Melbourne-Potsdam PhD Programme (MelPoPP)
The Melbourne-Potsdam PhD Programme (MelPoPP) is an initiative between the University of Melbourne (UoM), Australia, the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP) and the University of Potsdam (UP), Germany, that started in 2016. The programme creates an international research training opportunity for PhD students. The students spend time in Australia and Germany and will have the chance to get a joint PhD from the University of Melbourne and the University of Potsdam. For more information, please read on and explore the links.
Recruitment for MelPoPP is CLOSED.
There will be no call for MelPoPP positions to start in second half of 2022.
Research
The Melbourne-Potsdam PhD Programme (MelPoPP) involves research groups at the University of Melbourne’s Schools of BioSciences, Chemistry, and Mathematics and Statistics, at the University of Potsdam’s Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, and at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology. PhD students in the programme have projects that are jointly supervised by group leaders in Melbourne and in Potsdam. The joint projects combine expertise at either institution that complement each other.
PhD candidates
MelPoPP is a sister programme of the IMPRS-PMPG. The following PhD researchers have projects within MelPoPP and pursue a Joint PhD degree between the University of Melbourne, Australia, and the University of Potsdam, Germany.
| Name | Cohort |
|---|---|
| Jaqueline Nowak | 2016 | Alumna; completed 2020 |
| Lazar Novakovic | 2016 | Alumnus; completed 2021 |
| Jana Verbancic | 2016 | Alumna; completed 2021 |
| Joanna Kaptur | 2016 | Alumna; completed 2021 |
| Mike Ting | 2017 | Thesis submitted |
| Michael Ogden | 2017 | active |
| Alban Mariette | 2018 | active |
| Federico Martinez Seidel | 2018 | active |
| Orianne Montulet | 2019 | active |
| Alina Ebert | 2020 | active |
| Anna Philippova | 2020 | active |
Congratulations to our MelPoPP alumni for successfully completing their Joint PhD degree!
More details on the projects and profiles of PhD candidates pursuing a joint project between Melbourne and Potsdam can be found on the University of Melbourne's MelPoPP website.
Motive
Staffan Persson, who was Max Planck research group leader at the MPI-MP and faculty member of the IMPRS ‘Primary Metabolism and Plant Growth’, joined the University of Melbourne as Professor in 2015. To keep up his scientific ties with colleagues in Potsdam and to facilitate the establishment of new Australian-German collaborations, he initiated the Melbourne-Potsdam PhD Programme.