February 7, 2025
It has been one and a half years since I first came to the city of Jülich, where the calm and traditional community of residents meets the vibrant and international community of students and scientists. Coming from a different field, in my first weeks at Forschungszentrum I watched other doctoral candidates to acquire their methods, asked questions that may be trivial to others, and made mistakes. In the midst of all of this, the unexpected news: I will become a Mom!
Fast forward one and a half years later, I have just returned from maternal leave, my baby has a good spot in daycare, and I could not be more happy to finally be in the lab again – I would not want to be anywhere else! Looking back with gratefulness to the support from my supervisor Prof. Dr. Dörte Rother and from the whole BiodeCCodiNNg network not only morally but also by adjusting timelines accordingly, as well as looking back to practical assistance in the lab at conducting experiments, I am glad to have learned that family and career do indeed go together if all parties want to make it work.Â
My days are full again of developing biocatalytic cascades, establishing analytics, and isolating the products. In the picture you see me with a product that we have synthesized in-house with a #CCzyme. In fact, the shifted timeline grants my project partners more time to develop #NNzymes that I will apply in a cascade together with the #CCzymes that I have been working with, in order to bring combine the achievements of #BiodeCCodiNNg together and synthesize complex, enantiopure building blocks from simple precursors. I am looking forward to collaboration, international events, and lots of opportunities to learn!
#PhDversary #PhDJourney #Anniversary #Biocatalysis #BiodeCCodiNNgDN #MSCA #HorizonEU