Annual Thesis Prize of the PhD School of Life Sciences

Awarded annually for the two best doctoral theses in any of the programs of the PhD School of Life Sciences at the Faculties of Medicine and Science.


The Annual Thesis Prize is awarded for the two best doctoral theses, one per faculty, defended for a PhD in Life Sciences in any of the specializations recognized by the PhD School of Life Sciences at the Faculties of Medicine and Science.

The prize of 1’000 CHF (500 CHF per thesis) is awarded at the Annual Forum.

All students who have obtained their PhD in the two semesters preceding the Forum are considered for the prize. Theses are evaluated by a committee composed of the program directors and co-directors and the vice-deans of the School.

Regulations of the prize : download PDF


Winners

Aurélia BALESTRA

Aurélia BALESTRA

Regulation of Plasmodium gametogenesis
Director: Mathieu Brochet


Previous recipients of the Annual Thesis Prize

Year Winner Affiliation Thesis title Thesis director
2021 Emmanuelle STEIB Molecular Biosciences Characterization of POC16/WDR90 Proteins in Centriole Integrity Paul Guichard & Virginie Hamel
2021 Stefano LEO Genomics and Digital Health Dynamics of changes of human gut microbiota in response to multidrug resistant bacteria colonization and following antibiotic treatment Jacques Schrenzel
Arditi Prize

Awarded for the best thesis at the Section of Biology


The Arditi foundation awards an annual prize of 5000 CHF for the best thesis in biology. The prize is awarded through the Section of biology.


REQUIREMENTS

Candidates must have been affiliated with the Section of Biology, and should have obtained their PhD in the two years preceding the call.


PROCEDURES

The Section of Biology usually opens the call in May/June, with an application deadline in July. 

Candidates must send their application to secretariat-biologie@unige.ch in the form of a single PDF file including:

  1. a Curriculum Vitae including the list of publications,
  2. a motivation letter of the candidate outlining his/her professional perspectives,
  3. a support letter from the PhD thesis supervisor(s).

The candidates should also provide a link to their thesis.

The selection committee meets in July/August and produces, in agreement with the Dean, a ranking of the 2 or 3 top candidates.

The Arditi Foundation decides on the final candidate in October.

The Prize is awarded in November at the “cérémonie de remise des diplômes de la Faculté des Sciences”.


Regulations of the prize: PRIX-ARDITI-These-SECTION-BIOLOGIE-2021.pdf



Winners


Previous recipients of the Annual Thesis Prize

Year Winner Affiliation Thesis title Thesis director
2021 Nikolai KLENA Section of Biology, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology A structural analysis of the architectural diversity in the centriolar cartwheel-containing region Paul Guichard & Virginie Hamel
2020 Kamila DELANEY Section of Biology, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology Functional analysis of the histone variant H3.3 in development and disease Florian Steiner
Laemmli Prize

Awarded exceptionally for an outstanding doctoral thesis in Life Sciences in a field related to molecular biology.


The Laemmli Prize is awarded for an exceptional thesis in Life Sciences in a field related to molecular biology. The prize is generously sponsored by the royalties of a patent endowed to Ulrich Laemmli’s former departments at UNIGE. The prize of 6’000 CHF is awarded during the Diploma Ceremony of the Faculties of Medicine or Science.


Ulrich Laemmli obtained his doctorate in the laboratory of Eduard Kellenberger at UNIGE in 1969, and returned to UNIGE in 1980 as full professor at the Departments of Biochemistry and of Molecular Biology. We owe Ulrich Laemmli numerous discoveries on the structural organization of nuclei and chromatin within the cell that have profoundly changed our view of the structure of chromosomes.

To map the genomic interaction sites of chromatin proteins, Ulrich Laemmli and Manfred Schmid developed and patented the ChIC method (chromatin immunocleavage). Royalties of this patent were endowed to Laemmli’s former departments at UNIGE to promote young investigators in a field related to molecular biology.

Requirements

Candidates must have obtained a PhD in Life Sciences in any of the specializations recognized by the PhD School of Life Sciences at the Faculties of Medicine and Science in the 4 semesters preceding the attribution of the prize.

Procedures

A call for nominations is sent out to members of the School at the end of the Spring semester. Applications from nominated candidates should be submitted in electronic format to phd-lifesciences-sciences@unige.ch and must include:

  • Cover letter detailing the career outlook of the candidate (max. 2 pages)
  • Curriculum Vitae (max. 2 pages)
  • List of publications
  • At least one letter of support from an external thesis jury member

Candidates are evaluated by a committee composed of members of the PhD School of Life Sciences at the Faculties of Medicine and Science and approved by the heads of the Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Regulations of the prize: download PDF


Winners

Mateusz MENDEL (ex aequo)

Mateusz MENDEL (ex aequo)

The Conserved Role of METTL16 m6A Methyltransferase in Gene Expression Regulation
Director: Ramesh Pillai

Mateusz’ thesis in the lab of Ramesh Pillai focused on how a particular chemical modification of messenger RNA, called N6-methyladenosine, controls gene expression. During his thesis, Mateusz looked at several proteins responsible for depositing, reading, and erasing this modification on messenger RNA, using a combination of structural, biochemical, and genetic approaches. His main body of work concerns the methyltransferase METTL16, which he showed to be essential for early embryonic development in mice [1]. In the worm model C. elegans, the homologous enzyme responds to nutritional cues methylating a specific pre-mRNA to regulate its splicing, with the splicing inhibition by N6-methyladenosine being also conserved in mammals [2]. Mateusz’ fundamental discoveries bring evidence that RNA modifications can directly affect RNA processing and thus gene expression, in response to environmental cues. 

Mateusz’s thesis work on new layers of gene regulation is honoured with the 2022 Arditi Prize.


Mateusz Mendel defended his thesis in Molecular Biosciences in September 2021 and is presently a Scientist in Lead Discovery at Roche, where he is involved in creating new gene therapy tools and searching for novel inhibitors for non-standard targets.


[1] Mendel, M., et al., Methylation of Structured RNA by the m(6)A Writer METTL16 Is Essential for Mouse Embryonic Development. Mol Cell, 2018. 71(6): p. 986-1000 e11.

[2] Mendel, M., et al., Splice site m(6)A methylation prevents binding of U2AF35 to inhibit RNA splicing. Cell, 2021. 184(12): p. 3125-3142 e25.

Anna-Katharina PFITZNER (ex aequo)

Anna-Katharina PFITZNER (ex aequo)

Membrane remodelling by dynamic ESCRT-III polymers
Director: Aurélien Roux

Anna did her PhD in the lab of Aurélien Roux, working on membrane remodelling by the ESCRT-III machinery, an ancient and complex assembly of proteins conserved from Archaea to humans. Since the many ESCRT-III subunits can coalesce into a variety of filaments of different shape and function, it was not known how the dynamic interplay of the subunits could govern membrane fission. During her thesis, Anna used and developed an extraordinarily wide range of biophysical, biochemical, imaging, and structural techniques to reconstitute this protein complex in vitro [1]. Her work uncovered how the ESCRT-III subunits assemble sequentially and drive first extension of tubes and then pinching-off of membrane vesicles [2]. 

The seminal nature of her findings has earned Anna the Birnstiel Award in 2020 and the Prix Schläfli in 2022.


Anna-Katharina Pfitzner defended her thesis in Molecular Biosciences in October 2021 and is currently an EMBO postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Tom Rapoport at Harvard Medical School, where she focuses on how proteins and lipids interact on a molecular and mechanistic level, and how transmembrane proteins distort the lipid order within biological membranes.


[1] Pfitzner, A.K., et al., An ESCRT-III Polymerization Sequence Drives Membrane Deformation and Fission. Cell, 2020. 182(5): p. 1140-1155 e18.

[2] Pfitzner, A.K., J. Moser von Filseck, and A. Roux, Principles of membrane remodeling by dynamic ESCRT-III polymers. Trends Cell Biol, 2021. 31(10): p. 856-868.


Previous recipients of the Annual Thesis Prize

Year Winner Affiliation Thesis title Thesis director
2021 Aarti KRISHNAN (ex aequo) Biomedical Sciences Metabolic networks governing Toxoplasma gondii persistence and transmission Dominique Soldati-Favre
2021 Roman PODOLEC (ex aequo) Molecular Biosciences From perception to transcriptional regulation: an analysis of mutants affected in the UV-B signaling pathway in plants Roman Ulm