The Gerlich lab offers a creative, energetic space in which to pursue the most exciting questions. We strive to create the conditions in which lab members can take full ownership of their work while supported by a culture of active discussion, interaction, and collaboration. This allows young researchers to develop the vision that will carry them forward into the next stage of their careers. The group collaborates widely with researchers in the vibrant and highly international research environment of the Vienna BioCenter, as well as with other international partners. Our progress is fueled first and foremost by the excitement of making important technical advances and addressing interesting biological questions, aiming at publishing first-author papers that represent a genuine conceptual advance.
Projects in our lab start with the ideas and interests of lab members. Close scientific discussion then helps to shape these ideas into a clear scientific framework, with a central question, an experimental strategy, and a path to mechanistic insight. Daniel stays involved at all stages of the process, helping lab members to shape the logic, facilitating interaction among lab members, and identifying opportunities for collaboration. We pursue discovery from two entry points, either by asking new questions about classical biological processes or by building new technologies that make previously inaccessible structures and dynamics measurable. Many projects combine both, moving from measurement and description to mechanistic understanding. The success of this approach is driven by maintaining a creative team of researchers who bring experience and insight from diverse backgrounds. It is further enhanced through interaction with the outstanding the Vienna BioCenter core facilities and our institute services, who offer invaluable support in the planning and interpretation, as well as technical execution, of experiments. In this way, we are able to tackle problems that would be difficult to access with any single method and to turn key observations into deep mechanistic insight.
We like to keep the lab well organized so that we can spend our time on the science. Every week we meet as a lab to discuss a shared topic and look critically at developments in the field. We also run weekly subgroup meetings in small teams to dive deeper into results, troubleshoot technical challenges, and plan next steps. Once a year, each lab member has a dedicated mentorship meeting with Daniel to talk about career goals and training opportunities. Behind the scenes, our lab manager Claudia keeps the infrastructure running smoothly, with shared reagent and protocol resources, electronic experiment documentation, and a centralized data repository. Good organization makes day-to-day work easier, and it keeps the lab fun, collaborative, and productive.
