Graduate School

2019

December 5 

12th International PhD Symposium, HZI Graduate School, Braunschweig

November 3 - 4

Lab course: Introduction to statistics, not only for biologists 
Aim & Content: Statistics provides methods to analyse and understand the data, to find deviations, correlations, to support or to reject hypothesis.
Statistics is often (mis)understood as a toolbox of methods from which one just has to pick the right one. But without a basic understanding of the underlying statistical concepts, the application of these methods is often of no use and can even produce wrong or misleading results. A biologist does not need to become an expert in statistics. But with a basic intuitive understanding, biologists can carry out standard analyses steps themselves and also know how to talk to statisticians who in most cases know little about biology.
This course is intended to explain the basic concepts and ideas of statistics and how to use the methods provided by statistics. At the end of the course, a hands-on computer lab exercise will be offered in which the participants can apply what they have learned using the open source statistics software R.
Course Leader: Prof. Dr. Frank Klawonn; HZI Braunschweig

October 11    

Assessment Bioinformatics Lecture
HZI Graduate School

October 10 - 11

Course: Plan A - How to plan your career in science
Aim & Content: Science careers are demanding. But the biggest difficulty seems to be that it seems somehow impossible to plan them to the end. On the other hand there are some rules one could use to plan at least the most important steps and to minimize the risks. The workshop will deal with the complete career ladder - from PhD to the appointment to a chair - and will address the most important career steps
Course Leader: Dr. Matthias Schwarzkopf; karriere-beratung-akademiker.de, Jena

October 7 - 8

Course: Plan B - Alternatives to Science Careers    
Aim & Content: At the end of the PhD phase or at the beginning of the postdoctoral phase, the decision must be made, whether the career should be continued up to the professorship or to leave the science system. In general there are many fears before this step, as no alternative career paths have been found or tried before.
The workshop will focus on finding ideas for possible alternative career paths.
For this purpose, a competency profile will be drawn up, which will incorporate the past professional experiences and educational pathways. On the basis of the competency profile, the participants will then consider which potential job and/or job profiles could fit. In addition, the fundamentals of job applications are presented: From the search for positions, through the understanding of tenders, up to the actual application process.
Course Leader: Dr. Matthias Schwarzkopf; karriere-beratung-akademiker.de, Jena

September 30

Bioinformatics Lecture: Algorithms in phylogenetic interference and their application
Lecturer: Thorsten Klingen, BRICS Braunschweig

September 23

Bioinformatics Lecture: Pitfalls in biomarker determination and analysis of high dimensional data
Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Karsten Hiller, TU-Braunschweig

September 19 - 20

Course: Good Scientific Practice
Aim & Content: Good scientific practice, data management, publication practice and authorship, responsible mentoring, cooperation in science and conflicts of interest, scientific misconduct, managing conflicts.
Course Leader: Dr. Michael Gommel; Institute for Systemic Medicine and Organizational Ethics, Berlin

September 16

Bioinformatics Lecture: Structural Dynamics in Prokayotic Genomes Retrieved by 3rd Generation Sequencing
Lecturer: Dr. Boyke Bunk, DSMZ Braunschweig

September 9

Bioinformatics Lecture: A use case of machine learning for clinical data analysis: cytokines as predictors for virological relapse in hepatitis B infections
Lecturer: Dr. Juan Carlos Lopez Alfonso, BRICS Braunschweig

September 2

Bioinformatics Lecture: PRODORIC2 - a database about gene regulation in prokaryotes
Lecturer: Dr. Andreas Bremges, HZI Braunschweig

August 26

Bioinformatics Lecture: Discovering genetic determinants of gene expression levels with RNA-seq
Lecturer: Dr. David DeLuca, MHH Hannover

August 19

Bioinformatics Lecture: Integration of multi-omics data for understanding immune functions
Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Yang Li; CiiM Hannover

August 12

Bioinformatics Lecture: (Mis-)Use of hypothesis testing
Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Frank Klawonn; HZI Braunschweig

August 12

Lecture: Introduction into the HZI Graduate School    
Lecturer: Dr. Sabine Kirchhoff; HZI Braunschweig

August 8

Career opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry: Regulatory affairs – Pharmacovigilance – Clinical research
Aim & Content: The course starts with an overview pharmaceutical industry in Germany. Three fields of work within the pharmaceutical industry are presented.
The questions what additional knowledge should I have in addition to my expertise, and how to find job opportunities and companies that fit to me will be discussed.
Course Leader: Dr. Christian Strobe, Regulatory Affairs/Compliance Manager, Nordmark Arzneimittel GmbH, Uetersen, Germany

August 2    

Assessment Biology of Actinobacteria and Myxobacteria Lecture
HZI Graduate School
 

July 29

Biology of Actinobacteria and Myxobacteria Lecture: Biology of Myxobacteria
Lecturer: PD Dr. Joachim Wink; HZI Braunschweig

July 22

Biology of Actinobacteria and Myxobacteria Lecture: Pathogenity of Actinobacteria
Lecturer: PD Dr. Joachim Wink; HZI Braunschweig

July 15

Biology of Actinobacteria and Myxobacteria Lecture: Isolation and biotechnological aspects of Actinobacteria
Lecturer: PD Dr. Joachim Wink; HZI Braunschweig

July12

Career Opportunity Workshop: Insight into her successful career
Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Maren von Koeckritz-Blickwede, Biochemistry of Infection, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation

July 9 - 10

Course: Applied Intercultural Communication
Aim & Content: An Introduction to Intercultural Communication for Doctoral Students: Developing Key Problem-Solving Skills for the International Workplace.
Course Leader: Alexia Petersen, M.A., Aachen

July 8

Biology of Actinobacteria and Myxobacteria Lecture: Polyphasic Taxonomy
Lecturer: PD Dr. Joachim Wink; HZI Braunschweig

July 4

Symposium: A Day on “Career Opportunities”, HZI Braunschweig
Alumni of the Helmholtz International Graduate School for Infection Research present their careers.

June 24

Biology of Actinobacteria and Myxobacteria Lecture: Biology of Actinobacteria and their secondary metabolites
Lecturer: PD Dr. Joachim Wink; HZI Braunschweig

June 17

Biology of Actinobacteria and Myxobacteria Lecture: Antibiotics
Lecturer: PD Dr. Joachim Wink; HZI Braunschweig

June 12

Career Opportunity Workshop: From infection biologist to Medical Director in Pharma
Lecturer: Dr. Sven Baumann, Medical Director / Prokurist, INDIVIOR Deutschland GmbH

June 7    

Assessment Structural Biology Lecture
HZI Graduate School

May 27

Structural Biology Lecture: Structure-based drug discovery

May 20

Structural Biology Lecture: Binding affinity and more

May 15 - 16

10^th Annual Retreat, HZI Graduate School, Haus der Wissenschaft Braunschweig

May 13

Structural Biology Lecture: Validation and interpretation of protein structures

May 6

Structural Biology Lecture: Basics of NMR spectroscopy

April 29

Structural Biology Lecture: Basics of EM (& Small Angle X-Ray Scattering, SAXS)

April 15

Structural Biology Lecture: Basics of X-ray crystallography

April 12

Lecture: Introduction into the HZI Graduate School 

April 8 - 9

Course: Good Scientific Practice
Aim & Content: Good scientific practice, data management, publication practice and authorship, responsible mentoring, cooperation in science and conflicts of interest, scientific misconduct, managing conflicts.
Course Leader: Dr. Julia Verse; Institute for Systemic Medicine and Organizational Ethics, Berlin

April 8

Structural Biology Lecture: Protein expression

April 3

Course: Statistics in day-to-day research work
Aim & Content: On the basis, of experimental scenarios, typical problems of statistically supported experimental design will be explained and some basics of statistic will be discussed. 
• Statistical Terminology and Basics: Population and Sample, Mean, Quantiles, Standarddeviation
• The Concepts of Hypothesis Testing: Simple t-test, 2-Sample t-test
• ANOVA: Comparison of more than 2 Groups
• Regression analysis: Modeling Relationships between Continuous Variables

April 1

Structural Biology Lecture: Structure and function of biomacromolecules

March 29 

Assessment Epidemiology Lecture
HZI Graduate School

March 25

Epidemiology Lecture: Field trip to NAKO study centre at CRC, Hannover 
Lecturer: Dr. Yvonne Kemmling; CRC Hannover

March 18-22

Lab course: Mikrobiology of Myxobacteria and Actinobacteria 
Aim & Content: Antibiotic active secondary metabolites from Myxobacteria and Actinobacteria, characterization of producing strains, identification of biological active compounds, isolation of new strains from different habitats.
Course Leader: Dr. Kathrin Mohr and PD Dr. Joachim Wink; HZI Braunschweig

March 18

Epidemiology Lecture: Modelling in Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Lecturer: Dr. Stephan Glöckner; HZI Braunschweig

March 11

Epidemiology Lecture: Case study and SurvStat 
Lecturer: Minh Tam Nguyen; HZI Braunschweig

March 4

Epidemiology Lecture: Bias and Confounding
Lecturer: Daniela Gornyk; HZI Braunschweig

February 25 – March 1

Lab course: TGE and BEVS Protein Expression in Insect cells 
Aim & Content: This course will cover the theory and practical training in the baculoviral expression vector system and virus free transient gene expression in insect cells. Basic sterile cell cultivation, transient transfection, amplification of the virus, viral infection and protein expression screens will be part of the training. The course will take around 40 hours during the week. Due to the intensive training at the bench, there will be only place for 3 groups of 3 people. The course is primarily aimed for PhD students, post docs and members of the CSSB who plan to use the technology in their research project.
Course Leader: Dr. Joop van den Heuvel; HZI Braunschweig

February 25

Epidemiology Lecture: Infectious Disease Dynamics

February 18

Epidemiology Lecture: Descriptive and analytic epidemiology

February 15

Assessment Business Studies Lecture
HZI Graduate School

February 11

Epidemiology Lecture: Epidemiologic study types

February 7

Business Studies Lecture:
Finance & Accounting
Business finance; Accounting fundamentals; Budget & Costs; Actuals vs Planned Analysis

February 4

Epidemiology Lecture: Introduction

February 1 

Assessment Chemical Biology Lecture
HZI Graduate School

January 31

Business Studies Lecture:
Operations vs Project Management
Operations & Planning; Capacity Utilization; Project Management

January 24-25

Course: Scientific Writing
Aim & Content: Learn how to write clearly and with impact:
   - Construct a "take-home" message that tells the story of your research.
   - Choose words that communicate your science clearly.
   - Structure your paper into a flowing narrative.

January 28

Chemical Biology Lecture: Introduction to Computational Chemical Biology

January 21

Chemical Biology Lecture: Molecular imaging studies in vitro and in vivo

January 17

Business Studies Lecture:
Marketing
Definition vs Market Research; Marketing Mix (Product & Price, Promotion & Place)

January 14

Chemical Biology Lecture: Chemical Modulation of Protein Function

January 10

Business Studies Lecture:
Business and its Environment; Strategies
Business Structure & Size, Objectives & Stakeholders
People in Organizations
Management & Leadership; Motivation; Organization

January 7

Chemical Biology Lecture: Peptides in host defence and immunology

2018

December 17

Chemical Biology Lecture: Cellular responses to chemical challenges

December 10

Genetic background Lecture: Mouse microbiota

December 10

Chemical Biology Lecture: Strategies for target identification II

December 10

Genetic background Lecture:
Genetic Drift – What it is and how to minimize its impact on your research
Guidelines for Sizing Experimental Mouse colonies

December 6

11^th International PhD Symposium, HZI Graduate School, Braunschweig

December 6

Xmas SharePoint update for all office manager, HZI Graduate School, Braunschweig

December 4

Genetic background Lecture I:
Bedding and enrichment for laboratory rodents – new developments
Standard diets for laboratory animal maintenance and breeding
Employment of specialty diets for laboratory rodents

December 4

Genetic background Lecture II:
The significance of the genetic background
Methods for Genotyping
News about health-monitoring

December 3 - 6

Course: Research Skill Development Course (1st-year students)
Aim & Content: The course has been designed to develop both personal and research effectiveness. The course is designed to address a number of development areas, such as personal effectiveness, team working, networking and communication skills.
This will be achieved through:
• safe, yet challenging course environment that will encourage participants to explore and identify the key elements of team working, networking, effective communication, planning and project management.
• A balanced and structured programme of exercises and review sessions that will provide a variety of learning situations allowing participants to identify and take away relevant lessons.
• A range of group situations where participants will be encouraged to share feedback with their peers on their overall effectiveness.
• A learning journal and course notebook which will be offered to aid the learning process of participants in their own working environment.
• Encouragement to create an ongoing level of support from their learning groups that will enable continuing networking, coaching and further group interactions.

December 3

Chemical Biology Lecture: Strategies for target identification I

November 28 - 30

Course: Coping with the challenges of a PhD
Aim & Content: This course provides in-depth guidelines on how to cope with the most common challenges involved in researching and writing a PhD. This training course equips you with the tools and techniques you need to complete your PhD successfully and on schedule. You learn how to work more efficiently, how to save time, and how to identify and focus on the essentials. You learn how to employ management tools to monitor your progress, as well as gaining a greater understanding of how to optimise supervision and how to get the support you need. You learn how to plan the thesis- writing process and how to incorporate writing tasks into your normal working day. You gain an increased awareness of the career choices open to you, and of what might be the best career options for you personally. This training course will help increase your satisfaction with life as a PhD student, and to become a fully professional academic.

November 22 - 24

20^th EMBL PhD Symposium
This year, the Embl Organising Committee invite you to celebrate revolutionary ideas in the molecular life sciences and explore the game-changing science that is shaping the face of modern biology.
The meeting offers a platform to explore exciting and groundbreaking research, from Master's projects all the way to Nobel Prize winning work. With a broad theme, we encourage many young researchers from across the sciences to showcase their research to an international audience, stimulate cross-disciplinary discussion and meet scientists from diverse backgrounds to share ideas.
Opportunities to present at the Symposium include talks, flash talks and poster sessions, as well as sessions to meet and interact with our game-changing speakers and to network with other successful young scientists.
http://phdsymposium.embl.org/

November 23

Assessment Cell Biology Lecture
HZI Graduate School; HZI Braunschweig

November 19

Cell Biology Lecture: Cell cycle and its implication in infection processes

November 6 - 7

Course: Plan A - How to plan your career in science
Aim & Content: Science careers are demanding. But the biggest difficulty seems to be that it seems somehow impossible to plan them to the end. On the other hand there are some rules one could use to plan at least the most important steps and to minimize the risks. The workshop will deal with the complete career ladder - from PhD to the appointment to a chair - and will address the most important career steps

November 5

Cell Biology Lecture: Role of cell adhesion and extracellular matrix in bacterial infectious diseases

October 29 - 31

Course: Good Scientific Practice
Aim & Content: Good scientific practice, data management, publication practice and authorship, responsible mentoring, cooperation in science and conflicts of interest, scientific misconduct, managing conflicts.

October 29

Cell Biology Lecture: Cell death

October 25

Symposium: A Day on “Career Opportunities”, HZI Braunschweig
Alumni of the Helmholtz International Graduate School for Infection Research present their careers.
www.helmholtz-hzi.de/symposium

October 22

Cell Biology Lecture: Cellular neurobiology of learning, memory and forgetting

October 18 - 19

Course: BioVoxxel Workshop - Processing and Analysis of Scientific Images
Aim & Content: The workshop aims to teach natural scientists from how to handle and process digital images starting from e.g. microscopic image acquisition until the incorporation into the final publication figure. This includes important theory about high quality digital images in general as well as a broad spectrum of methods for scientifically correct image processing and specific analytical purposes according to high scientific Standards.

October 15

Cell Biology Lecture: Visualization of cellular structures and proteins

October 8

Cell Biology Lecture: Regulation of the Cytoskeleton in infection

October 1

Cell Biology Lecture: Molecular mechanisms underlying cell movements

September 13

Course: Time management in academia - Aligning time and goals
Aim & Content: Teaching, part time work, professional development, private arrangements and not least the thesis: Time pressure results in many things only being half done. In the end there is not enough time for the important tasks and you are left with the uncomfortable feeling of again not having managed everything.
It is however not difficult to improve dealing with the personal time budget. Through the implementation of established time management methods, individual disturbances can be minimised, priorities can be set and planning horizons can be determined in order to make the own work more effective.

September 10 - 12

Course: Career and Leadership course in Mariaspring
Aim & Content: To summarise, the aim of this course is to provide postgraduate researchers with an opportunity to build their understanding, skills and confidence in the key areas of career planning, career development and the development of their leadership style.
By the end of the course participants should:
•          understand career planning and how to take ownership of the process
•          have an understanding of the skills and competencies organisations require
•          feel equipped to participate in the selection processes
•          have a clear understanding of the key elements of leadership
•          feel empowered to be authentic in their leadership style
•          have experienced a range of leadership styles through working with colleagues

August 15 - 16

Course: Career strategies accompanying the doctorate - Building potential – tapping professional pathways
Aim & Content: An occupation in research and teaching, a career in the economic or service sector or in a non- profit organisation – after the doctorate there are numerous professional fields and career paths open on the international labour market.
Because of this, strategic career planning is necessary. A series of important questions has to be answered: What are my goals and interests, what are my strengths and weaknesses? Where can I apply? Do I know what is expected of me and how to present myself?
On the basis of these questions the current application standards are conveyed and individual application strategies are worked out. With the help of selected examples from practice, the participants develop the competencies needed for a successful approach to the application process.

August 3

Assessment Virology Lecture
HZI Graduate School; HZI Braunschweig

July 30

Virology Lecture: Adaptive Immunity to Viruses and Vaccines
Adaptive immune response to viruses, vaccines historical view, active and passive, adjuvants, novel vaccine strategies

July 23

Virology Lecture: Replication of RNA viruses
The RNA template, the RNA synthesis machinery, regulation of mRNA production and genome replication, sites of viral RNA synthesis, origins of diversity in RNA genomes

July 16

Virology Lecture: Viral pathogenesis
Routes of transmission and typical viral syndromes (respiratory, gastrointestinal, central nervous system, and skin infections; hepatitis; hemorrhagic fevers)

July 11 - 13

Course: Coping with the challenges of a PhD
Aim & Content: This course provides in-depth guidelines on how to cope with the most common challenges involved in researching and writing a PhD. This training course equips you with the tools and techniques you need to complete your PhD successfully and on schedule. You learn how to work more efficiently, how to save time, and how to identify and focus on the essentials. You learn how to employ management tools to monitor your progress, as well as gaining a greater understanding of how to optimise supervision and how to get the support you need. You learn how to plan the thesis- writing process and how to incorporate writing tasks into your normal working day. You gain an increased awareness of the career choices open to you, and of what might be the best career options for you personally. This training course will help increase your satisfaction with life as a PhD student, and to become a fully professional academic.

July 9

Virology Lecture: Virus evolution and emergence
How do viral populations evolve, origins of viruses, emerging viruses, expansion of host range by mutations

July 2

Virology Lecture: Intracellular trafficking, assembly, egress and maturation of viruses
Assembly within the nucleus, assembly at the plasma membrane, transport of genomes to site of assembly, selective packaging of the viral genome, acquisition of an envelope, release of particles, maturation of progeny

June 25

Virology Lecture: Transcription and Replication: DNA Viruses and Retroviruses
RNA pol II and transcription of viral mRNAs, poxviral mRNA transcription, cellular and viral regulators of transcription, retroviral reverse transcription and integration

June 18

Virology Lecture: Attachment and Entry of Viruses
Receptors and attachment factors, examples and identification, endocytosis of viruses, membrane fusion, movement of virions within cells, virus induced signaling via receptors, mechanisms of uncoating, import of genomes into the nucleus, implications for drug design, virus spread and pathology

June 15

Assessment Immunology Lecture
HZI Graduate School; HZI Braunschweig

June 11

Virology Lecture: Foundations: Viruses and the infectious cycle
History of virology, Baltimore classification of viruses, Viral Genomes (DNA, RNA) based on typical human pathogenic viruses reflecting spectrum of viral diseases, Virus and the host cell, virus as tools for molecular and cellular biology

June 4

Immunology Lecture: Fighting influenza virus within the lung

May 27 - 31

Summer School on Infection Research, Wernigerode
The German Centre for Infection Research in cooperation with the HZI Graduate School is organsing a Summer School on Infection Research in Wernigerode.
It is an excellent opportunity to learn as much as possible in the field of Infection Research, to discuss your work with the invited speakers and your colleagues and to intensify and strengthen your networks.

May 14

Immunology Lecture: B cell somatic mutation and selection

May 7

Immunology Lecture: T cell differentation: a delicate balance between inflammatory and regulatory T cells

April 23 - 24

Course: Good Scientific Practice
Aim & Content: Good scientific practice, data management, publication practice and authorship, responsible mentoring, cooperation in science and conflicts of interest, scientific misconduct, managing conflicts.

April 23

Immunology Lecture: Immune defence at body surfaces - the gut

April 18 - 19

Course: Plan B - Alternatives to Science Careers 
Aim & Content: At the end of the PhD phase or at the beginning of the postdoctoral phase, the decision must be made, whether the career should be continued up to the professorship or to leave the science system. In general there are many fears before this step, as no alternative career paths have been found or tried before.
The workshop will focus on finding ideas for possible alternative career paths.
For this purpose, a competency profile will be drawn up, which will incorporate the past professional experiences and educational pathways. On the basis of the competency profile, the participants will then consider which potential job and/or job profiles could fit. In addition, the fundamentals of job applications are presented: From the search for positions, through the understanding of tenders, up to the actual application process.

April 16

Immunology Lecture: T cell development, activation and effector functions

April 10 - 11

9^th Annual Retreat, HZI Graduate School, Quedlinburg
HZI Graduate School

April 4

Immunology Lecture: Antigen uptake and processing, dendritic cells; how pathogens (e.g. CMV) try to evade the immune response?

March 26

Immunology Lecture: Innate immune defense mediated by pattern recognition receptors and viral counteracting strategies

March 19

Immunology Lecture: The innate immune system: evasion and subversion by bacterial pathogens

March 9

Assessment Molecular Biology and Mammalian Genetics Lecture
HZI Graduate School; HZI Braunschweig

March 5 

Molecular Biology and Mammalian Genetics Lecture: Genetic engineering of animals

February 26 

Molecular Biology and Mammalian Genetics Lecture: Cell cycle regulation, proliferation and oncogenesis

February 19 

Molecular Biology and Mammalian Genetics Lecture: Transcriptional regulation and epigenetics               

February 12 

Molecular Biology and Mammalian Genetics Lecture: Cellular communication and signal transduction

February 5 

Molecular Biology and Mammalian Genetics Lecture: Translation and secretion

February 1 - 2

Course: Good Scientific Practice
Aim & Content: Good scientific practice, data management, publication practice and authorship, responsible mentoring, cooperation in science and conflicts of interest, scientific misconduct, managing conflicts.

January 29 

Molecular Biology and Mammalian Genetics Lecture: RNA Metabolism

January 24 - 25

Course: Applied Intercultural Communication
Aim & Content: An Introduction to Intercultural Communication for Doctoral Students: Developing Key Problem-Solving Skills for the International Workplace.

January 22 - 26

Course: Numerical methods for mathematical modelling in Python
Aim & Content: The focus of the course is on using Python for mathematical modelling tasks and we will introduce related topics ranging from Python fundamentals to interfacing with C++ code or using machine learning libraries. Each topic covered will be introduced briefly and then explored in depth by working on a specific modelling problem. Students will work guided by one or more tutors in our tutorials and will be assigned projects that can be finished independently in groups.

January 22 

Molecular Biology and Mammalian Genetics Lecture: Genome integrity and diversification

January 15 

Molecular Biology and Mammalian Genetics Lecture: Mouse and human genetics to identify important factors involved in the host response to infections

January 12

Assessment Medical Microbiology Lecture
HZI Graduate School; HZI Braunschweig

January 8 

Medical Microbiology Lecture: Phage Therapy