BIF Fellowship for Jeanne Couturier
The Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) selected Jeanne Couturier, a student in the Vienna BioCenter PhD program in the lab of Joanna Jachowicz at IMBA, for one of the Fonds’ competitive fellowships for PhD students.
Jeanne Couturier studied biotechnology and engineering at ESBS in Strasbourg. At the same time, Couturier also pursued a Master’s degree in High-Throughput Biotechnology at the University of Freiburg. As part of her Master’s thesis at EMBL Rome, Jeanne Couturier became interested in epigenetics, studying how protein modification regulates gene expression.
Last year, Jeanne Couturier joined the lab of Joanna Jachowicz at IMBA as a Vienna BioCenter PhD student, a lab that allows her to further delve into understanding how cells regulate gene expression at the molecular level to achieve cell-specific outcomes. “In my project, I now investigate the role of non-coding RNA in the regulation of gene expression and 3D-genome organization in differentiation.” Jeanne Couturier will use the RNA-DNA Sprite method, co-developed by Joanna Jachowicz, to map non-coding RNAs on the genome and understand how non-coding RNAs regulate the differentiation of embryonic stem cells to neural progenitor cells.
“I’m grateful for the support by the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds, and am particularly excited about the opportunities I’ll gain from being part of the network of fellows and alumni,” says Jeanne Couturier. “Especially the training opportunities and the opportunity to interact with a broad network of scientists will be an enormous benefit for me.”
The Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) awards PhD fellowships of 2 to 3.5 years to outstanding junior scientists worldwide who wish to pursue an ambitious PhD project in basic biomedical research in an internationally leading laboratory.
The peer-review selection process evaluates the applicant's achievements, as well as the scientific quality of the project and host laboratory. The process is highly competitive, with less than 10 percent of applicants receiving a fellowship.
On top of the monthly stipend, the BIF offers fellows seminars, travel allowances, individual and personal support, and access to a worldwide network of fellows and alumni.