MPGC Student Perspectives

Pursuing Research Across Disciplines

From researching marine organisms as climate archives to analyzing complex tumor models, MPGC students work on a wide range of research topics across disciplines. In this short interview, three of them – Lisa Förch, Lena Li and Julian Schröder – share insights into their projects, their motivations, and how the program shapes their PhD experience.
 

1. Can you briefly describe your PhD research and how it connects to the interdisciplinary environment of the MPGC?

Lisa:
My PhD research is at the interface of chemistry and immunology. This is also reflected in my supervision: Prof. Tanja Weil at MPIP focuses more on the chemistry side, while Prof. Tobias Bopp at the University Medical Center Mainz supports the immunology aspects.

I work with 3D heterogenous tumor models to better mimic the complexity of real tumors. By chemically modifying enzymes, I explore different strategies to disrupt these tumor models and also try to better understand cell-cell communication within tumors.

I studied biotechnology at TH Bingen and later molecular biotechnology at JGU Mainz, so I’ve always been in interdisciplinary environments. Continuing this during my PhD was very important to me. Within the MPGC, I am part of the interdisciplinary focus group “Nanomedicine & Immune Cell Engineering”.

Lena:
My research explores how key marine organisms in the Red Sea respond to environmental change, in a region already experiencing temperatures similar to those predicted for more vulnerable coral reefs worldwide. During my master’s in Marine Science at KAUST in Saudi Arabia, I studied coralline algae ecology and sclerochronology. Now, for my PhD under Prof. Bernd Schöne (JGU Mainz) and Dr. Ralf Schiebel (MPIC), I work with giant clams and foraminifera in addition to coralline algae, investigating how these biogenic archives record shifts in oceanographic conditions through time.

Together with my supervisors and collaborators, I use a multi-proxy approach that combines physical, structural, and chemical analyses, allowing me to reconstruct the climatic history of the Red Sea at high temporal resolution. This kind of work really benefits from combining expertise from different fields, which is exactly what the MPGC makes possible.

Julian:
I work on speleothems (stalagmites, stalactites, flowstones) as archives of past climate, which allow us to reconstruct landscapes from millions of years ago.  I did my master's degree in Geosciences at JGU Mainz, where I met my current second supervisor, Prof. Denis Scholz. Later, while working as a student research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, I got to know my first supervisor, Dr. Hubert Vonhof.

In my research, I aim to reconstruct past hydrology and temperatures, particularly in dry regions such as the arid Arabian desert, and use this understanding to investigate past faunal migration, including hominins. Understanding past warm climates enhances our knowledge of the impacts of current anthropogenic climate change and global warming.

The interdisciplinary environment within the MPGC is very helpful for my analyses. The program has also given me the opportunity to do research stays abroad, for example, when applying novel techniques to my samples at the University of Bergen, Norway, and to carry out measurements at Goethe University Frankfurt. It has also helped me connect with researchers beyond Mainz and start new collaborations.

Lena:
I had a similar experience. I have ongoing collaborations with researchers in ICM-CSIC in Barcelona and KAUST. Being part of the MPGC makes it much easier to connect with other groups and start collaborations outside of Mainz.

 

2. What motivated you to apply for the MPGC? What made the program appealing to you?

Lisa:
What really drew me to the MPGC was its interdisciplinary focus. I enjoy working across different fields, and the program offers exactly that. I also really appreciate the exchange with other MPGC students, who all work in very different areas.

Julian:
I wanted to be part of a graduate program where I could interact with people from completely different fields, but who might still use similar methods or techniques. I also find the inter-institutional setup very valuable, as it allows me to work both within groups at JGU Mainz and at MPIC.

Lena:
For me, the MPGC was essential to come to Germany and do my PhD here in Mainz. I applied while I was still studying abroad and reached out to my current supervisor at JGU Mainz with a project idea that could only really work within the MPGC, because it requires input from different groups.

I now have four supervisors: one at MPIC, one at JGU Mainz (Geosciences), and two external supervisors. Since my background is in marine ecology, which isn’t part of the classical natural science faculties at JGU, the MPGC was really the only way for me to pursue this project.