Last week, our Biozentrum Retreat took place for the third time, this year at the Arte Hotel in Olten, helping to strengthen connections across our community and catalyze open discussions about research. More than 250 researchers from a wide variety of disciplines and at all career stages – from master’s students to professors – took the opportunity to present their work and exchange ideas during poster sessions, scientific talks, speed dating, and roundtable discussions. A highlight of the retreat was the keynote lecture by Gautam Dey, group leader at EMBL in Heidelberg, about “Evolution and diversity of mitosis”.
Alongside the scientific program, lunch and coffee breaks, as well as social activities including hiking, a guided city tour of Olten, and bowling, further strengthened the Biozentrum community.
At the retreat, the winners of the Gottfried Schatz PhD Student Prize and the J. C. W. Shepherd PhD Student Prize for Scientific Excellence were announced. Marek Basler and Kamilla Schatz, daughter of Jeff Schatz, presented the Gottfried Schatz PhD Student Prize to Anna Leder, currently a postdoc in the group of Prof. Sebastian Hiller, for her outstanding PhD thesis on multi-chaperone condensates – molecular “folding factories” for proteins.
This year’s recipients of the J. C. W. Shepherd PhD Student Prize for Scientific Excellence were Timothy McGowan (Markus Rüegg’s team), Volkan Adak (Christoph Handschin’s group), Peter Škrinjar (Torsten Schwede’s team), and Harsh Kanodia and Antonio Falasconi (Silvia Arber’s team). Congratulations to all prize winners!
In his annual “State of the Union” address, Biozentrum Director Prof. Alex Schier reflected on the growing challenges facing science today, including misinformation, political interference, and declining trust in evidence-based decision-making. His message underscored the importance of scientific excellence alongside transparency, public engagement, and academic freedom.
A particular highlight of the retreat was the dinner party, where Biozentrics enthusiastically participated in the quiz and karaoke, once again demonstrating the vibrant scientific culture and strong sense of community that make Biozentrum such a special place.
Contact: Communications, Katrin Bühler
