Ilona Grunwald
Prof. Dr. Ilona Grunwald is Vice Rector for Research and Early Career Scientists at the University of Bonn, where she has been Professor of Physiology and Head of the Institute of Physiology II at the Faculty of Medicine since 2022. The scientist has now been elected as a new member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), an honor that will be celebrated here at “We are Uni Bonn.” EMBO promotes excellent researchers in the life sciences at all career levels and honors distinguished scientists for their outstanding achievements with membership. Grunwald's research focuses on understanding how nervous systems enable humans and animals to adapt to constant changes in their environment in the short and long term in order to ensure their own survival and that of the next generation.
Networking enables expertise
Biomedical research thrives on international exchange and promotes this exchange through EMBO. Similar to Leopoldina at the national level, EMBO offers opportunities for networking at the European level, “bottom up,” not least through conferences, meetings, and scholarships. Before being appointed an EMBO member, Grunwald had already been honored with the Otto Hahn Medal from the Max Planck Society, the Career Development Award from the Human Frontiers Science Program, an ERC Starting Grant, and, last but not least, the EMBO Young Investigator Award.
EMBO-Member Prof. Dr. Ilona Grunwald, Prorektorin
Bild © Universität Bonn / YouTube
A priori: Transdisciplinarity
Biomedical research is inconceivable without a transdisciplinary approach, says researcher Ilona Grunwald. “I encounter transdisciplinarity everywhere,” she says. "Scientific work in mixed teams, for example with neurologists and computer scientists, is a necessary condition for successful research. For example, computer science has greatly accelerated research into neural networks in recent years.