On November 7, 2025, the latest Branch out! Career Day brought together around 60 doctoral and postdoctoral researchers and 12 alumni from the MPIPZ and CEPLAS.

The event opened at the MPIPZ with a career talk by Miltos Tsiantis, who shared insights into his own career path. This was followed by a presentation on IP and start-up support in the Max Planck World by Julia Hirschmann, Isabel Schulze and Mark Möbius. Additionally, participants had access to grant consultancy support from the EU Liaison Officer Salvatore Angilletta.

After brief introductions of the invited Alumni participating in the different panels (industry, academia and other careers), the floor was opened for questions and lively discussions. Topics ranged from how the speakers found their current positions to their main responsibilities and the challenges they encounter in their roles.

After lunch, Sonja Noss, an independent coach and trainer, shared practical tips on building stress resilience—helping participants do meaningful work without risking burnout.

Following the main program in the lecture hall, participants had the opportunity to meet the speakers in “Get Connected” sessions, where they could ask further questions in smaller, more informal groups. The event concluded with a joint dinner, providing a relaxed setting for further networking.

A huge thank you to all participants and speakers for making it a truly enriching day!

Sessions and Speakers

CAREER TALK: Miltos Tsiantis, Director MPIPZ

IDEAS TO IMPACT: IP AND START-UP SUPPORT IN THE MAX PLANCK WORLD
Julia Hirschmann, Max-Planck-Innovation & Isabel Schulze, Mark Möbius, Max Planck Foundation

MINDFULNESS-BASED RESILIENCE IMPULSE LECTURE: Sonja Noss, Independent Coach and Trainer

INDUSTRY CAREER PANEL

• Maria Albani, Rijk Zwaan Production B.V., Netherlands
• David Heckmann, Bayer Crop Science, Germany
• Ernesto Llamas, University of Cologne and Sketching Science, Germany
• Miguel Miñambres Martín, Hamilton Iberia Company, Spain
• Jonas Ruhe, Yara International, Germany

ACADEMIC CAREER PANEL

• Paloma Duran, CNRS, France
• Dimitry Lapin, Utrecht University, Netherlands
• Gabriella Mosca, University of Tübingen, Germany
• Stephan Wagner, Bonn University, Germany

OTHER CAREER PATHS PANEL

• Doris Birker, University of Cologne, Germany
• Katharina Gräfe, BIO.NRW, Germany
• Leonie Weber, Rheinsberger Preussenquelle GmbH, Germany (cancelled)
• Luise Zühl, Bundesamt für Naturschutz, Germany

The 2025 Branch out Career day was organized by a team of pstdocs and doctoral researchers from the MPIPZ and CEPLAS. The Organizing committee included Abdulkabir Abdulmalik, Ganiyat Akinade, Cristina Alcaide, Pau Casanova, Aude Geistodt-Kiener, Suhyun Jin, Swati Mahiwal, Anna Martyn, Yohanna Miotto, Tantawat Nardwattanawong, Gergo Palfalvi, Stefan Steckenborn, Nicholas Russell. At the coordinator level, the organization was supported by Francesca Stomeo (MPIPZ Scientific Coordinator), Monika Schlosser (MPIPZ Graduate School) and Juliane Schmid (CEPLAS Postdoc Program). We were also grateful for the administrative support provided by Judith Eschrich (MPIPZ) and Megan Sierz (MPIPZ).

The 'Branch out! Career Day 2022' took place on December 2, 2022 at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research.

The key note talk of Sarah O ́Connor was followed by short talks and discussions with the speakers of the different panels. Following the main program in the lecture hall, which was broadcast via zoom, in-person attendees were able to network and meet the speakers in "Get Connected" Sessions. The event ended with a joint dinner.

Sessions and Speakers

HOW I BECOME AN MPI DIRECTOR?

• Sarah O ́Connor (MPI for Chemical Ecology, Germany)

ACADEMIC CAREER PANEL

• Diarmuid O'Maoileidigh (Maynooth University, Ireland)
• Moritz Nowack (VIB-Ugent Center for Plant Systems Biology, Belgium)
• Wilma van Esse (Wageningen University, Netherlands)
• Sarah O ́Connor (MPI for Chemical Ecology, Germany)

INDUSTRY CAREER PANEL

• Florian Hahn (Ivy Farm Technologies, United Kingdom)
• Markus Berns (BASF, Netherlands)
• Henning Frerigmann (Chr. Hansen, Germany)
• Hugo Hofhuis (Keygene, Netherlands)
• Maria Salazar-Rondon (BioEcho, Germany)

OTHER CAREER PATHS PANEL

• Luise Hecker geb. Brand (Miltenyi, Germany)
• Ulla Kemi (Faculty of Education, University of Lapland, Finland)
• Melanie Sapp (University Hospital in Düsseldorf, Germany)
• Stijn Spaepen (Leuven Institute of Beer Research, Belgium)

The 2022 'Branch out! Career Day' 2022 was organized by a group of Postdocs from the MPIPZ and CEPLAS. Members of the organizing committee were Jan Buchmann, Martina Cerise, Ranju Chutia, Vítor Falavigna, Anchilie Mangilet, Yohanna Miotto, Nicholas Russell, Megan Sierz and Jia Yu. The organization was supported at the coordinator level by Francesca Stomeo (MPIPZ Scientific Coordinator), Stephan Wagner (Coordinator MPIPZ Graduate School) and Juliane Schmid (Coordinator CEPLAS Postdoc Program).