Recognizing Plant Cell first authors: Lucas Vanhaelewyn

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Lucas Vanhaelewyn, first author of Differential UVR8 signal across the stem controls UV-B-induced inflorescence phototropism

Current Position: PhD candidate in the Laboratory of Functional Plant Biology at Ghent University

Education: PhD studies (2015-present); Master of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, major in Plant Biotechnology at Ghent University (2011-2015), Belgium; Bachelor in Agro- and Biotechnology, major in Biotechnology at KATHO University College, Belgium (2008-2011)

Non-scientific Interests: Traveling, hiking, gardening with my cats, capacity building and agricultural development work in Africa

Brief bio: First I pursued a Bachelor degree in agro- and biotechnology at the KATHO University College (Belgium). My thesis was related to plant biotechnology for banana and done in in Uganda, Africa in 2011, here I found my passion in Plant Biotechnology. Hence I continued my studies and received a Master degree major in Plant Biotechnology and Biochemistry in July 2015 with great distinction at Ghent University (Belgium).

In August 2015, I started working as a PhD researcher in the Laboratory of Functional Plant Biology (FPB) in the department of Biology of Ghent University, this position includes both research duties and education activities. My research focuses on the morphological effects of UV-B on plants. In the recent years, international experiences were obtained through various opportunities, such as an oral presentation at the UV4PLANTS conference in June 2016 (Pécs, Hungary), a one-month scholar visit in the Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (BRC) in October 2016, a poster presentation in the annual Plant Biology meeting of American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) in Honolulu, Hawaii with a travel grant awarded and the annual Plant Biology meeting in Montreal, Canada. Exciting scholar visits to institutes or farm regions in Vietnam (one month) and York University, UK (six months) are planned in October 2019 and the beginning of 2020 respectively. In the course of my PhD study, I first authored 5 international peer-reviewed publications and co-authored 3 manuscripts with several manuscripts currently still in the pipeline.