Internship at MPIPZ
Johanna Söntgerath completed a 4-month internship at the MPIPZ. We interviewed her later to learn more about her time.
Johanna, what is your current career?
I completed my bachelor's degree in biological sciences at the WWU Münster. To orientate a focus in my Master's programme, I decided to do an internship year. I did my first internship at evorion biotechnolgies, a start-up in the field of microfluidic cell cultivation. After that, I did my research internship at the MPIPZ. I already worked in the field of plant sciences during my bachelor's thesis, in which I explored a protein for the regulation of salt stress. Even then, I enjoyed working with plants. Now I have started my Master's degree in biology at the Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg, with a focus on "applied biosciences" and "plant sciences".
How come that you decided to do an internship at the MPIPZ?
I got to know the MPIPZ through an excursion from the WWU Münster. Since the guided tour and the scientific lectures really appealed to me and aroused my interest in research on the shoot apical meristem (the stem cell area in the shoot), I took the initiative to apply for an internship and fortunately received an internship position shortly afterwards.
In which research group did you do an internship?
I was in the Department of Plant Developmental Biology under the direction of Prof. Dr. George Coupland for four months. The research group studies flower induction in plants and the regulation of the shoot apical meristem.
I found the period of four months very good, as I was able to work a lot independently after the induction. This period proved to be an advantage, especially with the six-week development period of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. I was involved in the preparations for the experiment, such as the selection of the seeds, the experiment itself, for example, sowing the seeds, recording the growth and taking tissue samples from the plants, etc., as well as in the subsequent experiments with the daughter generations.
What was your project during your time at MPIPZ?
During my internship I was given two projects that were thematically linked. Among other things, I carried out phenotyping, genotyping, cloning, crossing and plant transformation. I worked both in the laboratory and in the greenhouse. I also did microscopy of the shoot apical meristem and modelled its tissue surface using the modelling programme MorphoGraphX. The experiments I carried out were very diverse and varied and, building on my activities from my bachelor's thesis, enabled me to learn both common and more specific methods of plant research.
In addition, I had the opportunity to participate in professional discussions at the weekly meetings of the working group and even presented my experimental results at a small group meeting.
Did the internship meet your expectations and was it enriching for your future career?
The internship even exceeded my expectations! I was very satisfied; everyone was very open-minded and integrated me immediately. Right at the beginning, I was lucky enough to take part in a departmental retreat, which was the first time it had ever been held in this form. Of course, this made the beginning much easier for me.
The internship was very enriching for me. I got to know many scientists and was able to learn a lot from their working methods and approaches to scientific issues. I especially liked the interdepartmental seminars. In these, external speakers presented their research results on various plant-related issues. Participation in the meetings was voluntary and very informative and interesting for me, as I gained an insight into other research topics. Overall, I enjoyed the internship very much and I can recommend it to everyone.
What advice would you give to students who are also considering doing an internship at a research institute?
It's definitely worth it - even for a shorter period. Therefore, just apply on your own initiative and wait and see.