Newsletter

Start the New Year with Microverse: Events and Opportunities in 2025

Welcome to the first edition of our newsletter in 2025! This year promises to be filled with exciting events, collaborative opportunities, and remarkable achievements within the Microverse Cluster. In this issue, we highlight key upcoming activities and initiatives, including cutting-edge microbiology seminars, interdisciplinary projects bridging art and science, and opportunities to showcase your scientific accomplishments.

Here’s what’s inside:

• JEMS in March 2025: A talk by Rotem Sorek (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel), bringing the latest in microbiology to Jena.
• Art & Science Collaboration: Call for participation in the “Künstlerische Tatsachen” residency program, continuing its tradition of connecting creativity with research.
• Share Your Success: Guidance and support to communicate your groundbreaking research to a wider audience.
• LIFE Talent Award: Celebrate excellence in life sciences with this prestigious opportunity for early-career researchers.
• Jena Alliance Guest Lectures: Propose inspiring speakers and enrich the academic landscape in Jena.

Read on to discover how you can engage, share, and shine in 2025!

JEMS in March 2025

We are excited to announce the upcoming talk in the Jena Excellence in Microbiology Seminar (JEMS) series:

• Speaker: Rotem Sorek (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel)
  
• Date: March 10, 2025
• Title: tba
• Time: 1 to 2 pm
• Location: Leibniz-HKI – Seminar Room Pasteur, Beutenbergstr. 11a, Jena

JEMS brings together leading experts to share cutting-edge research and foster collaboration within the microbiology community.

The seminar is open to all interested members of the Microverse Cluster and beyond. No registration is required.

Microverse artefact at the Berlin Futurium (Photo: Juliane Seeber)

Call: Interest in Participation in the Art & Science Project “Künstlerische Tatsachen” 2025

Deadline: January 30, 2025

Since 2021, the “Künstlerische Tatsachen” project has fostered a vibrant dialogue between art and science. Through residency programs, artists and scientists collaborate to creatively interpret scientific topics, making them accessible and engaging for the public.

We are thrilled to announce that this inspiring collaboration will continue in summer 2025 with a new residency. This opportunity will bring together creative minds and researchers to explore fresh perspectives and develop interdisciplinary approaches.

Would you like to join?

If this resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you! Please submit a brief expression of interest to contact@microverse-cluster.de.

Photo: Svea Pietschmann

Share Your Scientific Achievements with the Public!

Have you recently made groundbreaking scientific discoveries, is a significant paper about to be published, have you received a prestigious award, or have you been appointed to an important position? Congratulations! The "Balance of the Microverse" science communication team is here to help you showcase your achievements and research to a broader audience.

A compelling press release can attract the attention of journalists and media, effectively bringing your work into the spotlight. To assist you, we’ve developed a detailed document, also available on the Cluster Intranet, outlining everything you need for a successful press release. It includes valuable guidance on timelines, content preparation, and image requirements.

We strongly encourage you to consult this document when preparing your submission. It provides clear instructions on how to structure your message, answer essential questions, and ensure all necessary details are included for an engaging and professional release.

If you’re interested in featuring your research, please contact our Science Communications Officer, Juliane Seeber, at juliane.seeber@uni-jena.de.

Apply for the LIFE Talent Award!

Deadline: January 31, 2025

The University of Jena's LIFE profile area invites applications for the prestigious LIFE Talent Award, honoring exceptional achievements in the life sciences across all career stages.

Who Can Apply?
Early-career researchers from the University of Jena or local institutions, including Jena University Hospital.

Award Details:

• Amount: €5,000 per category
• Categories:
  • Doctoral work
  • Postdoctoral work
  • Independent work (habilitation candidates, junior faculty, non-tenured)
• Up to four awards available

Application Requirements:
Submit by January 31, 2025:

• Cover letter (max. 2 pages)
• CV with publications
• Letter of recommendation (for doctoral candidates and postdocs)

Apply here and showcase your research excellence! Questions? Contact Dania Rose-Sperling: Dania.rose-sperling@uni-jena.de.

Further Information

Call for Jena Alliance Guest Lectures

The Jena Alliance invites proposals for keynote speakers who could be invited to give a Jena Alliance Guest Lecture in Jena.
This call is open to all scientists, teaching staff and doctoral candidates of the Jena Alliance of Graduate Schools (JSMC, JSMM, ASP, MPSP). The engagement and commitment of the guest and the inviting faculty will be generously supported by the Jena Alliance. In addition, the inviting research group may invite the keynote speaker to spend some time as a guest at their institute in Jena, which will also be remunerated by the Jena Alliance.

To propose a speaker, please send an email to maria.langhammer@uni-jena.de with the following information: name of the speaker, institution/position, field of research, responsible host (person + institute) for the guest during the stay in Jena.

Further information

Selected publications

• Wright SS, Kumari P, Fraile-Ágreda V, Wang C, Shivcharan S, Kappelhoff  S, Margheritis EG, Matz A, Vasudevan SO, Rubio I, Bauer M. (2024) Transplantation of gasdermin pores by extracellular vesicles propagates  pyroptosis to bystander cells. Cell. Ahead of print.

• Li K, Cho YI, Tran MA, Wiedemann C, Zhang S, Koweek RS, Hoàng NK, Hamrick GS, Bowen MA, Kokona B, Stallforth P, Beld J, Hellmich UA & Charkoudian LK. (2025) Strategic Acyl Carrier Protein Engineering Enables Functional Type II  Polyketide Synthase Reconstitution In Vitro. ACS chemical biology, Advance online publication.

• Ghandour R, Devlitsarov D, Popp P, Melamed S, Huber M,  Siemers M, Krüger T, Kniemeyer O, Klingl A, Brakhage AA, Erhardt M, Papenfort, K. (2024) ProQ-associated small RNAs control  motility in Vibrio cholerae. Nucleic acids research, gkae1283.

• Graf M, Sarkar A, Svensson CM, Munser AS, Schröder S, Hengoju S, Rosenbaum MA, Figge MT (2025) Rapid detection of microbial antibiotic susceptibility via deep learning supported analysis of angle-resolved scattered-light images of picoliter droplet cultivations. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical 424, 136866.

All publications