As an educator, my aim is to get students interested in different aspects of plant sciences and to instill curiosity-driven thinking. In my lectures I strive to cover both basics and recent developments in my field of research, and I am including examples out of our own research work and that done by other groups.
Spring semester:
AGE.00181.06 – Molecular genetics of crops (Molekulargenetik der Nutzpflanzen) Lecture + Journal Club
In this lecture series, I am introducing the basics of molecular genetics, from the building blocks of our DNA to chromatin biology & epigenetics. Most lectures come with interesting examples sourced from the vast amount of plant science literature available to us. We are also having a weekly journal club, in which each participant (including myself) is briefly presenting a scientific publication followed by a discussion of its main message. The aim of this journal club is for B.Sc students to learn how to read, present, and discuss scientific papers.
Winter semester:
AGE.00158.04 – Biotechnological methods in plant breeding and cytogenetics (Biotechnologische Methoden in der Pflanzenzüchtung und Zytogenetik) Lecture + Practial Course
This lecture series is all about cytogenetics & biotechnology, and how these things are used to explore how plants work and how we can use these methods for crop improvement. It includes a practical course in which some cytogenetics methods, like fluorescence in situ hybridisation and immunofluorescence, or biotechnological methods, such as agro-infiltration, are done first-hand.