DFG Present at the 23rd Congress of the International Union for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the 44th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Speakers and audience members at the Research in Germany information event

Speakers and audience members at the Research in Germany information event

(16.10.15) Between 24 and 27 August 2015, the 44th annual meeting of the Brazilian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SBBq) – the most important scientific congress for biochemistry and molecular biology in Brazil – took place in Foz do Iguaçu. The conference was also the 23rd Congress of the International Union for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) and was enhanced by the presence of high-calibre international researchers.

There was lively interest in the Research in Germany information stand, where Marcio Weichert (DWIH-SP), Silvia Bauer and Rebeca Mendonça (DAAD) took turns advising interested participants, most of whom were seeking information about research and funding opportunities at the doctoral and postdoctoral level.

On the last day of the event there was a Research in Germany information session, which was attended by around 50 people, mainly undergraduates and postgraduates.

Presentations were given by Professor Dr. Johann Deisenhofer and Professor Dr. Günter Meister. Professor Deisenhofer outlined his research career and how it led to a Nobel Prize, while Professor Meister gave a profile of his university and research projects with relevance to biochemistry currently underway there. Both painted a fascinating and vivid picture of subject-specific research in Germany. Rebeca Mendonça and the DFG's Liaison Scientist in Brazil, Professor Dr. Helmut Galle, presented information about DAAD fellowships and the funding programmes of the DFG. The session was moderated by Marcio Weichert, who also presented a series of slides on Max Planck Institutes with a focus on biochemistry. This was followed by a question-and-answer session where questions from the audience were answered in depth.

On the same day Professor Deisenhofer delivered his plenary address on the biology of light reactions in photosynthesis. Professor Meister had already given his address on RNA-binding proteins as modulators of coding and non-coding RNA strands on the previous day. Both talks were very well attended.