Normally, Biomol participates in various conferences each year to interact with the scientific community in person. However, due to the Corona pandemic, most conferences were not organized at all or only in digital format. At the end of March 2022, the Mosbacher Kolloquium was held again for the first time after it had been cancelled in the previous two years – and we were there.
It was very nice to be able to attend a conference after such a long time and to see some old faces again among the organizers and the other exhibitors. To a large extent, the Mosbacher Kolloquium is attended by students (Bachelor, Master, PhD students), but also post-docs and PIs are among the participants. We got into a lively exchange with various visitors. Many were curious about who we are, what we do and what we offer. With over 700,000 products, that is of course quite a lot. The free articles we brought along were also very popular.
Moreover, for me (on the right in the picture) as a new employee at Biomol, it was the first conference "on this side of the table". I often got into conversations with visitors about what I did during my PhD and why I did not want to stay in research. Staying in academic research or moving to industry is, of course, a question that every student or doctoral candidate in the natural sciences asks themselves sooner or later. For me, it was already clear before I started my doctorate that I would not grow old in research. And I have not regretted this decision so far.
I have tried to give those who were interested some tips and tricks that helped me before, during and after my PhD (when looking for a job) and what, from my point of view, is particularly important to make a PhD successful. All in all, it was a very successful event and we are already looking forward to next year!
About the Mosbacher Kolloquium
Since 1950, the Mosbacher Kolloquium has been organized annually by the Society for Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (GBM, for german: „Gesellschaft für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie“) and is devoted to a current biochemical or molecular biology topic each year [1]. This year, the focus was on RNA, the title of the meeting was "The Word of RNAs – Principles & Applications".
There were various presentations by people from science and industry. These included, for example, a presentation by Andreas Kuhn from BioNTech on mRNA-based therapeutics and vaccines. Two awards were also presented: Susan Gottesman from the National Cancer Institute (Bethesda/Maryland, USA) received the Feodor Lynen Medal "for her outstanding achievements in biochemistry." Furthermore, "for her pioneering work in the field of cardiovascular diseases", Stefanie Dimmeler from the Goethe University in Frankfurt was awarded the Otto Warburg Medal - the highest award for biochemists and molecular biologists in Germany.
As the name suggests, the conference is traditionally held in Mosbach/Baden. You ask yourself, why Mosbach of all places? The mayor of Mosbach had an answer to that question during this year's welcome speech. Since the colloquium was first held shortly after the end of World War II, most of the major cities had not yet been rebuilt and did not have an intact infrastructure. Little Mosbach, on the other hand, was mostly spared from the war and thus this location was chosen to host the event.
About the Society for Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
The GBM is the largest bioscientific professional society in Germany and currently has about 5000 members. It represents the interests of all those working in the natural science disciplines of chemistry, medicine and biology – regardless of whether they are professors or students in their first semester. When expertise is needed on issues in the fields of biochemistry or molecular biosciences, people turn to the GBM.
(More information at www.gbm-online.de)
[1] https://nachrichten.idw-online.de/2021/10/25/73-mosbacher-kolloquium-the-world-of-rnas-principles-and-applications/