What is your current role? Tell us a bit about your research
I am a cell biologist with a strong interest in light microscopy, especially single molecule and superresolution techniques. I studied Biochemistry in Hannover/Germany and New York City/USA and did my PhD with Ari Helenius at ETH Zurich/Switzerland studying cell entry of lipid-binding viruses. After a postdoc with Daniel Choquet in Bordeaux/France I started my own group back at ETH Zurich. In 2013 my lab moved to King’s College London/UK and since 2014 I am Professor for membrane Biochemistry at FU Berlin/Germany. We investigate membrane organization and compartmentalization in cell biological processes.
What are you excited about in science communication?
I am convinced that the current situation in academia is wasteful with authors and reviewers’ time, much of the talent we have and resources we must allocate on unneeded experiments. That is bad for society and the planet. I think preprint publishing is an important means to ameliorate the situation and would like to advocate for it. We published 14 manuscripts on bioRxiv so far and are convinced of the idea. We are generally excited about the new ventures around open science and would like to contribute to its success.