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Wednesday, 10 February, 2021

Isabella Graf receives Theodor Hänsch PhD Award

 

Dr. Isabella Graf is the second recipient of the Theodor Hänsch PhD Award by the Faculty of Physics. She received the award for her outstanding dissertation in theoretical biophysics. The Theodor Hänsch PhD Award is donated by the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation for the Faculty of Physics and is endowed with 4,000 euros. Last year, Isabella moved to Yale University for a postdoc. We had the opportunity to talk to Isabella about the award and her experiences.

Hi Isabella and first of all congratulations on the Theodor Hänsch PhD Award!
Thank you very much, Susanne!

Please tell us a little bit about the topic of your thesis.
Broadly speaking, we tried to find important principles underlying different classes of biological systems. For this purpose, we set up conceptual, theoretical models that we studied using different methods from Statistical Physics. The first part of my thesis focuses on the self-organization of spatiotemporal patterns in the cell cytoskeleton, a structure which is composed of filaments and crosslinking motor proteins. One of the main results of our work is an explanation as to why the dynamics in protein filament networks are independent of local network properties and instead depend only on global network features. The second part of my thesis deals with the self-assembly of complex structures in cells and in nanotechnological applications. Our toy model indicates that the assembly of heterogeneous structures can be subject to strong stochastic effects. Indeed, yield can be zero in stochastic simulations although a deterministic description (one that neglects noise) predicts perfect yield. These findings suggest that stochasticity is an important limiting factor for self-assembly and that deterministic rate equations are generally not sufficient to describe heterogeneous self-assembly.

What do you think was most important to you to succeed in your PhD work?
I think the most important part were the people around me:
- My supervisor, Erwin, who has continuously supported me, encouraged me to follow my scientific interests and was always open for new projects and ideas.
- All the people I had the pleasure to work with on the different projects. I learned a lot from our numerous discussions and we had a lot of fun together.
- The (bio)physics community in Munich with so many enthusiastic, motivated and friendly people that were always happy to share their knowledge and time.
- My friends, family and husband for cheering me up in stressful times, for many unforgettable memories and for their interest and encouragement.

During your time in Munich, you were also active as a CeNS student representative. What was your motivation and how did you experience your time at CeNS?
I really enjoyed the various activities that CeNS organizes for students and postdocs (winter schools, Science Rocks!, summer and get-together parties, lab tours, etc) and had the impression that input from students was always welcome. Therefore, I was very happy to contribute to this great initiative and to help promote exchange between the different groups within CeNS. My experience was positive throughout: Everybody was very committed and eager to implement new ideas and suggestions.

You have recently started your postdoctoral work in Benjamin Machta’s lab at Yale. What is your experience so far and how has the pandemic affected your situation?
My experience in Ben’s lab so far is great! I’m working on very interesting topics and enjoy the combination of research, mentoring and a bit of teaching. We also have a fantastic collaboration with Sarah Veatch and her group in Michigan and I learn a lot of new things. Of course, the pandemic makes is much harder to get to know people and to start new projects, but I think I was very lucky overall. After a few months of delay, I started my Postdoc remotely in July 2020 and then moved to New Haven in September. As a theorist, it is relatively easy to work from home and I feel that I am now very well integrated into different projects.

To conclude, what is your advice to anyone thinking about a postdoc abroad?
I would definitely recommend it! I find it very interesting to see the differences in scientific culture and policy and I get a lot of new input regarding many aspects of society, life and research. An important part in my decision-making process for Ben’s lab was whether I could see myself working well with the people. For me personally, this decision turned out to be very positive, and I would definitely advise anyone thinking about a postdoc abroad to visit the groups in person (if possible) and to talk to as many people as possible.

Thank you Isabella for the interview and all the best for your future!