News and Reviews

• GRK 2973's Christmas Retreat The first Retreat of MiNu was held on 19 December in a historical building at the town centre.
• Joint paper by Martin Thanbichler and Gert Bange published A newly discovered molecular switch mechanism plays a central role in the infection process in bacterial dysentery.
• From DNA to protein: Katharina Höfer shows school students the world of research On International Women's Day, 8 March 2024, the Emil von Behring School in Geislingen welcomed Dr. Katharina Höfer for a lecture.
• Katharina Höfer received Otto Meyerhof Prize 2024 The Otto Meyerhof Prize is awarded by the Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (GBM) and sponsored by the Germany-based pharmaceutical global player Boehringer Ingelheim. It is awarded every two years to an outstanding young scientist with a doctorate no longer than eight years past at the time of the application deadline and who is currently conducting research in Germany.
• Happy Easter – and looking forward to our Speaker Series! With the colours of spring now popping up all around, GRK 2937 wishes everybody happy Easter holidays!
• MiNu at the 75th Mosbacher Kolloquium The GRK 2937 doctoral researchers Bayan Al-Anati, Fareha Masood and Stefan Petschak joined the poster session.
• Dr. Murat Sunbul and fluorescent RNAs The group leader from Heidelberg University gave a compelling talk at the SYNMIKRO lecture hall.
• First fractal molecule in nature discovered An international research team from Max Planck Institute and SYNMIKRO publishes results in "Nature", involving two MiNu PIs.
• Prof. Sonja Albers and cell division in Archaea The professor of microbiology from the University of Freiburg presented an inspiring talk at the SYNMIKRO lecture hall.
• Peter Kolb and Lennart Randau successful at VW "Momentum"
• 2024 Summer Symposium on 12 July At this year's Symposium in Marburg, GRK 2937 welcomes Prof. Iwona Mruk (Gdansk), Prof. Ben Luisi (Cambridge), Dr. Rebecca Hinrichs (Marburg), Dr. Georg Hochberg (MPI Marburg), Prof. Kristina Jonas (Stockholm) and Prof. Urs Jenal (Basel).
• Prof. Jörg Stülke with news from Bacillus subtilis The inspiring talk sparked in-depth questions and a lively discussion at the MPI lecture hall.
• Productive retreat to Edersee The MiNu PhDs and Postdocs spent three days in the lush greenery that surrounds the famous snake-shaped North Hessian reservoir, intensively working on posters and other presentation techniques.
• This was our Summer Symposium 2024 Not only with a view to the speakers, whom we were extremely happy to have here in Marburg, were we very pleased with the well-attended event – which lasted jovially and long into the evening.
• Katharina Höfer receives LOEWE Top Professorship at University of Marburg The LOEWE research funding programme of the state of Hesse is providing around €2.8 million over a period of five years for research into the role of RNA modifications in biology and new mechanisms of gene regulation. Congrats, Katharina!
• Single-molecule imaging of membrane protein interactions in living cells PD Dr. Maximilian Ulbrich from the BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, University of Freiburg, gave a fascinating talk at the SYNMIKRO lecture hall.
• MiNu's Workshop Week Symposium 2024 Despite a slightly reduced line-up due to illness, our speakers were greeted by a full house with rapt attention.
• "Microbial Cell Biology" in Marburg The 5th Discussion Meeting of the VAAM Special Section will take place at the historical Alter Behring-Gutshof from 6 to 8 October. The event is organised by Martin Thanbichler, PI of our Project 8, and GRK2937 is supporting the meeting. Registration is open until 27 September.
• Base-modified nucleotides and nucleic acids for chemical biology, medicinal chemistry and diagnostics Prof. Michal Hocek from Charles University in Prague spoke to a full house at the SYNMIKRO lecture hall.
• Stay connected with MiNu on Bluesky RTG 2937 has a brand new social media account on Bluesky for fast-and-easy networking with scientists and institutions from all over the world.
• Experimental evolution sheds insights on the intracellular lifestyle Prof. Anthony Poole from the University of Auckland came all the way from New Zealand to the SYNMIKRO lecture hall.
• Katharina Höfer, now a full professor, selected as EMBO Young Investigator The PI of our Project 6 has almost simultaneously been appointed as Full Professor at the University of Marburg and to the European Molecular Biology Organisation's network of top young European researchers.
• Design of multifunctional conjugates for the targeting of non-coding RNAs: anticancer and antimicrobial applications Dr. Maria Duca from the Université Côte d'Azur in Nice exchanged the warm Mediterranean weather for two days in a grey German winter.
• Happy Holidays from MiNu, see you in 2025! GRK 2937 wishes everybody a lovely Christmas time and a very happy New Year! We will be taking a break from 23 December, starting again on 6 January.
• Harnessing Click Chemistry and Light for Precise Analysis and Control of mRNA Prof. Andrea Rentmeister from Ludwig-Maximilians Universität in Munich engaged in a lively discussion with a full house.