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LaraVB

@laravb.bsky.social

390 followers 460 following 50 posts

👩‍🔬 PhD student in MedMicro at UKB and UniBonn | working on antibiotics, cell wall, Wolbachia, NTDs 📝 Section editor at Student Network for Open Science e.V. she/her ORCID: 0000-0002-3066-1841

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LaraVB @laravb.bsky.social · Sep 5

🎓 PhD milestone – on my birthday! 🎉
Two weeks ago, I defended my PhD in Pharmacy on my 28th birthday (coincidence, but unforgettable!). A full lecture hall, friends & colleagues from abroad joining online, and afterwards a big celebration at our institute. (1/4)

#PhDone #BirthdayDefense #PhDSky

I am wearing a big smile, white T-shirt and my self-made doctoral hat. I am standing in front of a bookshelf in the institute's seminar room. In Germany, it is a tradition that colleagues craft a unique doctoral hat for the PhD graduate. The hat has lots of details on top, prominently including small cell culture flasks. On the front, it reads "Dr. Lara".

Collage consisting of 6 pictures.
Upper row:
1. My supervisor hands me a gift bag for children which reads "Schulende" (end of school). It is a self-made bag and usually reads "Schulstart" (beginning of school).
2. The lecture hall with green chairs and a green ceiling wall.
3. Me and others laughing and holding glasses of champagne.

Lower row:
4. The room with some of the people who were there standing and sitting.
5. Picture taking directly after they placed the doctoral hat on me. My arms are close to the hat - it was heavy and I was afraid that it would fall.
6. Gift table with flowers, the doctoral hat and a big box with lots of different snacks and a photo book about my time as a PhD student. In the middle is a lab-themed card which was drawn by another PhD student.

Reposted by LaraVB

Persimmons for Peace @uniblonder.bsky.social · 11d

Jane Goodall has died. What a wonderful, inspiring life. RIP, Dr. Jane Goodall.

#RIPJaneGoodall

LaraVB @laravb.bsky.social · 26d

Greetings from the #GreatWallSymposium in beautiful Sicily! 🌊☀️ Inspiring talks, great people, and the perfect backdrop of sunshine and sea - science is even more fun with this view!
Check out poster 15 to learn about the cell wall mystery of #Wolbachia.

#GWS2025 #antibiotics #ScienceByTheSea

View of the blue sea under a blue sky.

View of the Sicilian coast with clear blue sea, dark volcanic rocks, and a terrace with white lounge chairs and umbrellas.

LaraVB @laravb.bsky.social · Sep 5

Would be interested to hear about the experience if a short summary is possible. 😊

LaraVB @laravb.bsky.social · Sep 5

📑 On the very same day as my birthday defense, I also received reviewer comments for the 4. and final PhD paper (the first 3 already published). Reviewer 1 accepted outright, Reviewer 2 only had minor suggestions – what a cool extra birthday gift. 🎁 (4/4)

#AcademicLife #PeerReview #AcademicChatter

LaraVB @laravb.bsky.social · Sep 5

🔬 My PhD research focused on how #antibiotics affect #Wolbachia - an intracellular bacterium essential for filarial worms and unusual for lacking a classical #peptidoglycan. 🧪

Thanks to everyone who has been part of this journey! (3/4)

#Microbiology #CellWall #AMR #AcademicSky

LaraVB @laravb.bsky.social · Sep 5

When they placed the hat on my head, they sang happy birthday for me. 🎶
In Germany, it’s a tradition that colleagues craft a unique doctoral hat for the graduate – mine is the best! :D
But I received so many wonderful gifts, including a photo book capturing my PhD journey. 📖💚 (2/4)

#HappyBirPhDay

LaraVB @laravb.bsky.social · Sep 5

🎓 PhD milestone – on my birthday! 🎉
Two weeks ago, I defended my PhD in Pharmacy on my 28th birthday (coincidence, but unforgettable!). A full lecture hall, friends & colleagues from abroad joining online, and afterwards a big celebration at our institute. (1/4)

#PhDone #BirthdayDefense #PhDSky

I am wearing a big smile, white T-shirt and my self-made doctoral hat. I am standing in front of a bookshelf in the institute's seminar room. In Germany, it is a tradition that colleagues craft a unique doctoral hat for the PhD graduate. The hat has lots of details on top, prominently including small cell culture flasks. On the front, it reads "Dr. Lara".

Collage consisting of 6 pictures.
Upper row:
1. My supervisor hands me a gift bag for children which reads "Schulende" (end of school). It is a self-made bag and usually reads "Schulstart" (beginning of school).
2. The lecture hall with green chairs and a green ceiling wall.
3. Me and others laughing and holding glasses of champagne.

Lower row:
4. The room with some of the people who were there standing and sitting.
5. Picture taking directly after they placed the doctoral hat on me. My arms are close to the hat - it was heavy and I was afraid that it would fall.
6. Gift table with flowers, the doctoral hat and a big box with lots of different snacks and a photo book about my time as a PhD student. In the middle is a lab-themed card which was drawn by another PhD student.

Reposted by LaraVB

ASAPbio @asapbio.bsky.social · Jul 28

📣 We are pleased to announce that recruitment for 2025-26 Crowd Preprint Reviewers & Leads is open!

📝 The goal of the Crowd Preprint Review initiative is to provide an engaging environment for researchers to participate in giving feedback on preprints and support public reviews of preprints.

Reposted by LaraVB

Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · Jun 10

New from The Strain Team:
🎊 Springer Nature Discovers MDPI 🎊

Springer Nature has spawned a copycat journal series called "Discover" mimicking #MDPI journal titles and citation behaviours. We even made a browser game to prove it (see 🔗).

Gross! 😀 1/n

#ResearchIntegrity #SciPub #AcademicSky

Spinger Nature Discovers MDPI – The Strain on Scientific Publishing

Home page for the paper ‘The Strain on Scientific Publishing’ by Mark A Hanson, Dan Brockington, Paolo Crosetto and Pablo Gomez Barreiro

the-strain-on-scientific-publishing.github.io

Reposted by LaraVB

Simon Hammann @simonhammann.bsky.social · Jun 5

Es ist alles sehr bizarr

Reposted by LaraVB

WHO @who.int · May 17

Did you know❓ Cycle lanes account for just 0.2% of the current road infrastructure.

It’s time to demand safer streets that put the health & safety of pedestrians & cyclists first 👉 bit.ly/4jPzXsa #RoadSafety #StreetsforLife

A poster shows a cyclist riding in a bike lane separated from car traffic. The text reads: “The world would be better with more cycling lanes that PROTECT CYCLISTS. Yet very few roads have them!”

Reposted by LaraVB

Pint of Science World @pintsworld.bsky.social · Apr 28

3 weeks to go before #pint25!!

📅 19-21 May 2025
🗺️ 27 countries
📍+520 cities

🫂👩‍🔬🎉Thousands of scientists and volunteers celebrating science around the globe!!

🦕🦴🧬🦋🪨👓🧠🔭🫀👩‍🔬📚🧫🧪🌎🕷️

All the details here. Join the party! pintofscience.com

Reposted by LaraVB

Marianne Roca @marianneroca.bsky.social · May 7

🧠🍻 Pint of Science #Pint25DE is coming to Bonn!

Join us 19–21 May to grab a drink and listen to fascinating talks (english or german) on neuroscience, astronomy,...!
Check the program 👉 pintofscience.de/events/bonn

Not in Bonn? #Pint25 is happening around the world, look for the one close to you!

Explore Pint of Science Deutschland events in Bonn

pintofscience.de

Reposted by LaraVB

Denis Wirtz @deniswirtz.bsky.social · May 7

We have updated our database of funding opportunities for Early-Career Researchers (private foundations, federal, international)

We have 456 entries, for which we provide $ amount, deadline, eligibility criteria, etc.

Download this massive database here for free: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...

Reposted by LaraVB

Hanna Engelmeier @hannaengelmeier.bsky.social · May 5

Warum stand dieses Geld denn nicht vorher zur Verfügung für all die Forschenden, die schon hier sind? Warum kommt es erst jetzt darauf an, attraktive Jobs (mit längeren Vertragslaufzeiten) zu schaffen? Wer sind "the best and the brightest"? Bitte nicht antworten, ich muss im Bad die Wand anbrüllen.

Ursula von der Leyen @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu · May 5

We will put forward a 500 million package for 2025-2027 to make Europe a magnet for researchers.

As well as ambitious proposals for R&I in the next EU budget.

We will also offer the best and brightest the right incentives to come to Europe ↓

LaraVB @laravb.bsky.social · Apr 14

Thanks @symbionticism.bsky.social
It was a long journey - after 28 h I arrived at the Welcome Reception yesterday (there was Saki!).

And here we go #WolbachiaConference2025!

#Wolbachia

Auditorium of the Wolbachia conference. The slide shows "Welcome Remark, and Information from the Organizing Committee"

LaraVB @laravb.bsky.social · Apr 12

Therefore, I unfortunately won’t make it to #ESCMIDGlobal this year but found this while packing. Enjoy Vienna! #ESCMID2025

A disinfectant wipe I got at ESCMID Global last year. It says "See you next year! Vienna, Austria 12-15 April 2025"

LaraVB @laravb.bsky.social · Apr 12

So excited to be on my way to Okinawa for the #WolbachiaConference2025! Looking forward to great science and (re)connecting with old and new #Wolbachia peers. 🌸

Reposted by LaraVB

Christian Tagsold @christiantagsold.bsky.social · Apr 9

Bis ich heut gecheckt hab, woher die ganzen Raumfahrtwitze kommen, hatten andere schon die ersten Anträge eingereicht 🤪

Reposted by LaraVB

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @drtedros.who.int · Apr 9

It’s incredible to think that just 30 years ago there were 3.5 million cases of #GuineaWorm disease globally every year.

In each of the last four years, there have been 15 cases or less. We are on the brink of an historic achievement.

Reposted by LaraVB

Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) @helmholtzhzi.bsky.social · Apr 3

🔬The application deadline in our program "CURIOSITY IS INFECTIOUS" is less than a month away!
👉 Apply by April 20 for one of 16 exciting PhD projects - from host-pathogen interactions and novel antiinfectives to molecular mechanisms of infection and immunity.
www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en/career/jo...

Reposted by LaraVB

Superbugs 🦠🔬🏫🧒🏽 @superbugs.bsky.social · Mar 26

Check out our interactive timeline of some of the most devastating infectious diseases in history, alongside major advances in science and medicine that have helped control and prevent them.

In English, Welsh, Gaelic, Irish, German and Spanish.

🦠🧫🔬💉

#CelebrateVaccines

Timeline 'R' Us — Superbugs - The microbial world in, on and around us

Of superbugs and superheroes. Timeline 'R' Us – Explore devastating infections through the ages, alongside crucial scientific discoveries to help control them.

www.superbugs.online

Reposted by LaraVB

Mariana Pinho @pinholab.bsky.social · Mar 29

We have 3 positions for students who want to start a PhD in the next 12 months. If you like advanced fluorescence microscopy techniques and S. aureus cell biology, check links and apply(April 4)

euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/325394

euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/325395

euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/325396

LaraVB @laravb.bsky.social · Mar 28

While I generally agree with you, as is often the case, it's not that simple. Mosquitoes are not only a nuisance problem, but also highly effective transmitters of diseases, e.g., malaria, dengue fever, lymphatic filariasis, to name but a few.

Nevertheless, this is an important point to consider.

LaraVB @laravb.bsky.social · Mar 21

Already Day 3 of the #MosbacherKolloquium! Yesterday, Florestan introduced our relatively new group of #GBMPostdocs. Join us today at 7 pm if you’re interested (open to final-stage PhDs). No GBM membership required - however, the first year is free if you register before March 31. @gbmev.bsky.social

Florestan (spokesperson of the GBM Postdocs) introduces our group on stage. The board with its 4 members (including myself) is shown on the slide.

The "Alte Mälzerei" in Mosbach, where the conference is taking place. The building’s windows reflect the bright blue sky.