researchgerman german research 2 / 2019 Magazine of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Cover: Shutterstock Contributions to a better understand- 2 / 2019 ing of the miracle of neuronal plasticity: In Focus Neurobiologist Martin Korte examines First Female President for the DFG 2 basic cellular mechanisms in memory Election in Rostock: Katja Becker to succeed Peter Strohschneider on 1 January 2020 processes. Excellence Twice Over 4 Ten universities and one university consortium selected as Universities of Excellence News Moving Moments at Yad Vashem 6 Eugen and Ilse Seibold Prize 6 Bernd Rendel Prize 2019 7 Remembering Wolfgang Frühwald 7 Natural Sciences Vera Schlindwein Destination: The Ultraslow Gakkel Ridge 8 A look at research on the ocean lithosphere Portrait Rembert Unterstell Learning, Remembering and Forgetting 14 An interview with Martin Korte in Braunschweig Humanities and Social Sciences Michaela Fenske The Urban Beekeeper 16 Balancing ecological concerns and environmental awareness Natural Sciences J. Schmidt, M. Wendisch, J. Curtius, M. Scheinert and B.-M. Sinnhuber Above the Clouds 20 How HALO has become the most advanced research aircraft in Europe Engineering Sciences Ekkard Brinksmeier, Stefanie Reese and Jens Sölter The Right Signature for Every Process 26 Neurobiology: Learning, Remembering and Forgetting | First Female President for Engineering the surface layers of components the DFG / Excellence Twice Over | Ocean Lithosphere: The Ultraslow Gakkel Ridge | Human-Animal Interactions: The Urban Beekeeper Research Aircraft HALO: Above Life Sciences | Kerstin Kaufmann the Clouds Refining Surface Layer Components: The Right Signature for Every Process | Beautiful Monstrosities 30 Mechanisms of flower development in the evolutionary process 2 In Focus german research 2 / 2019 german research 2 / 2019 3 Election in Rostock Left: On the morning after her election Katja Becker has been closely and diagnostics against poverty- in Rostock – Katja Becker, photographed associated with the DFG as a funded associated and neglected tropical in- by David Ausserhofer at Wissenschafts- researcher, for example as the cur- fectious diseases. Since 2014, Katja Forum in Berlin rent spokesperson for the DFG Becker has also been involved in Priority Programme “Dynamics the statutory bodies of the DFG at ing medicine at Heidelberg Univer- of Thiol-Based Redox Switches in a senior level, as Vice President and sity, where she earned her doctorate Cellular Physiology”. Furthermore, as chair of the Permanent Senate in 1991 and completed her habili- she is spokesperson of the Hessian Commission on Genetic Research. tation in biochemistry in 1996. In LOEWE Centre DRUID dedicated to Among other activities, she played parallel to her research work, which developing novel drugs, vaccines, a key role in formulating a state- included stays at Heidelberg Univer- sity’s Biochemistry Center and the University of Sydney, Becker con- tinued her clinical and physician’s Ausserhofer / training, working in Basel (Swit- zerland), Oxford (UK) and Nigeria and at the Heidelberg University Children’s Hospital, and passing her Illustration: DFG specialist examinations in 1998. Af- ter working as an associate professor in Heidelberg and as the leader of an Ausserhofer independent junior research group / at the Research Center for Infectious Diseases at the University of Würz- burg, in 2000 Becker was appointed Illustration: DFG Professor of Biochemistry and Mo- lecular Biology in Giessen, a position she still holds today. “I’m coming directly from research”: With these words, and a brief outline of her career First Female President for the DFG Between 2009 and 2012, Becker as a biochemist and medical scientist, future DFG President Katja Becker introduced her- served as Vice President of Research self to the media and the general public at the annual press conference on 4 July in Ber- At the beginning of July, Katja Becker became the first woman to be elected to the top and Early Career Support at Gies- lin. She described her election in Rostock on the previous day as the first woman to head sen University, having previously the DFG as “a signal and a source of encouragement to all women who do outstanding position in Germany’s largest research funding organisation and central self-governing been spokesperson for the universi- research every day”. Becker declined to comment on possible focal areas of her presi- body of the research community. The Giessen-based biochemist will succeed Peter ty’s Interdisciplinary Research Cen- dency, as she will not take office until January. However, she noted that the freedom of Strohschneider on 1 January 2020. tre in 2004/2005. She completed a research and its defence will certainly be important concerns. “I’ve always regarded it as research sabbatical at Scripps Re- a privilege to work in Germany, where the freedom of research is so highly valued. So it’s he DFG has elected its first office on 1 January 2020 for an ini- ntrum Jülich and theoretical com- search in La Jolla, California. Her all the more worrying to see how this freedom is coming under attack in a growing num- T female president. On 3 July tial term of four years. She succeeds puter scientist Prof. Dr. Dorothea research interests include cellular ber of countries.” Prior to this, DFG President Peter Strohschneider had given a positive 2019, biochemist and medical sci- German medievalist Prof. Dr. Peter Wagner from the Karlsruhe Institute thiol metabolism, the structure and résumé of the annual meeting in Rostock and the current science policy situation: “Over entist Prof. Dr. Katja Becker from Strohschneider, who has served as of Technology (KIT). All three candi- function of redox-active proteins the last few days and weeks, decisions have been made that point the way forward Justus Liebig University Giessen President of the DFG since 2013 dates were nominated to the mem- and rational drug development for for the DFG and German research.” Strohschneider was particularly satisfied “and also was elected by the DFG’s General and will leave office at the end of ber organisations of the DFG in April tumours and infectious diseases, appreciative” with regard to the decision by the federal and state governments to con- Assembly in Rostock as the first his second term. by the selection committee. particularly tropical malaria. tinue the nationwide science initiatives, especially the Pact for Research and Innovation woman to head Germany’s largest The 2019 General Assembly of The future DFG President is 54 She has received multiple awards (PFI): “A budget increase of 3 percent per year for another ten years for the DFG and the research funding organisation and the DFG elected Katja Becker from a years old and has extensive expe- for her work, including the Carus other organisations involved in the initiative is probably unparalleled anywhere in the the central self-governing body of pool of three candidates, which also rience in research, academic self- Medal from the German National world.” For the coming year, Strohschneider announced a national campaign entitled the German research community. included engineering scientist and governance and policy advice. Katja Academy of Sciences Leopoldina “DFG2020 – Because Research Matters”, with which the DFG aims to raise public aware- Becker has served as DFG Vice process engineer Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolf- Becker was born on 7 March 1965 in and the Rudolf Leuckart Medal from ness of the principle of free research and its value to an informed, open society (see also President since 2014 and will take gang Marquardt from Forschungsze- Heidelberg. In 1984 she began study- the German Society for Parasitology. the back cover of this issue). fine 4 In Focus german research 2 / 2019 german research 2 / 2019 5 ment entitled “The Opportunities • Heidelberg University and Limits of Genome Editing”, • Karlsruhe Institute of Technol- published by the DFG, the Ger- Excellence Twice Over ogy (KIT) man National Academy of Sciences Excellence Strategy: Following their success in the Clusters of Ex- • University of Konstanz Leopoldina and acatech – National • Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Academy of Science and Engineer- cellence competition, ten universities and one consortium have München ing, and in discussions spearheaded also been selected for the Universities of Excellence funding line. • Technical University of Munich by the DFG, Leopoldina and the • University of Tübingen German Ethics Council on a new definition of genetic engineering. “I would like to congratulate and pay Under Becker’s leadership, the my greatest respect to the selected Senate Commission prepared a Schleswig- universities and the Berlin Univer- Holstein Kiel U Rickel document appraising the current sity Alliance,” WR-chairwoman / situation in synthetic biology and Professor Dr. Martina Brockmeier Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania engaged with the recent statement Hamburg commented. “The selected univer- by the Ethics Council on interven- Bremen Hamburg U sities have very impressively dem- tions in the human germline. Oldenburg U onstrated how universities of the Illustration: BMBF Bremen U Berlin HU On the DFG’s Executive Com- Lower Saxony Hanover MHH future could look like. In order to Satisfied faces in Bonn: Federal Science Minister Anja Karliczek and Bremen’s Senator Berlin mittee, Becker has been involved Berlin TU compete with the top institutions for Science Eva Quante-Brandt (2nd and 3rd from left) announced the results at a press Braunschweig TU in