Annual Thesis Prize 2024

We are proud to announce the 2024 recipients of the Annual Thesis Prize:

Olimpia BOMPADRE (Biomedical Sciences 2023, Thesis supervisor Pr Guillaume Andrey)

https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:174078

&

Julian WENINGER (Physics of Biology, 2023, Thesis supervisor Pr Karsten Kruse) 

https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:174312

 

Few words form the winners: 

Olimpia

“I am extremely happy and honoured to have been selected for the PSLS Best Thesis Prize for the faculty of Medicine among so many great candidates. I would like to thank first and foremost my supervisor Professor Guillaume Andrey for his guidance and support throughout my thesis as well as my lab colleagues who have been instrumental in the success of my project. This prize is a great recognition of the hard work and perseverance that were instrumental for this work and it underlines the importance of fundamental research in advancing our understanding of the complex biological processes that underpin health and disease.”

Olimpia has started a postdoc in March 2024 at EPFL in Didier Trono's lab where she is studying the role of transposable elements and their regulators in colorectal cancer tumour biology.

Julian

“I am particularly delighted to have been awarded the PSLS Annual Best Thesis Prize, as it honours my interdisciplinary and quantitative approach in the life sciences. During my PhD, I faced the challenge of explaining embryonic development from the perspective of material sciences. This project was made possible through intensive collaboration, involving a continuous exchange between my theoretical work, the experimental approaches of my collaborators, and our joint quantitative analysis. I have witnessed the potential and benefits of such collaboration and hope that this recognition encourages fellow scientists to pursue similar paths.”

Julian is currently still collaborating with Karsten Kruse to finalise several projects. In the next phase, He plans to leverage his expertise in physical modelling and data analysis within a consultancy role. This could involve estimating the risk of natural catastrophes using numerical tools or assessing the potential of agricultural spaces through satellite imagery. Julian’s multidisciplinary research background and experience in quantitative analysis of biological data and images have well-prepared him for these tasks. In the long term, he is also interested in contributing to the policy-making process.