The Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) selected Ralf Jansen, a student in the Vienna BioCenter PhD program in the lab of Julius Brennecke at IMBA, for one of the Fonds’ competitive fellowships for PhD students.
Ralf Jansen studied Biology at the University of Vienna, and then pursued a Master’s degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Vienna. During his Master’s, Jansen interned in different labs throughout the Vienna BioCenter, including the Brennecke Lab at IMBA. At the Brennecke Lab, Jansen studied how piRNAs, small RNAs that act in the defense mechanism against transposons, are expressed and exported from the nucleus in the Drosophila germline.
After finishing his Master’s degree, Ralf Jansen applied to stay at the Brennecke Lab as a Vienna BioCenter PhD student. His PhD project will further delve into understanding how cells regulate piRNA expression at the molecular level. “I will investigate how transcription initiation can be achieved in heterochromatin during piRNA expression. This contrasts with regular gene expression, where chromatin is more accessible.” Ralf Jansen will use Drosophila as an animal model for this project, which will combine CRISPR-mediated genome engineering, transcriptomics and molecular biology techniques to elucidate the role and function of the transcription initiation complex TFIIA and its variants in different genomic regions.
“I’m grateful for the support by the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds, and excited about the opportunities I’ll gain from being part of the worldwide community of fellows and alumni,” says Ralf Jansen. “The training opportunities and the opportunity to network with top-level scientists will be an enormous benefit for me, and hopefully for our group’s research.”
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.