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Panel 12 – science bio/geo
If one wants to increase collaboration between the cellular signaling and
the vision groups, for example, one could think of one additional group
in neurobiology which examines signaling pathways of photoreceptors or
related retinal cells and, thus, would act as an ideal “bridge”. (Good)
There is also a center for genomic ecology as an important possibility for
collaborations between ecologists and geneticists. Some more projects
could benefit from using genome wide resources, such as those on evolution
in relatives of model plant A. thaliana. The genetics activities are
carried out by 4 research groups; three of which focus on evolution. Such
a focus on evolution appears very appropriate as an increasing wealth of
untapped genomic data become available. In addition, the activity of the
other genetics groups seems interesting, including those related to brain
tumor, anti-cancer and anti-viral therapies but the provided data do not
allow a further in depth assessment.
The plant biology activities concern 4 topics: Transgenesis, Redox biology,
Map kinases, Calcium homeostasis. These rather classic topics are all
important but one has to ask about collaborations and about the standing
on the individual groups. As no further data were supplied and not much
can be found in the text provided by the department nothing can be
concluded.
1.6 Gender and equal opportunity issues
There is always room for improvement on this particular aspect, although
the percentage of women as research fellows, researchers and senior lecturers
is quite impressive. On the professorial level, however, these percentages drop
dramatically which is the usual picture in many European universities. This
will only change slowly, we are afraid. One way of aiding improvement of
more women choosing an academic career is to create some special programs
which are designed for women and encourage them to plan a scientific
career. Prerequisite of this is that the university provides enough help so that
science and family can be combined. This should allows women scientists to
be able to accumulate enough results for being competitive.
1.7 Concluding remarks
If we understand the history of this department correctly it is the result
of a merger between previously independent departments, and this may
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