We are very happy that Simona Palusci came all the way from sunny Italy to join our lab here in Regensburg! Simona has received a fellowship from our local graduate school RIGeL to work on the translational repression of the Drosophila RNA nanos by the RNA-binding protein Sex Lethal. Thanks to the generous support from the Graduate Research Academy RNA Biology we can now welcome a new labmember!
We have a new colleague in the lab! We are very happy to announce that beginning of the month Stefan Reich has joined the lab as a PhD student! Stefan will work on deciphering the cellular reprogramming of translation during the unfolded protein response. Within the BMBF-funded SUPR-G network (Systems Biology of the Unfolded Protein Responsse in Glioma) he will collaborate with the groups of Christiane Knobbe-Thomsen (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf), Robert Ahrends (Leibniz Institute for Analytical Biosciences, ISAS, Dortmund), Grischa Tödt (European Molecular Biology Laboratory, EMBL, Heidelberg), and Björn Tews (German Cancer Research Center, DKFZ, Heidelberg). Welcome to Regensburg and welcome to the lab!
The initiative ‚Nacht schafft Wissen‘ by the city of Regensburg provides an opportunity to gain insight into the research and work that is conducted within numerous companies, the technical university of applied sciences, the university of Regensburg and its hospital. For this a number of talks and tours are offered to interested visitors. Rebecca Moschall from the lab will actively participate by guiding lab visits in the biochemistry department and explaining about the research that is conducted. We are very much looking forward to welcoming you on April 24th!
(picture with permission from city of Regensburg)
We are happy to announce that Gaia Di Timoteo was successful with her application for an Erasmus fellowship. Gaia is working in the laboratory of Irene Bozzoni at the Sapienza University of Rome. She will join our lab for two months (starting in July) to gain expertise in experimentation aimed to study translation in vitro.
Looking forward to your visit!
We are happy to announce that our application to the Federal Ministry for Education and Research was successful! Together with four other junior groups located at the German Cancer Research Center DKFZ (Björn Tews), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory EMBL (Grischa Tödt), the Leibniz-Institute for Analytical Sciences ISAS (Robert Ahrends), and the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (Christiane Knobbe-Thomsen) we can now embark on a highly collaborative research program. Our aim is to study in molecular detail how the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) impacts on growth and invasion of glioma. 
On May 27th Johannes Popow from the EMBL in Heidelberg will will come to Regensburg and give a talk within the RIGeL RNA Lecture Series… Looking forward to welcoming an old colleague and friend to Regensburg!
Center for Molecular Neurobiology Hamburg, Neuronal Translational Control, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg Eppendorf
Non-canonical translation factors: regulatory targets and organismal functions
After the successful mid-term evaluation in December last year we had another BioSysNet meeting in Munich. Again it was a very exciting meeting! Many thanks to the organizing team for their great work!
An interesting read! Björn Brembs and Axel Brennike analyze how administration and bureaucracy grew in the past decades at german universities.
The full article was published in a very reknown newspaper (FAZ) – read it here (German version). See also the Blog by Björn Brembs with an english version and additional details/comments.
The Conference ‘The Complex Life of RNA’ at EMBL in Heidelberg (October 5th to 8th) provided a great opportunity not only to learn about the latest research in the RNA field but also to catch up with old friends (see below). An informal gathering of young principal investigators allowed to discuss the challenges and problems associated with setting up a lab. Read more at EMBLetc.
Justus Liebig University Giessen, Institute of Biochemistry
Circular RNA and alternative splicing: from protein-coding genes to noncoding RNAs
It was a great meeting of the RNA-Biochemistry section of the Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (GBM)! In Bonn, the former capital of Germany, we had almost four days of exciting science and great talks! Mark Helm and his team did a great job in organizing this wonderful meeting!
The lecture series Modern methods to analyze features of ribonucleoprotein particles is back!
Part II starting on October 15th with a lecture on the
Principles of Translational Control: Mechanisms and Factors
The Complex Life of RNA is back! It is the third time the RNA community gathers in Heidelberg to discuss the latest scientific findings. It was great to meet a lot of friends in this exciting environment. In parallel to the conference we had organized a gathering of (junior) group leaders working on all aspects of RNA biology. I enjoyed very much chatting with you during dinner and I am looking forward to seeing you again next year – same time, same place!
