Raise funds for your own research and support others in the process! That is the concept behind the Young Researchers' Science Day, which took place this year for the fourth time at the University of Ulm. The event was organised by the young talent academy ProTrainU. The mission: to support young researchers on their way to scientific independence in unusual ways. The guest speaker was Superhero Scientist Dr Barry W. Fitzgerald. The Irish physicist showed how to get young people interested in science with the help of Santa Clauses and superheroes.
"With the 4th Young Researchers' Science Day, the university has once again demonstrated what a wonderful institution it is," said Professor Dieter Rautenbach. At the opening of the event in the N27 research building, the Vice President for Careers emphasised how impressed he is time and again by the young researchers. "It is a wonderful task to accompany these young people who feel so much enthusiasm for what they do," said Rautenbach, thanking ProTrainU managing directors Clarissa Gobiet and Dr. Cornelia Estner for organising this "great event".
After a rigorous pre-selection process, five candidates, all postdocs, made it to the Science Pitch and had to face the challenge of presenting their planned research project in an original and, if possible, generally understandable way in just five minutes. Dr Melissa Hitzler won the first-place prize money of €50,000. The scientist and clinical psychologist, who holds a doctorate and conducts research in the Department of Clinical and Biological Psychology, gave a convincing short presentation on the role of biology in the success of psychotherapy for treating sexual abuse in childhood. Hitzler changes perspectives and speaks the real words of a patient who has experienced something terrible. Then, as a researcher, she explains why therapies for overcoming such traumas so often fail. Melissa Hitzler suspects that immune reactions play a key role here, triggering chronic inflammatory processes and thus impairing the success of therapy. She would like to use the prize money to test this assumption and look for new ways to finally improve the situation for those affected.
It's also about magic bullets, fungal diseases, blood vessels and AI
The 30,000 euros for second place went to Dr Sarah Schröder. The physician from the Clinic for Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery at Ulm University Hospital is looking for "magic bullets", in the tradition of a great German bacteriologist, physician and Nobel Prize winner. Professor Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) used the term "magic bullets" for drugs that kill pathogens such as microbes without harming humans. The young physician from Ulm would like to transfer this concept to tumour research and use the body's own immune cells for this purpose. These T-cells should learn to recognise and fight tumours thanks to vaccination with certain peptides that occur on cancer cells.
Mobility vouchers of 1800 euros each to attend conferences were awarded to biologist Ann-Kathrin Kissmann, assistant doctor Dr Robin Lochbaum and economic physicist Dr Andreas Obermeier. Their pitches were about the body's own peptides being used to combat deadly fungal infections, markers for barrier disorders in the endothelial layer of blood vessels, and the elimination of uncertainties in AI-supported decision-making processes with the help of probability-based statistics.
During the award ceremony, University President Professor Michael Weber thanked the five candidates for their outstanding and creative achievements. He also praised the winning presentation: "You have exemplarily implemented the tips and tricks that we learned today from our guest speaker Dr Barry W. Fitzgerald," said Weber. Fitzgerald, who has a doctorate in physics and is a professional science communicator, runs his own YouTube channel and has written several books on superhero science. He gave a guest lecture on "Science Communication Lessons with Iron Man and Santa Claus" at Science Day 2024 and held two workshops on science communication. His lessons: Start with a story! Build a connection with the audience and tell something new, be yourself and stay authentic! "I will take all this to heart when I give my application presentation for the University of Excellence next year," promised Weber in closing.
Further information:
Clarissa Gobiet, Co-Managing Director ProTrainU, E-Mail: clarissa.gobiet(at)uni-ulm.de
Text and media contact: Andrea Weber-Tuckermann