WiS Podcast
We are very excited to announce the release of the LIMES-WiS Podcast series where we talk to women in science about their professional career, personal choices, challenges as well as successes and failures to inform and inspire the future generation of scientists.
Episode 12: Burnout – during the PhD?
Speaker: Dr. Johanna Huoman, Medical Affairs Manager at AstraZeneca
Are you feeling drained more often and are questioning the value of your work? Observing reduced interest and energy to have fun like before? Do you feel weak and fall sick more frequently without any known cause? If you drag yourself to work every morning and feel physically and emotionally exhausted, these could be symptoms of burnout.
Burnout generally occurs from work-related stress and is especially prevalent among teachers, healthcare professionals and in academic environments. In this podcast episode, Dr. Johanna Huoman shares her experience of burnout during her PhD and how it affected her life and how she overcame it.
Johanna completed her PhD in Sweden in 2021 and continued as a PostDoc at the Uniklinikum Bonn. Since end of 2022, Johanna works as Medical Affairs Manager for AstraZeneca.
If you are unsure whether you show symptoms of burnout or need advice regarding other mental health issues, the University of Bonn offers free psychological clearing and psychological counselling for students and doctoral candidates: https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/consultation-and-service/psychological-and-social-counseling/psychological-counselin
Episode 11: Navigating two worlds: academic and start-up
Speaker: Dr. Laura Surace, Max Edger Group Leader at the University Hospital in Bonn
Ever wondered how to combine an academic career with the private sector? And whether this is possible? Can you be successful in both? In this Women in Science episode we talk to Dr. Laura Surace, the Max Edger group leader at the University Hospital in Bonn, who did exactly that! Do not miss this interesting interview with one of the very inspiring women in science.
To discover more
follow Laura on Twitter: @surace_laura
or LinkedIn: https://de.linkedin.com/in/laura-surace-370197110
check her lab website: https://www.ukbonn.de/en/icccp/research/surace-group/
and her startup Naós Comm: https://www.naoscommunication.com
Episode 10: Having a female boss
Speaker: Dr. Amir Kayvanjoo, Bioinformatician at Max Delbrück Center in Berlin
Despite having similar qualities of a good leader to males, females are seen more aggressive, emotional and less competent in leadership positions. Are these judgements justified or stem from stereotypes and unconscious biases? How it really is to have a female boss? In the new WiS podcast episode of the Women’s History Month we try to answer these questions.
You can listen to the interview on our LIMES-WiS website: www.limes-institut-bonn.de/ueber-uns/gleichstellung/wis-podcast/
Episode 09: Women in Science Committees: what are the actions that support equal gender opportunities in scientific careers
Speakers: Dr. Marika Enders, Scientific coordinator TRR 259 and Dr. Alexandra Kraemer, Graduates program coordinator (BIGS) & Gender support
UNESCO institute of statistics states that less than 30% of the world’s researchers are women. Studies show that women in STEM publish less, are paid less and do not progress as far as men in their careers. But women have been the leaders building the early foundation of modern programming, unveiling the DNA structure, pioneering radioactivity studies and still are significantly contributing to the progress in science to these days. So why is the problem and how to address it?
University of Bonn has Women in Science committees, such as Women Connect and Gender Support. To learn about their agendas, listen to our 9th episode of the Women in Science podcast, where we talk to the members of the women in science committees speaking on how they take up initiatives to try to bring an equal gender represented environment in research institutes.
To learn more about
Women Connect series - https://www.womenconnect.uni-bonn.de/en
TRR 259 - https://www.trr259.uni-bonn.de/en
ImmunoSensation Cluster of Excellence - https://www.immunosensation.de/home.html
Episode 08: Diversity Days Part 2: “International & Students and university development”
Feeling isolated due to your nationality, sexual orientation, family situation, disability or others? Looking for support to navigate through your career at the University? Or just curious what the University has to offer in support of diversity? If yes, check our two upcoming LIMES-WiS Podcast episodes where we are podcasting for you from the Diversity Days at the University of Bonn!
In this second part representatives of the Multilinguism, Asta-International Students of the University of Bonn, Refugee Support, International Affairs at Bonn University, Department of English, American and Celtic Studies/AG Diversity, onn Graduate Center, Academic Career Development, Abteilung 9.2- Central Study Advisory, Counseling and Career Services, Vicerectorate forTeaching, Learnig and Univeristy Development; study with disabilities, Queer Referat, Center for Diversity of research in academic teaching, Diversität der Philosophischen Fakultätare talking about the goals and focus of their organizations. Our speakers will be presenting their program either in English or German language.
To learn more about Diversity Days at the University of Bonn, check the website:
https://www.chancengerechtigkeit.uni-bonn.de/de/aktuelles/diversity-days-2022/veranstaltungen
Episode 07: Diversity Days Part 1: “Health and Sustainability” and “Women and family”
Feeling isolated due to your nationality, sexual orientation, family situation, disability or others? Looking for support to navigate through your career at the University? Or just curious what the University has to offer in support of diversity? If yes, check our two upcoming LIMES-WiS Podcast episodes where we are podcasting for you from the Diversity Days at the University of Bonn!
In this first part representatives of the Healthy Campus, Sport, Sustainability Management Vice rectorate, Special Olympics NRW, Women Connect, LIMES WiS, Immunosensation, Transregio Nucleic Acids, Rectorate and Familienbüro are talking about the goals and focus of their organizations. Our speakers will be presenting their program either in English or German language.
To learn more about Diversity Days at the University of Bonn, check the website:
https://www.chancengerechtigkeit.uni-bonn.de/de/aktuelles/diversity-days-2022/veranstaltungen
Episode 06: Never too young to be a Professor!
Speaker: Prof. Elvira Mass, Developmental Biology of the Immune System, LIMES Institute
Have you decided to pursue your scientific career in the academic system? Are you considering various career options? Keen for advice from a well-accomplished scientist? Looking for an example of a successful woman in academia?
Then our new LIMES WiS podcast episode is just for you!
Listen to our interview with Prof. Elvira Mass, in which we talked with her about her path to professorship and her commitment to supporting underrepresented minority groups in academic institutions.
To learn more about Elvira’s research, check out her website: https://www.limes-institut-bonn.de/en/research/research-departments/unit-1/mass-lab/
Episode 05: PhD on two continents
Speaker: Dr. Anastasia Solomatina, Research Coordinator at the LIMES Institute
Ever wondered what doing PhD next to the sunny beach looks like? Or how to manage your research project split between two continents? Interested in gaining international experience at the early stage of your research career? Then this podcast episode is for you! In the fifth episode of the LIMES Women in Science podcast, we talk to Dr. Anastasia Solomatina who did exactly that thanks to the International Research Training Group (IRTG 2168)!
To learn more about the program, check the website:
https://bonnmelb-phdprogram.com,
contact Sandra Rathmann at: IRTG2168@uni-bonn.de
or contact Anastasia directly at: Asol@uni-bonn.de
Episode 04: No Master Plan needed
Speaker: Nora Balzer, a soon to be PhD
Everybody enjoys a good podcast, be it an audio or a video, reaching a wide audience and building a kind of connection to the topic and the speakers. In the fourth episode of the LIMES-WiS podcast we present you one of our own voices, Nora Balzer. An amazing scientist, an active member of LIMES Women in Science initiative, one of the flag bearers of the LIMES WiS Podcast and a mother to a 5-year-old.
Nora is currently finalizing her Ph.D. in immunology and developmental biology in the lab of Prof. Elvira Mass at the LIMES Institute of the University of Bonn. In this episode Nora shares with us how her interest in having conversations and communicating with people lead to the WiS podcast idea to be formed and executed. She also takes us through her experiences in the field of science, the challenges as both, a computational and wet lab scientist. She gives us a glimpse through her life, about her decision to come into science and about her future plans.
Episode 03: Adding female perspective to advance science
Speaker: Dr. Tal Pecht, postdoctoral researcher at the laboratory of Prof. Schultze, LIMES
Some research topics could be only initiated from a female perspective. Dr. Tal Pecht is an originator of one of them: Femmunity. In the third episode of the Women in Science Podcast, we talk to Tal, a representative of the young immunologists group (founded by the German Society for Immunology), a talented science communicator and mother of two. Tal speaks about her scientific ideas, how important support is, and about challenges in pursuing her research question on the cyclic changes of the female immune system.
You can learn more about the Femmunity study by contacting Tal’s team at femmunity@uni-bonn.de.
Episode 02: Trying it all in times of pandemic
Speaker: Prof. Alena Khmelinskaia, Junior Professor, LIMES
Starting a new position as a junior professor is not easy. Starting it in a foreign country is even more difficult. Starting a new position in the middle of a pandemic is something that no one has been prepared for.
In the second episode of the Women in Science Podcast, we feature Alena Khmelinskaia – a new Junior Professor at the LIMES Institute, the University of Bonn, who faced all three challenges at once! She joined the LIMES Institute in 2021 and is currently leading the research group focused on understanding the physical principles of protein self-assembly through de novo protein design.
In this interview, Alena speaks about her scientific background and her other interests in music and sport. We learn about her path to the current position and her experience in starting a new position in a foreign country during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. She expresses her opinion on the current women representation in academia and ways to improve it and gives advice to young scientists, who are only at the beginning of their scientific carrier.
Episode 01: A path to Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellowship
Speaker: Dr. Katarzyna Placek, Junior Group Leader, LIMES
Fellowships are always an integral part of scientific careers. Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellowship is one of the most prestigious and competitive in Europe. In this first episode of LiMES WiS podcast Nora Balzer talks to Dr. Katarzyna Placek, commonly known to everyone as Kasia, about her experience with preparing a successful application. Kasia is a molecular immunologist, a junior group leader at the LIMES Institute, University of Bonn. In this lively podcast episode she briefly takes us through her journey till now, her family, her educational exploration through different labs, countries and continents, and her experience coming to Germany and setting up a research team from a scratch.
https://www.limes-institut-bonn.de/en/research/research-departments/unit-2/netea-lab/group-members/
Should you have any comments, suggestions or interesting story to tell, please contact our podcast team at wispod@uni-bonn.de
