"I meet people from around the world"

Natalia Manrique Hoyos from Colombia risked a move into both a foreign country and the neurosciences

With a bachelor's degree in biology, Natalia Manrique Hoyos came from Colombia to Göttingen in 2007 after obtaining a place in the IMPRS Neuroscience MSc/PhD program. The international focus, application process with little red tape and especially the support during her first year helped her risk venturing into both a foreign country and the neurosciences. Now a doctoral candidate, she's part of the Göttingen Graduate School for Neurosciences and Molecular Biosciences (GGNB). "It has allowed me to integrate into the Göttingen research community," says the 26-year-old.

As part of the international neuroscience PhD programme, she's conducting research at the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in Professor Mikael Simons' group, focusing on specialized cells of the central nervous system oligodendrocytes.They form the myelin sheath, which surrounds and nourishes the part of the nerve cells that are responsible for quickly transferring impulses to the entire nervous system. If the protective sheath is damaged – as is the case with Multiple Sclerosis – it can lead to motor and mental impairment, among other symptoms. Manrique Hoyos is using various research methods to look in detail at the impact of damage to the myelin.

She's working in collaboration with other Institute departments and the Neuropathology department at the University Hospital Göttingen as well as with other scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. She was able to make vital contacts as a member of the GGNB graduate school. "We're continually encouraged to meet regularly and network. I meet people from around the world during scientific lectures, method courses and language class," says the Colombian. She and fellow post-graduates are now organising the Neurizons conference, which will be held in Göttingen this spring.

The GGNB has 10 PhD programmes with 350 current doctoral candidates. The university together with three Max Planck institutes and the German primate centre offer inter-disciplinary programmes for qualified post-graduates. The graduate school is based on international master's and doctoral programmes and has been recognised repeatedly in its 10-year history. The school is subsidised by the German government's excellence initiative and an application for continued funding from the program is currently being prepared.