Ringberg 2024

A graduation at the castle

Over a thousand hours of lectures attended and hundreds of exams, forty lab internships, and twenty Master thesis between them; trials and triumphs, sweat and smiles, and the proverbial midnight oil burnt, twenty of our best and brightest had their graduation celebration, marking the culmination of years of dedication! And we celebrated their milestone in style at this year’s edition of Ringberg symposium.
 

Close up of Prof. Joachim Spatz holds a certificate folder in his hand and reads from it. In the background you can see a roll-up with the Matter to Life logo

The annual week -long retreat held at Schloss Ringberg was to commemorate the achievements of our 3rd cohort PhD candidates who completed their Masters phase. The young scientists and faculty presented their science and research where the highlight was the graduation ceremony, this year presided over by the school Speaker, Joachim Spatz, and Group Leader of Max Planck Schools, Johanna Rapp.

Apart from the broiler plate scientific talks, we also had a unique ‘Behind the Science’ session delivered by Fellows, Philippe Bastiaens and Karim Alim, along with PhD candidate Nitin Bohra. This session gave a peak behind the curtains of the well curated and polished presentations to show that science might be a messy yet deeply rewarding endeavor!

This is a group photo of 45 participants of the Ringberg Symposium, with Ringberg Castle in the background. The people in the photo are posing happily.
PhD candidates and professors sit in a lecture room and look at a screen showing Professor Tolan, President of the University of Göttingen.
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A student holds a seat cube on which the Matter to Life logo is displayed in large letters. Ringberg Castle can be seen in the background.
A group of nine students sit together at a table in the dining hall at Ringberg Castle, smiling and raising their glasses of beer to the camera.
Matter to Life Fellows Karen Alim, Job Boekhoven and Kerstin Göpfrich stand together and talk. Job Boekhoven smiles into the camera.
The group leader of the Max Planck Schools, Johanna Rapp, is giving a lecture. She is standing in front of a screen on which her presentation can be seen, with “Congratulations” written on it with a party hat.
Two PhD candidates throw another PhD candidate into the pool at Ringberg Castle.
You can see two PhD candidates, one from behind and the other from the front. The latter puts her elbow on the other's shoulder and smiles at the camera. Both are wearing a black Matter to Life hoodie. The words “Matter to Life Class of 2024” can be seen on the back of the hoodie. Ringberg Castle can be seen in the background.
You can see a table with many different colorful salads. Surrounded by lots of people getting something to eat.
Four female coordinators and one male coordinator of the Max Planck School Matter to Life pose for the camera. Ringberg Castle can be seen in the background.
Three female and three male students take a selfie. The scenery of Ringberg Castle can be seen in the background

The scientific program was complemented by social activities such as the castle tour, boat tour in the picturesque Tegernsee, hiking in the majestic mountains, dips (and dunks) in the pool. Overall, a perfect atmosphere for everyone to relax, unwind, network, and imbibe both science and scenery.

A group of students pose happily for a group photo, with two students holding up a seating cube with the Matter to Life logo. Ringberg Castle can be seen in the background.

Our heartfelt gratitude to all participants, and huge congratulations to the recent graduates! All the best for your PhD!

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