Networking and supporting the next generation: Two symposia in July at MPZPM
In July, the Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin (MPZPM) hosted two major symposia for biophysics researchers: “Paris Week” and “Physics meets Medicine.” While the former focused on closer academic collaboration and linking multiple research sites, the latter fostered exchange among young talents from around the world, with the opportunity to secure a position as a research group leader at MPZPM.
Paris Week: Closer collaboration between research institutions in Erlangen and Paris
How can the next breakthrough in clinical research be achieved at the intersection of physics and medicine? What are the next substantive and organizational challenges at this intersection, and what are the key competencies needed to address them? Those were the questions buzzing during Paris Week, held at MPZPM from July 15 to 17.
Paris Week brought together 13 world-leading researchers from Paris-based scientific institutions – such as Institut Curie, Institut Pasteur, and Sorbonne University – matched by participants from the Freidrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen Nürnberg (FAU), the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL), MPZPM, and clinicians from the Universitätsklinikum Erlangen (UKER). Together, they worked to establish a network of collaborations pushing the boundaries of the new emerging field of Physics and Medicine, spearheaded by MPZPM. Scientific talks, enriched by moderated, focused brainstorming sessions, aimed to identify topics of collaborative research and possible formats for exchange and joint work between students and young scientists.
“Our Parisian colleagues were amazed and motivated by the engagement and active involvement of clinicians in interdisciplinary work at the interface between physics and medicine, which builds confidence on both sides that such efforts will result in better understanding and diagnosis of diseases, and, eventually, to better patient care,” says Prof. Vasily Zaburdaev, spokesperson for MPZPM and head of the “Immunophysics” division, who organized the symposium together with Prof. Benoît Ladoux, head of the “Tissue Mechanobiology” division.
Physics Meets Medicine: Early-career researchers present their work
The next generation of emerging scientists gathered at MPZPM from July 20 to 21. The “Physics Meets Medicine” symposium offered the eleven scientists the opportunity to actively shape and advance research at the intersection of physics and medicine as research group leaders at MPZPM.
The presentations reflected the full diversity of biophysics: from the physics behind neurodegeneration to the navigational abilities of immune cells, to research on how bacteria defend themselves against aggressors.
The center offers candidates ideal conditions for their research work: with their own offices and laboratories, as well as support in applying for suitable funding programs. The committee is now deliberating on the selection of candidates.
Photos: © MPL, Susanne Viezens and Gesa Prophet
