Women in Portrait
Portraits in English
Steered by Luck and Light – Dr. Julia Veit in Portrait
In the centre of the laboratory is a complex apparatus connected to flashing computers. A strange crackling sound can be heard from them at irregular intervals. The sounds indicate that the neurones of the laboratory mice are active because they are exposed to a special light. An unusual experience for outsiders, but everyday life for neuroscientist Dr Julia Veit. As group leader of an Emmy Noether project, she is researching the central nervous system of mice at the Institute of Physiology at the University of Freiburg. More specifically, on interneurones and their importance for the transmission of stimuli in the brain.
“Architecture changes how you feel” – Diana Miznazi in Portrait
To Syrian architect and conservator Diana Miznazi, knowledge is power. She sees herself as a representative of migrant women working in science. Diana is proud and grateful for what she has come to achieve as one of them, “It is a great responsibility to have, so I try not to think about it all the time”, she laughs.
On the serenity of not jumping over every hurdle – a portrait of Jana Strahler
At the Institute for Sports and Sports Science, the world still seems to be in order. The sun is shining. Here on the banks of the Dreisam River, a truly picturesque Black Forest idyll unfolds. Jana Strahler, Professor of Sport Psychology, is pleased about this. Fortunately, her campus is not a „big gray box”. No, here „the sports fields, the beach volleyball courts, the green lawn“ reign. She goes into raptures. „Freiburg is always sunny anyway,“ she says and smiles.
Searching for answers in DNA – a portrait of Jana Naue
Jana Naue is quite the crime solver – a bit like on CSI: Den Tätern auf der Spur. This was one of the reasons she was accepted into the elite program for postdocs of the Baden-Württemberg Foundation, which is committed to a vibrant Baden-Württemberg worth living in. Jana Naue, on the other hand, is more concerned with the opposite. Her research supports the police and public prosecutors in their work, using forensic genetics and, in the future, epigenetics.
Printer cartridges, patents and networks – a portrait of Friederike Lammert
„It actually all started with the printer cartridge. That’s why I’m now working and researching at the university,“ said 26-year-old lawyer Friederike Lammert. She moved to Freiburg to study law and successfully completed her first state examination in law in 2020. Ever since then, she has been working as a research assistant at Prof. Dr. Maximilian Haedicke’s Chair of Intellectual Property, where she is doing her doctorate on a patent law topic: the market entry of generic medicinal products.
There’s no such thing as ‘impossible’ – a portrait of Astrid Steindorf
„Lützerath could still be standing today,“ says Astrid Steindorf, her alert gaze adding emphasis to her statement. At the same time, it looks like she would like to march right into Lützerath and say this sentence again to the face of the RWE bosses and explain what other, more sensible energy production alternatives there are if the world of microorganisms is considered.
About the big and small catalysts in chemistry – Anna Fischer in a portrait
She came to chemistry, and nanomaterials in particular, due to a fundamental fascination with everything connecting natural science with technology. Initially, it was mainly outer space („Grandma, someday I’ll fly to the moon with you“), which later led to an interest in physics and chemistry and the realization that „we are all just a well-orchestrated bunch of atoms“. Like Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster „Interstellar,“ her favorite movie, she is all about discovering the unknown and understanding.
From Virginia Woolf and Judith Butler to EPICUR? – a portrait of Dr. Kerstin Fest
Hardly anyone knows ‚university‘ from as many sides as Kerstin Fest: she studied, earned a doctorate, researched, taught and now finally arrived in science management. Her career at the university has taken her from literary studies to today, where she is involved in the planning and implementation of a European university.
„I am fearless!” – Chinwe Ogbonna im Portrait
She is a whirlwind coming around the corner. Her core – like the eye of a storm – however, is grounded and calm; she is confident but gently reserved. She strides through the hallways of her institute, greets a colleague, and purposefully sits down at her seat in the office. She carefully prepares herself for the interview and waits patiently until everything technical is arranged. Chinwe is not a woman for half measures. She takes her time and pursues her goal. As soon as the recording is on, the room fills with her stormy energy and she takes you, word by word, under her spell.
She who goes straight ahead does not always come far – a portrait of Antje Kellersohn
„Take the leap – is the advice of Antje Kellersohn, Director of the Freiburg University Library, to all those who are about to make a big decision. We have our conversation in her modern office, without any dusty oak bookshelves or creaky stepladders. There are several screens on her desk, their color and shape reminiscent of the facade of the University Library. „Take the leap“ are three simple but important words. Especially when it comes to finding the courage for a new direction. Like Antje Kellersohn dared to do.
Racing against the academic clock – a portrait of Laura Renner
The path was clearly laid out before her: a bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration followed by a master’s degree, a top doctoral position and then a professorship. With great ambition, Dr. Laura Renner works on her publications, goes to conferences and prepares her courses, but the hoped-for appointment as professor does not come. The calls for professorships demand published articles, preferably in the top journals the field has to offer. Oh, and certainly not too few of them, thank you very much. In principle, Laura Renner would like that, too. After all, who doesn’t like being the first author on a fascinating topic? The documents for her publications have been sent off in full, the deadlines have been met, but the process drags on and on.
Of women in research and stay-at-home dads – a portrait of Kathrin Blumenstein
„It’s not just about having completed your research work at the end, but about approaching the subject area with joy and passion.“ And that’s what Kathrin Blumenstein does; when she talks about her work – or rather her passion – her friendly brown eyes light up with enthusiasm. And her fascination is infectious: I am spellbound as I immerse myself with her in a world of trees, fungi and microorganisms.
Between field research and everyday academic life – a portrait of Dr. Julia Gurol-Haller
Qatar, spring of 2023. The emirate that – until last December – attracted such great, far-reaching attention: The Men’s World Cup in the Persian Gulf cast long shadows on a country without a soccer culture, a tiny country trying to use its vast treasures and growing influence as a bargaining chip in the world. What has remained of the supposed changes? Political scientist Dr. Julia Gurol-Haller will get to the bottom of this and also think about those with whom she may not be able to come into contact at all: Women, the marginalized and voiceless, drive her research at the University of Freiburg.
The call of the archaea – a portrait of Sonja-Verena Albers
„I’m a nerd, I’ve always loved learning and acquiring new things,“ says researcher Prof. Dr. Sonja-Verena Albers, who was elected to the American Society for Microbiology this year, about herself. Her passion is the archaea, probably the least known life forms on this planet despite their extreme and fascinating lifestyles.
In the shadow of the subjunctive – a portrait of Dr. Valerie Lang
It all started with a cup of tea. When Dr Valerie Lang was still a high school student, she had a physics teacher who opened every lesson with a round of tea for the class. After all, „integrals are much easier to calculate with a warm sip of tea in your stomach“. Lang, who had always had an affinity for maths, began to look forward to her physics lessons more and more. When she realised the connection between maths and physics, she was hooked and her decision to study for a degree and then do a doctorate in physics came out of the (particle) cannon.
„Freud ruined it for everyone“ – Monika Schönauer in Portrait
At a time when information is a tap away and the task of remembering dates and details can be delegated to digital devices, it can be all too easy to overlook the brain’s ability to handle memory. But for Dr. Monika Schönauer, junior professor and researcher at the University of Freiburg’s Institute of Psychology, memory is the core of her work and research.
„It’s like being a detective“ – a portrait of Elisabeth Piller
„I spent a long time wondering whether people would take me seriously,“ admits Dr. Elisabeth Piller, a historian in the process of transitioning from a junior professorship to a full professorship at the University of Freiburg. „And that certainly has something to do with being a relatively young woman in this environment.“ After completing a Bachelor’s degree in the USA, a Master’s degree in Heidelberg and a doctorate in Norway, Piller has been teaching and researching at the Department of History in Freiburg since the fall of 2020. History is her great passion, and she spends a lot of her (free) time reading archival documents: „My job is the most interesting job in the world. It’s actually like being a detective,“ says Piller, describing her research.
Proust, Voltaire & Emojis – a portrait of Eva Erdmann
Eva Erdmann thinks books are embarrassing. Not always, of course, not everywhere, but today she does. Those who know her well would not believe it. Eva Erdmann? The Romance studies lecturer, who takes the time to compile the literature for her seminars in the library at the beginning of the semester so lovingly? Is she truly, this lover of literature, to find books embarrassing? Never.
Robots at half distance – a portrait of Sabrina Livanec
My conversation with Sabrina is similar to her work – we don’t sit down in one place and stay there, together we explore the different spaces and the various activities that Sabrina pursues. She takes me to the NEXUS Lab first, one of the central locations of her work. It is named after NEXUS Experiments, a platform for participatory science education and community-based participatory research located at BrainLinks-BrainTools.
When luck is not enough – Dr. Dengfeng “Dephie” Huang
“I just got really lucky,” shrugs Dephie and gives a small wave as if to brush off the attention. There may be things that can be called ‘luck’ on her path, but a simple dash of luck along the way does not make for an easy journey. At the moment, Dephie is working as a coordinator of Early Career Programs at the Cluster of Excellence CIBSS – Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies at the University of Freiburg.
Jasmin-Clara Bürger: „If you change just one parameter, the result looks completely different.“
Jasmin-Clara Bürger, a postdoc since 2023, opens a drawer at the Institute of Microsystems Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering in Freiburg. A box emerges, in which plates, Bürger’s samples, lie neatly sorted next to each other. One of the samples catches the eye, it is green, the top left corner is colored purple, which looks really nice. But this is not about the aesthetic value of any colorful plates. Bürger is currently researching so-called thin-films, i.e. layers of material with a thickness in the nanometer range.
Gresa Shala: Learning about life from machines
Powerful codes, grounding routines and inspiring role models – Gresa Shala talks about this with a euphoria that makes the otherwise quiet doctoral student beam. Artificial intelligence (AI), especially meta-learning, is „the thing that keeps me wanting to do research,“ says Gresa. In the Representation Learning Group at the University of Freiburg, she has found exactly the right place to give free rein to her thirst for knowledge. In this interview, I get to look behind the cool facade of a woman who has followed the call of AI across Europe.
Prof. Dr. Sonia Dsoke: When passion is unleashed
„In science, you don’t work for money or fame: it has to be your hobby, and your work actually makes up a big part of your life,“ says Sonia Dsoke. Anyone who has this enthusiasm for knowledge will be able to overcome many hurdles. She can tell, because Sonia Dsoke herself has come a long way with quite a few hurdles in her research career.
Encouraging curiosity: insights into the unseen – Oana Cojocaru-Mirédin in Portrait
Have you ever been curious about why materials have certain properties? Or have you ever wondered what is going on at a level that is not normally visible? Professor Oana Cojocaru-Mirédin specialises in Atom Probe Tomography, a relatively new technique that allows us to understand the atomic composition of materials and how they are made up. It is particularly interesting because of the possibilities it unlocks for manipulating materials in the future.