Women in Science

On Girls' Day, researchers at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) shared their thoughts on bioinformatics and let the students work with data sets and programs themselves. The bottom line: research is fun – even though or even because the tasks are complex.

Biochemist Sabrina Geisberger researches the effects of salt consumption on our health at the Max Delbrück Center. We asked her five questions.

The Helmholtz Association wants to support excellent female scientists reach top positions. It is now giving MDC researcher Michela Di Virgilio a million euro grant to mark her appointment to a tenured professorship at Charité.

It is widely known that Nobel Prize winner Emmanuelle Charpentier currently works in Berlin. But who are the other female researchers who have left their mark on the city? An exhibition by BIH and the Berlin Senate Chancellory is dedicated to all of these pioneering women and can be viewed at the MDC until March 9 or online at any time.

New chances to attract sought-after research talents to Berlin will soon be available to the MDC. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has recruited Nikolaus Rajewsky for the Henriette Herz Scouting Program.

Women scientists are often less visible than their male counterparts. The UNESCO exhibition “Creative Resilience” gives a voice to STEM women during the pandemic – and one of the art creators is an MDC postdoc from the Hübner Lab: Dr. Eleonora Adami.

Outstanding female researchers, pioneers in their fields, have shaped and continue to shape Berlin. An exhibition in Berlin City Hall (Rotes Rathaus), the seat of the Berlin Mayor, is now dedicated to these women and their achievements. Among them are two female scientists who worked in Berlin-Buch.

Dr. Ilaria Piazza has received one of the 2021 EMBL Alumni Awards for her groundbreaking work on protein-metabolite interactions. She now heads the MDC’s Allosteric Proteomics Lab – but she says if she hadn’t done her PhD work at EMBL Heidelberg, she would not have chosen science as a career.

February 11 marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) are hosting a joint virtual event that will feature a film screening, a keynote lecture and a panel discussion. We want to examine and discuss what changes are needed to make science more diverse, equitable and inclusive.

A new technology platform at the Max Delbrück Center is using human stem cells to develop complex tissue cultures known as “organoids.” This enables researchers to gain a better understanding of disease processes by simulating them in 3D. Neuronal diseases will be modeled first and then other diseases.