Steering committee
Dr. Mine Altinli (BNITM) and Dr. Peter Amer Arrabiyeh (IVW) who has been elected as spokespersons, along with two coordinators on behalf of each working group, represent the Leibniz PostDoc Network. These spokespersons, the financial officer, and the working group coordinators together constitute the Leibniz PostDoc Network Steering Committee.
Spokespersons
Dr. Mine Altinli
Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)
Mine is a researcher working on virus interactions in mosquitoes at the Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM). Her research focuses on understanding how microorganisms interact with each other in mosquitoes and how we can harness these interactions to control mosquito-borne virus transmission. She joined the Leibniz Postdoc Network to use her experience of being an international researcher throughout her academic life to help support researchers from less privileged backgrounds and advocate for better working conditions for all postdocs.
Dr. Peter Amer Arrabiyeh
Leibniz-Institut für Verbundwerkstoffe GmbH (IVW)
Meet Peter, an innovative process engineer driving advancements in wet fiber placement at Leibniz-Institut für Verbundwerkstoffe (IVW) since 2020. As a key member of the Interdisciplinary research group TopComposite, he’s reshaping composite material manufacturing. Born and raised in Nazareth, Israel, Peter’s Palestinian-German heritage includes dual citizenship. He earned his Master’s in mechanical engineering from the University of Kaiserslautern in 2013, transitioning to industry briefly until December 2014. Returning to academia, he pursued micro-grinding research at the University of Kaiserslautern until earning his Ph.D. in 2021. Now, he eagerly embraces new challenges in the Leibniz Postdoc Network, committed to giving his best.
Alumni:
Dr. Gitta Heinz (DRFZ), Dr. Lydia Repke (GESIS), Dr. Steve Doo (ZMT), Dr. Sami Ullah (DSMZ), Dr. Rajini Nagrani (BIPS), Dr. Marta-Ferreira-Gomes (DRFZ)
Financial officer
Dr. Malgorzata Kogut-Günthel
Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (LSB@TUM)
Małgorzata is a postdoctoral fellow at the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich. Her academic journey, culminating in a Master’s degree in Chemistry with Nanotechnology (Edinburgh, UK), followed by a PhD in Theoretical (Bio)Chemistry (Gdansk, Poland) and a current postdoctoral position in Computational/Food Chemistry (Freising, Germany), has equipped her with a comprehensive understanding of biology, (bio)chemistry, data science and the latest innovations in (bio)chemistry. She is currently implementing in silico modelling tools to study bitterness and bitter taste receptors.
Alumni:
Marta Ferreira-Gomes (DRFZ), Lydia Repke (GESIS)
Working Group Coordinators
1. Survey
Dr. Harry Williams
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)
Harry is currently a postdoctoral researcher working at the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) in Hamburg, Germany. At the BNITM, his research is focussed on determining how neglected tropical diseases, in particular bunyaviruses, replicate in the human body using a combination of structural-biology techniques. Before this, he completed his PhD at Keele University (UK) working on a project that focussed on exploring how proteins of the innate immune response recognise and bind to their natural targets on the surface of pathogens.
Dr. Regina Becker
Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi)
Regina is a postdoctoral researcher in the project “Educational Trajectories of Refugee Children and Adolescents” at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories in Bamberg. She studied sociology at the LMU Munich and received her doctoral degree at the University Bremen. Her research interests include educational and labour market integration of different types of migrants. She is involved in the Leibniz Postdoc Network to hopefully contribute to improving the working conditions and career prospects for postdoctoral researchers across all institutes.
Group members:
Dr. Lena Roemer | Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences (GESIS)
Dr. Thomas Lösch | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education (DIPF)
Dr. Mine Altinli | Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)
Alumni:
Dr. Daniela Fiedler (IPN), Dr. Gundula Zoch (LIfBi), Dr. Johannes Breuer (GESIS), Dr. Verónica Díez Díaz (MfN), Dr. Tamara Heck (DIPF), Dr. Gitta Heinz (DRFZ), Dr. Lydia Repke (GESIS) and Dr. Sabrina Hempel (ATB)
2. Communication
Dr. Gregor Kalinkat
Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB)
Gregor is an animal ecologist at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin. He currently works in a project that aims to develop and test street lightings that reduce negative effects on insects funded via BfN (German Federal Agency for the Protection of the Environment).
Dr. Christian Nehls
Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center (FZB)
Christian belongs to the division of Biophysics at the Research Center Borstel. Since his physics studies, he has been particularly fascinated by interdisciplinary collaboration on questions with medical relevance. One of his major research interests has been membrane-associated mechanisms of bacterial pathogenicity factors and host defense molecules. As a postdoctoral researcher in a current project of the Leibniz Cooperative Excellence, he is investigating the physical basis of bacterial propagation strategies (A risk index for health effects of mineral dust and associated microbes). Christian engages in the Leibniz PostDoc Network to strengthen the scientific mid-level staff, identify blind spots in the system, and address them through communication.
Group members:
Dr. Mine Altinli | Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)
3. Infrastructure
Dr. Maya Giridhar
Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (LSB@TUM)
Maya moved to Germany in 2014 to pursue her Master’s at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. Further, she completed her Ph.D. in Plant Cell Biology from the University of Bonn in 2021. Since then she has been working as a Postdoctoral researcher at LSB@TUM. Her current research is to use spatial transcriptomics to profile the morphological and transcriptional data in crops using high resolution microarrays. As a member of the Leibniz Postdoc Network, she is thrilled to be a part of the “Machine room” and expand the network.
Dr. Tongta Sae-Ong
Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI)
Tongta currently works as a PostDoc in the Microbiome Dynamics department at Leibniz-HKI. Their main focus is applying bioinformatics knowledge to study the diversities in microbiomes in different human metabolic diseases as well as different environments.
Group members:
Dr. Felix Victor, Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI)
Dr. Johanna Callhoff | German Rheumatism Research Center (DRFZ)
Dr. Peter Amer Arrabiyeh | Leibniz-Institute for Composite Materials (IVW)
4. Work & health
Dr. Katarzyna Hnida-Gut
Innovations for High Performance Microelectronics (IHP)
Starting her career with a PhD in Chemistry from Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Katarzyna delved into nanomaterial synthesis and applications as an Assistant Professor at AGH University of Science and Technology. As a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at IBM Research – Europe, she explored III-V semiconductor integration on silicon and electrodeposited nanodevices. In 2022, she joined Leibniz-Institut für innovative Mikroelektronik, Germany, continuing research on III-V materials for photonic and optoelectronic circuits. She values interdisciplinary collaboration for groundbreaking results.
Dr. Judith Boldt
German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH (DSMZ)
Judith initially studied bioinformatics and received her bachelor’s degree from the TU München and LMU. She then moved to Paris to combine lab experiments and computational analyses during her master studies ‘Interdisciplinary Approaches to Life Science’ at Université Paris Descartes. During her PhD work at College de France in Paris and UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas she focused on coevolution of genes, as well as protein thermal stability. For her postdoc, Judith is back in Germany, working at the Leibniz Institute DSMZ in Braunschweig. Her projects revolve around natural products from bacteria and brought her back to her roots in bioinformatics.
Group members:
Dr. Jacqueline Kroh | Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi)
Dr. Axel Schulz | German Rheumatism Research Center (DRFZ)
Dr. Praveen Kumar |Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (LSB@TUM)
Dr. Malgorzata Kogut-Günthel |Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (LSB@TUM)
Dr. Jacqueline Malchow | German Maritime Museum (DSM)
Dr. Daniel Felipe Saldivia Gonzatti | Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
Dr. Peter Amer Arrabiyeh | Leibniz-Institute for Composite Materials (IVW)
Alumni:
Dr. Marlene Mauk (GESIS), Dr. Nathalie Topaj (ZAS), Dr. Gillian Dornan (FMP) and Dr. Mine Altlini (BNITM), Dr. Andreas Weich (GEI)
5. Career Development
Dr. Rajini Nagrani
Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research & Epidemiology – BIPS (BIPS)
Rajini completed her PhD in epidemiology in October 2014 from Tata Memorial Centre, Homi Bhabha National Institute, India and thereafter earned a position as Scientific Officer at the same institute. She later worked as Postdoctoral researcher at Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria and since October 2018 is working at Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research & Epidemiology-BIPS, Bremen. Her research interests are non-communicable disease epidemiology, molecular epidemiology and global health. With the Leibniz Postdoc network she would like connect with her peers, provide information on initial administrative procedures and career development.
Dr. Marta Ferreira Gomes
German Rheumatism Research Center Berlin (DRFZ)
Marta is a Portuguese B cell immunologist working as a postdoctoral researcher at the German Rheumatism Research Centre (DRFZ) Berlin since 2019. She has been actively involved in the Leibniz PostDoc Network, serving as Financial Officer in 2021 and as Spokesperson in 2022 and 2023. Now, she is thrilled to embrace the challenge of co-coordinating the Career Development group. Marta advocates for improved support for Postdocs, empowering them to make informed choices for their future.
Group members:
Dr. Tanja Tu | Institute for German Language (IDS)
Dr. Yvette Meissner | German Rheumatism Research Center Berlin (DRFZ)
Dr. Sabrina Hempel | Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB)
Dr. Agata Olszewska-Widdrat | Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB)
Dr. Justine Tanoey | Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research & Epidemiology – BIPS (BIPS)
Dr. Peter Amer Arrabiyeh | Leibniz-Institute for Composite Materials (IVW)
Alumni:
Dr. Sina Fackler (LIfBi) and Dr. Christina Stehle (DRFZ)
6. Diversity and Inclusion
WG Coordinators
Dr. Sravanthi Nadiminti
Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP)
Sravanthi obtained her PhD from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India. She started as a Postdoctoral Research at the FMP in Berlin since January 2023. Her research interests are protein trafficking and organelle biogenesis/maturation in neurons. With the Leibniz PostDoc network, she would like to connect with her peers and work with them to help make Leibniz institutes more diverse and inclusive.
Group members:
Dr. Mine Altinli | Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)
Alumni:
Dr. Rebea Kleymann (IGB) and Dr. Kingsly Chuo Beng (IGB)
7. Sustainability
The sustainability working group is a joint group with the Leibniz PhD Network, being coordinated by Kristine Oevel from the PhD Network.
For more information https://leibniz-phd.net/wg-sustainability/
Alumni:
Elif Köksoy (DSMZ)