent a promising target for engineering terpene synthesis and storage.

Plant terpenes not only cover essential native functions for plant survival but also have great potential for technical applications. Their complex cyclization is carried out by the oxidosqualene cyclase (OSC) family from one structural precursor. In a multistep approach, the structural properties of the respective candidates were first bioinformatically analyzed. Subsequently, subcellular localization studies and transient expression for production were performed. All OSCs shared a prominent superficial hydrophobic region and showed lipid droplet localization as confirmed by microscopy. Transient (co)-expression with upstream bottleneck enzymes revealed substantial amounts of triterpene products. Greater knowledge of their localization and production patterns may contribute to further biotechnological approaches aimed at increasing yields.

___

Vincent Kaltenbach conducted this work at the Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology in the working group of Prof. Dr. Till Ischebeck.