Young scientists make a major contribution to research: They are the foundation, innovative force and future of universities and research institutions. Almost half of the staff at the Biozentrum are PhD students and postdocs. Each individual research group thrives on their motivation, productivity and creativity.
Each year, numerous junior researchers at the Biozentrum receive awards, research grants and individual support for their outstanding research. This not only honors their achievements but also spurs their careers. Congratulations to all recipients of a research grant or award.
Research fellowships
This year, Madalena Pinto, postdoc in the lab of Prof. Alex Schier, and Amandine Thomas, postdoc in the group of Prof. Michael N. Hall, have received a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship. These fellowships are awarded in the context of the Marie-Sklodowska-Curie-Actions (MSCA) as part of the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation "Horizon 2020". The aim of the funding programme is to improve the career development for young researchers by supporting a project at a foreign university. Madalena Pinto has also received an EMBO Long-Term Fellowship.
Annika Nichols, also from the Schier group, has been awarded a three-year HSFP Fellowship to investigate "The neuronal and genetic regulation of sleep and arousal in zebrafish". Jakob El Kholtei, Schier lab, and Maxim Kolesnikow from the group of Prof. Marek Basler are also happy about a research contribution. Their projects are supported by the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds, a foundation that promotes basic research in the field of biomedicine. In the groups of Prof. Christoph Handschin and Prof. Markus Rüegg, the postdocs Joaquin Pérez-Schindler and Marco Kaiser have received fellowships from the "Novartis Foundation for Medical-Biological Research". Pérez-Schindler will be supported by the Research Fund Junior Researchers University of Basel. Alexander Harms, SNSF Ambizione Fellow in Prof. Urs Jenal's team, successfully raised funding for his research on phages from the Emilia Guggenheim-Schnurr Foundation of the “Naturforschenden Gesellschaft” in Basel.
Prizes and awards
The Swiss Society for Neuroscience Best Publication Award has been given to Elisabetta Furlanis, PhD student in the group of Prof. Peter Scheiffele, for her recent publication in the field of neurosciences. Anastasiya Börsch, postdoc in Prof. Mihaela Zavolan’s lab, has been awarded the Novartis University of Basel Excellence Scholarship for Life Sciences. Rajesh Jayachandran from the team of Prof. Jean Pieters received the Swiss Transplantation Society Award for his publication. And last but not least, Asier González Seviné and Stefan Imseng, founders of the Biozentrum start-up AUKERA, have been recognized with the HEJUBA Technology for the next Generation prize 2019 for their project "Unleashing the clinical benefit of selective mTORC1 inhibition".
Contact: Communications, Katrin Bühler