Community News

The German biochemist is fascinated by the complexity of enzymes and their functionality as catalysts. Holding a NOMIS-ETH fellowship he chose the Bioprocess Lab (“great vibes!”) for his postdoctoral research on the origin and evolution of early enzymes. In his free time, he loves participating in races – on his two legs and on two wheels.

The German Computational Biologist will advance algorithms and statistical tools for drug development in oncology. During her postdoc in the Computational Biology group of Niko Beerenwinkel, Kerstin also plans to explore ethical and societal questions related to machine learning techniques. She enjoys hiking and likes (creating and admiring) art – passions for which Basel clearly is the perfect place.

On 9 November, upon invitation of the Bio Engineering Lab of Andreas Hierlemann and the PEL-group of ETH-Prof. em. Henry Baltes some 100 alumni, co-workers and guests met for the 8th time to talk about emerging topics in science. Since many alumni today work in industry and companies originating from D-BSSE labs, this large meeting provided an inspirational networking event for young scientists, entrepreneurs and scientists in academia alike.

The French Biologist will focus in her research on the development of mathematical models that help shed light on the underlying transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. Noémie loves all kinds of sport activities. Inspired by the Basel triathlon held in September, she might give it a go in 2025.

The Taiwanese molecular and stem cell biologist recently started his postdoc position in the Systems Physiology group of Andreas Moor. When moving to Switzerland Sam was mentally prepared to be challenged by bureaucracy; instead, he experienced great support in settling in and a warm welcome by his Rhine-swimming lab colleagues.

The specialised ‘collagen chemist’ from Idaho, USA, has just started his postdoctoral position at the Biophysics Lab of Daniel Müller. Carson will continue his research on the extracellular matrix and its assembly mechanisms, particularly in the context of diseases. He enjoys sharing coffee breaks together with his lab members to talk science over a cup of coffee, and on his new hometown he says: “Basel has exceeded my expectations so far”.

We are happy to announce that the successful partnership of ETH Zurich with PubliBike from Zurich will now be extended to Basel. Staff and students of the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering can rent the Velospot bikes or e-bikes in Basel-Stadt free of charge for the first 15 minutes (each ride) for a period of 100 days from purchase.

Damla Ortac already had a job as a software engineer when she graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science. But she began to have doubts about her chosen career and decided to do something totally different. Today she is a second-year Master's student in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics.

G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCR) are cell-surface receptors that detect molecules outside the cell and activate cellular responses. They regulate a large variety of pathophysiological processes and are therefore the target of extensive drug discovery efforts. In her Spark-funded project from the Swiss National Science Foundation, Asli Azizoglu from the Computational Systems Biology group will develop a technology platform that identifies very efficiently functional drugs that target GPCRs.