Excellence straight from a brown bag
At the “School of Analytical Sciences Adlershof”, PhD students learn to think across disciplines
Ines Gerling is one of around 30 so-called ”fellows“ who are currently obtaining their PhD on a scholarship at the ”School of Analytical Sciences Adlershof“ (SALSA). She earned her master's degree in the didactics of chemistry last year and is now conducting research on how the training of practical laboratory skills at university can be improved. ”While students become accustomed to the fundamental methods, they should at the same time learn how to conduct applied scientific research,“ she explains her approach.
Ines Gerling feels her project is in good hands at the graduate school with its interdisciplinary approach. ”It is not solely about analytical chemistry,“ Prof. Ulrich Panne (BAM) underlines, who speaks on behalf of SALSA together with Prof. Janina Kneipp (HU). ”Analytical Sciences are key technologies that are required in a great number of fields.“
SALSA fellows are supported by two ”principal investigators“, or ”PIs“, from different departments. Every Tuesday they meet for the so-called ”Brown Bag Lectures“, where they present their projects. The idea is to have a casual tutorial, to which everyone brings only their breakfast in a brown bag. Afterwards, everybody goes to lunch together, which is followed by a lecture during the semester. ”While one would otherwise work on the dissertation in a quiet backroom, I attend SALSA seminars and am in constant contact with PIs and other fellows,“ reports Ines Gerling. Many of the SALSA fellows, who come from 19 different countries, live in the nearby dormitory in Berlin-Schöneweide. The students also meet up now and again in their spare time.
The PIs work for one of the partner institutions which include the Humboldt-University and the Technical University Berlin, the ETH Zürich, the University of Potsdam and several non-university research institutes. ”The dissertation topics are usually put forward jointly by two PIs,“ explains SALSA director Katharina Schultens. ”PhD students can apply for the projects following an international call for proposals.“
The advantage: research is often very practically oriented. In the future, this will become even more significant: cooperations with Adlershof companies are underway so as to interlink university education with industrial research. The SALSA fellows get in contact with industry partners and gain insights into prospective fields of activity.
The project of Jonas Baumann is also practically oriented. For his PhD, he is investigating processes that occur during the manufacture of extremely thin layers. These are important for producing photovoltaic modules, among other things. The research of physicist Baumann is on the borderline between physics and chemistry. He does not know yet which career path he will choose after receiving his PhD. ”International contacts are important in any case,“ says Baumann. At SALSA, he will be able to make them.
By Mirko Heinemann for Adlershof Special