internationalisation - a pillar of development of the

»The project will be implemented in line with the Operational Programme for Human Resources Development 2007-2013, 3rdpriority axis: Development of human resources and lifelong learning, activity 3.3: Quality, competitiveness and responsivenessof higher education.«

Internationalisation - a pillar of development of the University of MariborDoctoral studies: From study to research and further

Using Doctoral Schools to Improve Quality in Doctoral Education – good practicesProf. dr. Frank Dieter Uhlig, Dean of the Faculty of Technical Chemistry, Chemical &

Process Engineering and Biotechnology, TU Graz

W I S S E N T E C H N I K L E I D E N S C H A F T

u www.tugraz.at

Doctoral Schools

in

Natural Science

Examples of Cooperation

Frank Uhlig

Dean of the Faculty of Technical Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology

TU Graz Head of the NAWI Graz project

Doctoral Schools

at the location Graz

Two Universities

And a Unusual Situation in Natural Sciences

Frank Uhlig Maribor, 3. November 2014

NAWI Graz is

a strategic cooperation of

University of Graz and Graz University of Technology

in

- Teaching

- Research - Infrastructure - Doctoral Schools - Research Programs

NAWI Graz faculty work groups

• Molecular Bioscience, Biotechnology, Plant Science

• Chemistry, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering

• Earth, Space and Environmental Sciences

• Fundamental and Applied Mathematics

• Physics

NAWI Graz study programmes

Increase of the number of NAWI Graz students 2006-2013

Key Facts:

• 35 Institutes on both large Universities in Graz

• > 1,020 FTE personnel

• > 640 PhD students

• approx. 25 Mio. Euro third party funds/year

NAWI Graz joint appointments of professors

• 6 NAWI Graz professorships (since 2010)

• Mathematics/Computational Sciences (K. Fellner)

• Algebra (K. Baur)

• Differential Equations (J. Behrndt)

• Physical Chemistry (L. Grill)

• Experimental Physics 1 (M. Sterrer, Start Sep. 2014)

• Computational Biotechnology (C. Sensen, Start Sep. 2014)

• 4 Fulbright professorships (since 2010)

NAWI Graz Gender Projects

• Support for female scientists

• 30+ research grants

• 8 travel grants

• 2 grants for young female researchers’ teams

Core figures NAWI Graz research

• Per year

• 450 active research projects

• 25 Mio. Euros third party funds

• 1,000+ journal articles

• 10 patents

NAWI Graz – joint research programmes

• 5 funded joint doctoral colleges

• DK “Molecular Enzymology”

• fForte Wissenschafterinnenkolleg “fForte –FreChe Materie“

• DK “Numerical Simulations in Technical Sciences”

• DK “Discrete Mathematics”

• DK/IGK “Optimization and Numerical Analysis for Partial Differential Equations with Nonsmooth Structures”

• 2 joint special research areas

• SFB “Mathematical Optimization and Applications in the Biomedical Sciences”

• SFB “Lipotoxicity: Lipid-induced Cell Dysfunction and Cell Death”

Core figures NAWI Graz infrastructure funding 2008 – 2014

• 100+ joint instrument acquisitions funded

• Total volume: 5.3 Mio Euros

• NAWI Graz funding: 2.3 Mio Euros

• 6 NAWI Graz Central Labs

• Total volume: 7 Mio Euros

• NAWI Graz Funding: approx. 2.8 Mio Euros

Graz Advanced School of Science (GASS)

• joint doctoral training within the framework of NAWI Graz

• separated PhD curricula on both universities; BUT

• harmonized statutes 5 involved doctoral schools

• these regulations of GASS fulfilling the requirements of the „Salzburg Criteria“

• state-of-the-art in terms in doctoral training

Graz Advanced School of Science (GASS)

Graz University of Technology

• Curriculum for the Doctoral Program of Engineering Science

• Curriculum for the Doctoral Program of Natural Science

University Graz

• Curriculum for the Doctoral Programme Natural Science

Common “Statutes of Doctoral School NAME”

Doctoral School Chemistry

23

David Reishofer Maribor, 3. November 2014 Doc School Chemistry


Consisting of: teaching staff, PhD students (mainly 3 persons per university)

Coordinating Teams


24


Aims

• Specification of a "general curriculum"

• Making Research Visible

• Facilitating Communication

• Enhancing Collaborations

• Providing a Platform for Information

• Addressing Specific Needs of PhD Students

EDUCATION

NETWORKING

VISIBILITY


25


Organization

NAWI

Doctoral School

CHEMISTRY

DocDays

Seminars

Summer

Schools

Joint

advanced

courses/

lectures Travel

grants...


26


Curriculum and Statutes


27


Requirements

• 8 SWS* Lectures with contents related to Chemistry

• 4 SWS* Communication and Presentation

• 2 SWS* Privatissimum

• PhD-Student Seminar

* SWS:Semesterwochenstunden = Hours per week and

Semester, i.e. 1 SWS corresponds to 15 hours of teaching

per semester.


28


Specific Lectures - Examples

• Paper Writing

• Writing a Proposal

• Advanced Topics in Chemistry

• Modern Aspects of Chemistry


29


Statutes can be Adjusted

• Statutes are not part of a complicated curricular

procedures but can be adjusted.

• The adjusted rules have to be acknowledged by the

Commission for Doctoral Studies and University

Courses

• New members can be added (institutes, professors)


30


Funding and Benefits

• Invited lectures

• Catering during the Doc

Days/Summer Schools

• Prizes

• Travel grants


31


COMMUNICATION

• Doc Days

• Summer School • Dedicated topics

• Lectures by prominent researchers

• Discussions

• PhD-student lectures with extended discussions

• Social events (conference dinner…)


32


Doc Days / Summer Schools

DocDays (1–2 /year, 1–2 days)

June 2009 (First)

- current

Summer Schools (3 days)

(every two years)

Both types of events are exclusively

organized by PhD students.

(Exception: The topics and lecturers for

the summer schools are selected by the

coordinating teams of the Doctoral

School)


33


Examples


34


Abstracts - Evaluations

13

Applying circular permutation to strictosidine synthase

Eva Fischereder, Desiree Pressnitz, Horst Lechner and Wolfgang Kroutil

Department of organic and bioorganic chemistry, University of Graz [email protected]

Keywords: Strictosidine synthase, Pictet-Spengler reaction, circular permutation, monoterpenoid-indole alkaloids,

non-natural aldehydes

Abstract:

Strictosidine synthase (STR) has been recognized as a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of indole alkaloids, including highly therapeutically valuable derivatives, via a Pictet Spengler reaction.

1 STR

from Rauvolfia serpentina was subjected to an enzyme engineering technique called circular permutation (cp).

2 Traditionally engineering techniques rely on amino acid substitution to alter enzyme

properties, instead circular permutation benefits of reorganizing a poly peptide chain. Conceptually cp

of a protein involves the covalent linkage of the native C- and N-termini by a peptide linker, followed by the cleavage of specific peptide bonds elsewhere in the peptide chain.

3 Based on the crystal structure

of the enzyme which resembles a six bladed β-propeller fold, two areas where chosen to be permuted. On the one hand a α-helix in blade three and a loop in blade five which together form a cap over the

active side. In total eleven permutants where synthesized whereby eight were able to convert the

natural substrates tryptamine and secologanine to form stereospecifically (S)-strictosidine. Since not much is known about non-natural

substrates transformed by this enzymes the cp library as well as a set of strictosidine synthases from naturalsources were tested against the chiral aldehyde R/S-citronellal. Unexpectedly the non-natural aldehyde showed promising results and was transformed by some natural synthases as well as by candidates of the permutation library.

Table 1: A = introduced permutation sides, B: biotransformation with the non-natural chiral aldehyde citronellal

References:

[1]

Stöckigt J., Antonchick A. P., Wu F., Waldmann H., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 8538–8564. [2]

Cunningham B. A., Hemperly J. J., Hopp T. P., Edelman G. M., Biochemistry 1979, 76, 3218-3222. [3] Yu Y., Lutz S., Trends in Biotechnology 2011, 29, 18-25.

276

275

278

273A

B


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Future

Joint

DocDays

Summer Schools

Within Graz:

Geo sciences

MolBio

With external partners:

Univ. Maribor

TU Munich

ETH Zürich

internationalisation - a pillar of development of the

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