Otto Hahn Medal for PhD student of the Jan Brugués Group

Dr. Alison Kickuth was awarded the Otto Hahn Medal from the Max Planck Society in recognition of her outstanding scientific achievements as a former PhD student from the Jan Brugués Group. During her PhD project on the “Physical Mechanism of Unilateral Cytokinesis”, she used “biophysical tools to investigate how an incomplete contractile ring, a temporary cellular structure that “pinches” a dividing cell into two daughter cells, can still drive cell division in early zebrafish embryos.” according to the MPI-CBG website. Kickuth also added that their work “uncovers a mechanical ratchet mechanism, in which the cytoplasm alternates between stiff and fluid states, enabling a contractile ring without loose ends to progressively divide the cell” and that the “work solves a fundamental physical problem in vertebrate development.”

Prof. Brugués is currently recruiting a PhD candidate for the Project B5, in the framework of the RTG 3120 “Biomolecular Condensates”. Click here to apply!