PhD Students

Bioinformatician Pia Rautenstrauch has received a Helmholtz Doctoral Award for developing a deep learning model that integrates omics data from single-cell experiments, even when the data come from different methods. Her work helps to advance biomedical research.

The European doctoral network ORFeus is welcoming applications from doctoral students who want to help decipher the dark proteome. The Max Delbrück Center will host one student in the lab of Uwe Ohler. The deadline for applying is October 22, 2026.

This month, the Max Delbrück Center graduated 19 young scientists who have successfully defended their PhD theses this year. The festive ceremony included words of wisdom and encouragement from former graduates, food and a party.

Die Junge Akademie and Volkswagen Foundation recognized fifteen exemplary teams with their “Best Research Environment” award – five of them also received €10,000 in prize money. The Junker Lab is among them, nominated by Dr. Anis Senoussi and Sophia Levitskaja. Congratulations!

On July 4, Max Delbrück Center doctoral students gathered with supervisors, colleagues, friends, and family to celebrate their graduation, a milestone that was years in the making. Graduate Anita Waltho recounts her experience of the event, which brought together a community.

European research organizations, led by Coimbra Group, EU-LIFE and YERUN, have issued a joint statement calling on the European Commission and Member States to preserve the bottom-up structure of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).

Senegalese scientists gained hands-on microscopy and image analysis training during a workshop to strengthen regional biomedical research capacity in Africa. The workshop was headed by Peran Hayes, who will present the project as a contestant in this year’s EU-LIFE Science Vision Talk Contest.

The Zia fellowship supports young female researchers in their professional and personal development. Interested applicants can apply for next year’s fellowship in July and August. Evangelia Nathanail from the Max Delbrück Center is a current fellow — and highly recommends the program.

Doctoral student Philipp Roth went to New York as part of the Max Delbrück Center Exchange Program in Medical Systems Biology. In this interview, he discusses his research collaboration with a lab at NYU and how the exchange benefitted him in ways he could not have imagined.

Nella Christie Delva joins the lab of Annette Hammes-Lewin’s as a Fulbright scholar. Over the next few months, she will study how environmental stressors cause genetic and neural changes in the brain during development, which can lead to mental health disorders.