Ralf Jansen receives Lauwers Award for best student Monday Seminar talk
Ralf Jansen joined the Brennecke Lab in 2021 as a master’s student, and as a PhD student in 2022.
Ralf’s award-winning Monday Seminar presentation focused on the protein TFIIA-L, a transcription factor which is cleaved into two subunits. For his doctoral research, Ralf is studying the function of this cleavage event, which has remained unclear for three decades. In his presentation, he showed that TFIIA-L cleavage is required for a non-canonical mode of transcription initiation in the Drosophila germline. Ralf’s data using Drosophila and C. elegans suggests that TFIIA-L cleavage is an essential process for germline biology. Ralf presented his discoveries in a clear, structured, and engaging talk that convinced the jury.
“I’ve always enjoyed going to Monday Seminars because they allow you to immerse yourself in the diverse research topics on campus.” Ralf says. “It was very stimulating (and nerve-wracking) to prepare my first seminar talk to communicate my own science effectively. I am very happy that my colleagues enjoyed it and grateful for receiving this award.”
The award is named after the late Mattias Lauwers, a talented young PhD Student in the group of David Keays at the IMP, who tragically died in a sports accident in 2014.
The Lauwers family created the award, to be given on an annual basis to the PhD student who gives the best Monday seminar. The criteria for it aim to reflect Mattias’ dedication to research and presenting it to peers and colleagues, and the selection process draws from both peers and mentors: the students of the Vienna BioCenter PhD Program nominate who they consider the best speaker, and based on these nominations, the Steering Committee selects the laureate. The Lauwers family traditionally presents the award at the Vienna BioCenter PhD Symposium.