BIF Fellowship for Paul Welzl
Paul Welzl, joint PhD student in the Plaschka and Balzarotti labs at the IMP, was awarded a prestigious fellowship by the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) to study messenger RNA packaging.
The Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) has awarded a competitive fellowship to Paul Welzl, a student in the Vienna BioCenter PhD program. Welzl joined the IMP in 2023 as a joint member of the Plaschka and Balzarotti labs. The funding will support Welzl’s research on messenger RNA (mRNA) packaging.
Messenger RNA carries genetic instructions from DNA to proteins. During this process, the cell edits, packages, and stabilises the newly synthesised transcripts. Human mRNAs undergo maturation and packaging in the nucleus of the cell before they are finally exported to the cytoplasm for protein production. Packaging is a particularly crucial step of this process, as it ensures mRNA stability for gene expression.
Despite progress in advanced imaging techniques such as cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), which allows a near-atomic look at biological processes, many details about mRNA packaging remain unknown. Researchers are still investigating the dynamics of the process, and how mRNAs and their associated proteins are organised within single globular molecules—known as messenger ribonucleoproteins (mRNPs). Welzl's PhD thesis will focus on establishing and applying super-resolution imaging techniques to understand how single mRNAs and their mRNP proteins organise in space and time. He will work on a range of methods including MINFLUX (Maximally INFormative LUminescence eXcitation), a powerful microscopy technique that uses structured illumination to localise fluorescent molecules with extremely high accuracy.
Before joining the IMP, Paul Welzl completed his studies in biochemistry at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), with a master’s thesis focused on the structural details of the human E-complex, a crucial component of the spliceosome–the fundamental mRNA editing machinery.
About the BIF PhD Fellowships
The Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) awards PhD fellowships of 2 to 3.5 years to outstanding junior scientists worldwide who wish to pursue an ambitious PhD project in basic biomedical research in an internationally leading laboratory.
The peer-review selection process evaluates the applicant's achievements, as well as the scientific quality of the project and host laboratory. The process is highly competitive, with less than 10 percent of applicants receiving a fellowship.
On top of the monthly stipend, the BIF offers fellows seminars, travel allowances, individual and personal support, and access to a worldwide network of fellows and alumni.
Further Reading
Lab of Clemens Plaschka
The Vienna BioCenter PhD Programme
Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds