The Werner Siemens Graduate Programme at the University of Basel

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Marilyn Hudson
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Science. The emphasis of its activities is placed on basic molecular and biomedical research and teaching.

1 PROFESSOR DR. JOACHIM SEELIG The Werner Siemens Graduate Programme at the University of Basel The Biozentrum The interdisciplinary Biozentrum is the largest department at the University of Basel s Faculty of Science. The emphasis of its activities is placed on basic molecular and biomedical research and teaching. Thanks to its close links with partners from academia and industry, the Biozentrum holds a leading position, both at national and international level. The innovative concept of an interdisciplinary research establishment was unique for the period in which the Biozentrum was founded in To the present day, the interdisciplinary approach within the field of molecular and biomedical research continues to be the strength of the Biozentrum. Furthermore, it benefits from an attractive infrastructure of cutting-edge technology and highly-motivated employees. Over 30 research groups, consisting of scientists from more than 30 nations, investigate biological processes at molecular level. The spectrum of their work is broad, the scientific research questions Biozentrum of the University of Basel Photograph in the Biozentrum Archive

2 manifold: What is the structure of a cell, how does it function and how are all its vital processes regulated? Can we model these processes on the computer? How does a stem cell know what its purpose is? How are blood vessels formed, how does the nervous system develop and how does our body defend itself against bacterial infections? Can we develop new approaches to the treatment of serious illnesses such as muscular diseases, Alzheimer s or cancer? With over 200 scientific publications each year, the Biozentrum is regularly placed in the top quarter of the world rankings. The Biozentrum has also established itself as an exemplary scientific training centre, both nationally and internationally. Students benefit from the scientific success of the Biozentrum; they are part of a research environment right from the start of their academic career and experience the everyday life of a scientist first hand. This close link between education and research is one of the strengths of the Biozentrum. The future scientists, ranging from those doing bachelor and master degrees up to those pursuing doctorates and post-doctorates, can successfully complete their scientific training at the Biozentrum. The advancement of the next generation of scientists is a key priority for the Biozentrum. Exceptional postgraduate students receive further encouragement thanks to the Werner Siemens-Foundation s international Opportunities for Excellence PhD programme. Young assistant professors are able to benefit from the open and co-operative culture that has characterised the Biozentrum from the outset and are supported in planning their careers. This recipe for success has proven itself to be effective. Today, numerous internationally successful scientists, who once began their academic career at the Biozentrum, are active as professors at renowned universities or as highly-qualified executives in business and industry. The Biozentrum in figures, staff members in 2011 Total staff members: 570 Professors: 35 Post-doctoral researchers: 119 PhD students: 123 Students, scientific staff, etc.: 104 Laboratory technicians, office staff: 116 Administrative and facility services staff: 73 Annual financial statement 2010 Total expenditure: 60.4 million CHF of which staff expenditure: 75% material expenditure: 25% Source of funds: University of Basel: 66% Third party funding (Swiss National Foundations, other foundations and sponsors): 34% Graduate Programme The Biozentrum aims to attract, encourage, and support gifted young scientists from all over the world. Through the Opportunities for Excellence programme, the Biozentrum invites exceptional young scientists from all over the world to complete their doctorate at the University of Basel. Together with the Werner Siemens-Foundation, the institute offers graduate positions to highly-qualified graduates from the field of Life Sciences. Successful candidates thereby obtain direct access to the PhD programme and the unique opportunity of twice spending two months familiarising themselves with a research group before choosing where they wish to work. The opportunity to attend scientific meetings and courses as well as generous financial support are also part of this programme.

The closing date for applications is the 30 th of June of each year. Those writing their master thesis are also eligible to apply.

3 Application and admission Applicants must hold a university degree (MSc, Diploma, DEA etc.) that would qualify them for a PhD programme in their country of origin, or expect to receive such a degree at the time of enrolment. Prospective applicants must apply online. The closing date for applications is the 30 th of June of each year. Those writing their master thesis are also eligible to apply. PhD students already working at the Biozentrum are allowed to apply for the Opportunities for Excellence programme up to 4 months after the start of their employment. Interviews with the selected candidates take place near the end of August. Successful candidates should start their PhD thesis within 6 months of being accepted into the programme. The experiences of the initial 5 years The Werner Siemens graduate programme was set up in the year 2006 as a joint project of the University of Basel s Biozentrum and the Werner Siemens- Foundation in order to support gifted young scientists in the field of life sciences. The first selection process took place in 2007 and since then the Biozentrum has been able to train 40 young graduate students through the assistance of the Werner Siemens-Foundation. Public-Private Partnership In 2006, the University of Basel s Biozentrum and the Werner Siemens-Foundation signed a contract for the advancement of gifted young scientists in the field of life sciences at the Biozentrum. For each one of three consecutive years, 10 students were to be selected for a scholarship at the Biozentrum following an international call for applications. The Werner Siemens-Foundation covered the costs of the graduate programme for the first three years with the objective of the students obtaining their doctorate after three years of PhD work. The large number of applications received following the international call for applications, the stringent selection of the candidates through interviews and the past success of Werner Siemens-Foundation students in research led the university to adopt this graduate programme, starting in Alice Krudewig Simon Ittig

4 St. Petersburg The scholarships and the laboratory costs for the new students were to be covered by the university from 2010 onwards, while the Werner Siemens-Foundation was to continue its engagement by covering the additional expenditure for office staff and the selection procedure for the next five years up until A total of 40 scholarships have been granted since the inception of the Werner Siemens graduate programme in the year In 2007, 24 out of a total of more than 500 candidates were invited to an interview in Basel and nine of these were accepted into the programme. In 2008, six candidates were selected from 27 interviews, five were chosen in 2009 and ten candidates for each of the years 2010 and In 2011, a total of 643 applications were received, 447 in 2010, 677 in 2009, 335 in 2008, and 342 in Each year, the largest number of applications comes from India (approx. 50% of the applications). Approximately 30% of the applicants are women, however, the female percentage among the successful candidates admitted to our programme is nearly 50% (18 of the 40 scholarship holders are women). These numbers show that it was not possible to allocate all ten of the available scholarships in the initial years, despite the large number of applications. While this was partly due to the high qualifications standards set for the candidates, there were also some successful candidates who chose to accept a scholarship at another university. Meanwhile, other European universities are now also offering graduate programmes in the field of life sciences, leading to the Biozentrum being in direct competition with the Swiss Federal Technical Institute in Zurich, the EMBO laboratory in Heidelberg and the Max Planck Society. A survey of those students who ultimately opted for other institutions showed that the main reason was a better match of the proposed project with the candidates individual goals. The first group of Werner Siemens scholarship holders received their doctorate at the end of 2011/beginning of At the time of writing, these eight students have published twelve scientific papers in reputable journals; further publications are in preparation. An essential element of

the Werner Siemens-Foundation graduate programme was a four-month training course with other work groups within the Biozentrum prior to starting with the actual doctoral thesis.

5 the Werner Siemens-Foundation graduate programme was a four-month training course with other work groups within the Biozentrum prior to starting with the actual doctoral thesis. After this rotation, students could select the group they wished to join to continue their further career. This rotation, lasting four to five months, led to the degree course being extended beyond the originally planned three years. The average time invested in the doctorate therefore currently amounts to three and a half years, which is, however, still significantly less than for the doctoral thesis of the remaining Biozentrum students. The corporate identity and the team spirit of our Werner Sie - mens students was also strengthened during three study trips, visiting the Siemens AG research centre in Munich- Perlach in 2008, the production facilities of Siemens Medizintechnik (medical technology) in Erlangen in 2009 and travelling to the University of Saint Petersburg in The past four years of the Werner Sie - mens-foundation programme have been a great success. The programme attracted 40 highly-motivated young people who fundamentally changed the scientific atmosphere at the Biozentrum. Upon being granted the Werner Siemens scholarship, the successful candidates have complete liberty in selecting an appropriate research group at the Biozentrum. The scientific symposia organised by the Werner Siemens scholarship holders are also open to the other students of the Biozentrum, so that all graduate students can benefit from increased scientific interaction and communication. Prof. Dr. Joachim Seelig Photograph Prof. Seelig Author PROFESSOR DR. JOACHIM SEELIG Professor Joachim Seelig is a professor for Biophysical Chemistry at the Biozentrum and was Chairman of the University of Basel s Biozentrum from 1997 to 1999 and from 2000 to He studied chemistry and physics at the University of Cologne and transferred to the Max-Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen for his doctoral thesis. After a research stay at Stanford University, he became the head of a research group at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. His field of work is the application of magnetic resonance both to molecular problems as well as to living organisms. From 1985 to 2000, he was the head of the centre for magnetic resonance at the University of Basel.

The Werner Siemens House. at the University of St.Gallen

The Werner Siemens House. at the University of St.Gallen PROFESSOR DR. ROBERT WALDBURGER The Werner Siemens House at the 1. The Law and Economics degree course at the The Law and Economics degree course at the was born out of an initiative based on practical