Steering committee
Dr. Ngoc Duyen Tanja Tu and Dr. Shyam Krishnan 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. Ngoc Duyen Tanja Tu
Leibniz Institute for the German Language (IDS)
Tanja is a researcher at the Leibniz Institute for the German Language. She studied German studies and Computer science in Mannheim. Combining her knowledge in both fields, her research focuses on the further development of natural language processing methods to preprocess and analyse linguistic data. She joined the Leibniz Postdoc Network to connect with her peers and to advocate for their needs.
Dr. Shyam Krishnan
Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI)
As a medical biochemist from India with academic and industry research experience in stem cells and regenerative medicine, Shyam Krishnan moved to the Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena, in 2018. During his PhD, he investigated the aging of blood-forming stem cells, the precursors of immune cells, using various models. Currently, he is part of the Microbial Immunology team at the Hans Knöll Institute (HKI) in Jena as a postdoctoral scientist. His research focuses on understanding the influence of microbial infections on immune cells under immunocompromised environments. As a spokesperson at the Leibniz PostDoc Network (LPN), he aims to advocate for postdocs’ professional development and well-being by creating a more supportive and dynamic environment.
Working Group Coordinators
1. Survey
Dr. Paula Torre Zaffaroni
Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB)
Paula is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin. As part of the ODER~SO project, she studies the multivariate interactions between physicochemical, climatic, and hydrological conditions integrating extensive environmental and Earth observation records. She studied Environmental Sciences and got her PhD at the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina), where she developed a strong interest in the interplay between landscape, regional and global patterns of surface water dynamics. Within the LPN, she hopes to contribute by translating the concerns and interests of postdoctoral researchers into actionable plans within and across institutes.
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.
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.
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.
4. Work & health
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.
5. Career Development
Dr. Razieh Abdollahipour
Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bio-economy e.V. (ATB)
Razieh completed her PhD in Electrical Engineering in 2022, specializing in Control and focusing on the consensus of uncertain multi-agent systems. She began her role as a scientist at ATB Institute in 2023, with research interests that span Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Computer Vision, and Control Systems and she is passionate about advancing AI-driven solutions. Razieh is now thrilled to coordinate the Career Development group, where she is dedicated to supporting and empowering her peers in navigating their career paths.
Dr. Thi Huyen Trang Dam
Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bio-economy e.V. (ATB)
Dr. Thi Huyen Trang Dam earned a doctorate in Agricultural Economics from Humboldt University of Berlin, specializing in climate change impact assessment. Since 2022, Trang has been a postdoctoral researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB) in Potsdam, where she combines project coordination and research work, focusing on advancing the bioeconomy to enhance soil health and sustainability through innovative approaches for sustainable farming practices. Recently, Trang joined the Coordination Team of the Career Development Group and looks forward to contributing to supporting and empowering fellow researchers in their professional growth.
6. Diversity and Inclusion
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.
Dr. Phoebe Griffith
Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB)
Phoebe is a postdoctoral researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, where she works on the biocultural conservation of freshwater megafauna. Megafauna are the largest animals in inland waters, including crocodilians, large fish like sturgeon, salmonids, pike and catfish, river dolphins, and giant salamanders. These species are important for people and their ecosystems, and Phoebe seeks to understand the cultural and biological settings that lead to their conservation or decline. Phoebe completed her PhD with the University of Oxford and Zoological Society London in 2023, on the conservation of the gharial in Nepal. She would like to use her role in the Leibniz PostDoc network to help create positive change in terms of diversity and inclusion, and contribute to improving social and racial justice (fairness, equality, equity and rights) within the Leibniz institutes.
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/