Congratulations to Polina Foteva, a summer school student whose presentation on chloroplast gene expression won an award for one of the three best talks at the Vienna BioCenter Summer School Symposium. 

Polina was hosted by the Ramundo lab, a research group at the Gregor Mendel Institute (GMI) that investigates molecular mechanisms of protein biogenesis and quality control within the chloroplast, an essential organelle for the process of photosynthesis within plant cells. The focus of Polina’s project was on an enzyme complex that carries out chloroplast transcription.

The Vienna BioCenter Summer School is an international program attracting students who want to join a group at institutes like the GMI for an early research experience in the life sciences. As part of her experience, Polina gained insights into science communication and laboratory research from our biweekly seminar series, and hands-on training provided by her group leader, Silvia Ramundo, and her supportive labmates.

This week, Polina starts a Master's program in Chemical Biology at the University of Geneva in collaboration with EPFL, Switzerland. We wish her the best on her journey!