Plantae Presents: Understanding the Process of Choosing Your PhD or Postdoc Lab

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Plantae Presents: Understanding the Process of Choosing Your PhD or Postdoc Lab

Featuring Sophien Kamoun, Mary Gehring, and Lothar Kalmbach

 

When: November 21, 2024, at
8:00 AM PST | 11:00 AM EST | 4:00 PM GMT | 12:00 AM Beijing

About this Webinar

Deciding on a PhD or postdoc lab is one of the most crucial steps in shaping your research career. In this webinar, three distinguished plant scientists will share their valuable advice on how to make an informed decision while choosing your PhD or postdoc lab. We will explore the key factors to consider when selecting a research group, from aligning with a lab’s scientific focus to evaluating the mentorship style of the principal investigator, lab culture, research funding etc. Whether you’re an undergraduate, a master’s student planning your next steps, or a late-stage PhD student exploring postdoc options, this session will provide practical advice from experts to guide your decision-making process. Tune in to learn how to make informed choices that will set you up for long-term success in research.

Hosted by the 2024 Plantae Fellows.

 

SPEAKERS

Lothar Kalmbach

Lothar Kalmbach studied biology at the Universities of Mainz, Umeå and Würzburg. After his Diploma thesis (2010) he joined the lab of Niko Geldner in Lausanne for his PhD thesis (2010-2016) working on the cellular processes underlying Casparian Strip formation in the endodermis. He left Lausanne for a postdoc in Cambridge as a Marie-Curie, SNSF and EMBO Fellow in Yka Helariutta’s lab where he studied phloem development and cellular differentiation (2016-2022). He then accepted a junior group leader position in the department of Jürgen Kleine-Vehn in Freiburg (2023-2024). After being awarded a Starting Grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation, he started his lab as an Assistant Professor in Neuchâtel in 2024.

 

 

 

 

Sophien Kamoun

Sophien Kamoun grew up in Tunisia where he developed a passion and curiosity about nature. He studied genetics in Paris and Davis, California, before working in Wageningen, Ohio and Norwich, where he is currently a Senior Scientist at The Sainsbury Laboratory and Professor of Biology at The University of East Anglia. He is known for his seminal contributions to our understanding of plant diseases and plant immunity having pioneered genomics and molecular biology methods to reveal fundamental insights into the biology and evolution of eukaryotic plant pathogens. His inventive work in plant pathology has resulted in new approaches to mitigate some of the world’s most serious crop diseases. He is well-known as a champion of open science, including open data, transparent peer review, and preprints to promote rapid dissemination of science. Professor Kamoun has received many awards and recognitions, notably the Kuwait Prize and The Linnean Medal. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2018.

 

 

Mary Gehring

Mary Gehring is the David Baltimore Chair in Biomedical Research at the Whitehead Institute, a Professor of Biology at MIT, and an HHMI Investigator. She started her lab in 2010 after a postdoc at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and graduate school at UC Berkeley. Her research is focused on genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of plant reproduction and the biology of seeds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MODERATORS

Abira Sahu

Abira is a Scientist in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at University of Alabama at Birmingham. She was born and raised in Kolkata, India. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology from Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata. She moved to the U.S. in 2015 to pursue graduate studies and received a Ph.D. in Biology from Texas A&M University in 2020. During her Ph.D., she studied spatiotemporal regulation of phosphate homeostasis in root developmental zones. Her current research focuses on the regulation of volatile organic compounds from plants and their roles in modulating the atmospheric chemistry as well as plant physiology and stress tolerance. Outside lab, she enjoys painting and making digital art. X: @AbiraSahu.

 

 

 

 

Nibedita Priyadarshini

Nibedita is an algal biologist with a passion for turning the world into her personal petri dish! When she’s not busy peering through microscopes or waxing poetic about the wonders of plant research, you can find her charming everyone with her quirky sense of humor and an uncanny ability to make phytohormones sound like the coolest party in town. Nibedita is on a mission to spread the word about the fascinating world of plant biology, one pun at a time, and she’s not stopping until we all agree that the greens are the real powerhouse of the world! X: @nivi_pri.

 

 

 

 

 

Carlo Pasini

Carlo is a PhD student at ETH Zurich, where he studies the links between carbon metabolism and abiotic stresses, primarily focusing on guard cells. In his free time, Carlo enjoys reading, playing ice hockey and any kind of snow-related activity. X: @Crl_Psn.