PD Dr. Yvonne Genzel
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Dr. Genzel studied Biotechnology at the University of Stuttgart and works at the Max Planck Institute in Magdeburg. There she is researching the production of viral vaccines in animal cells. Motto: Don't wait, do it yourself! |
Career
| Education: | 1991 - 1997 | Diploma degree in the field of Biotechnology in Stuttgart |
| Doctorate: | 2005 | University of the Mediteranean, Marseille (Frankreich) |
| Habilitation: | 2009 | Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg |
| Work: | since 2001 | Team leader of the Upstream Processing Group, Max Planck Institute Magdeburg |
| since 2013 | Elected employee representative of the Institute in the chemical-physical technical section, MPG (Max Planck Society) |
It was always clear to me that I absolutely wanted to do research. Science suits me, but my exact direction was not set from the beginning. I studied Biotechnology. When I started, it was a very new course. Only three universities offered it at the time. And even today I still find Biotechnology very exciting. There are always new developments. Right now I am working in manufacturing viral vaccines in animal cells and their production on a large scale.
Motivation
What I enjoy most is that I always get exciting results to evaluate. I can think of a lot of new projects, so work is never boring.
Requirements
It is important to enjoy interdisciplinary topics and to be curious. It is also an advantage to be happy to take on responsibility and to be able to put up with defeats at times. To be communicative and decisive and to have a certain level of organizational talent is essential in this job.
Advice
My interdisciplinary training helped me a lot and I would therefore like to recommend it to others.
Challenges
One of the challenges of this profession is to be able to say no from time to time. When you get more prominent, more opportunities are presented to you. You're invited to conferences, projects and meetings more often, and that is very exciting and interesting. But it also means that you have less time for other things. If you never manage to say no, you will eventually burn out. In order to be more available to my children, I have reduced my working hours.
