MOI

MOI V News

MOI V Team Event

On 7 October 2025, the first team event for MOI doctoral students took place. We were at the ‘BASH ROOMS’ in Düsseldorf

Congratulation Caroline!

We congratulate our MOI V Fellow Caroline Meyer who won the prize for the best shotgun poster presentation on the 6^th International Caparica Conference in SPLICING 2025.

The title of her poster presentation was: “Splicing regulatory elements in context of splice acceptor regulation in Influenza A”

The 6th International Caparica Conference in SPLICING 2025 took place from July 20–24, 2025 in Caparica, Portugal.

Congratulation Rudy!

We congratulate our MOI V Fellow Lawrence Rudy Cadena on his outstanding performance at the 16^th International Congress of Protistology 2025 (ICOP/ISOP 2025). Rudy won the prize for the best oral presentation and prevailed against 253 competitors. The title of his presentation was: “The spatial proteomics of Paulinella chromatophora: A Rhizarian story”

The 16^th International Congress of Protistology 2025 (ICOP/ISOP 2025) took place from June 22-27, 2025 at Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea.

Congratulation Katharina!

We congratulate our MOI V Fellow Katharina Schenk who won the San-Pin Wang Award for the best oral presentation by a graduate student at the Joint Meeting of the 12th Biennial Meeting of the Chlamydia Basic Research Society (CBRS) & 21st German Chlamydia Workshop (DCW). The Joint Meeting took place from March 24-27 2025 in Berlin, Germany.

The title of her poster was: “Chlamydia infection impacts host cell mitosis and leads to chromosome instability”

Who we are

The Manchot Graduate School “Molecules of Infection” (MOI) maps complex host-pathogen interactions and explores new strategies for the elimination of pathogens in infectious diseases. Research projects focus on functionally characterizing molecules that play crucial roles in the infection process in carefully chosen model systems, e.g. HIV.

In April 2024 MOI V started and continues the successful research projects of the former MOI I - MOI IV funding rounds, which are funded since the beginning by the Jürgen Manchot Stiftung and supported by the "Strategischem Forschungsfonds" of Heinrich Heine University itselfs.

The 18 PhD projects of the Graduate School focus on important infectious molecules, that will be studied and characterised in specific model organisms. The gained scientific outcome of MOI V will make contribution to the current concepts of research in the field of infection. The scientific program of the 18 funded projects is separated in four deeply connected and in terms of content coordinated research areas.

Research Area 1

Mechanisms of viral infection

Research Area 2

Bacterial proteins in infection and infection control

Research Area 3

Molecular regulatory mechanisms in fungi

Research Area 4

Control of immune responses to infection

What is special about MOI Graduate School?

Our mission: to provide excellent scientific education in combination with personal development of young scientist at best since 2009! These are the central parts of our Graduate programme:

MOI V Curriculum

Here is the content of our MOI V Curriculum.

MOI V Events

Like to learn more about the MOI V events? Open the link.

Scientific Advisory Board

Four excellent scientists go with the Graduate School, - not only on the scientific level.

The core of the Graduate School:

Our young researchers

Besides the scholarship holders the Manchot Graduate School supports up to five talented PhD students from various projects of closely related topics to the MOI research areas. These so called "Colleagues" benefit from attending the whole MOI Curriculum as well as the organised events.

Current MOI V Fellows

Who are the current scholarship holders, who the colleagues? On the next webpage you'll find an overview and a brief introduction of our PhD students.