Top female scientist returns to Europe from Japan
Actually Camelia Miron had a secure job in Japan, which was well paid and the research was fun. “But as soon as I received the offer from the INP I decided to return to Europe.” says the 38-year-old researcher, who has specialized in plasma in liquids for seven years in Japan. The decision for the INP in Greifswald had professional reasons: only here the thematic priorities plasma medicine and bioelectrics are localized at one institute, and these priorities are the basis for developing her research field. Main focus of Camelia’s scientific work is generating new polymers. These are more hydrophobic then conventional polymers and could be of great interest in medicine especially for catheters in blood vessels. Their properties make the adherence of blood cells controllable and furthermore reduce the risk for blood clots. These special polymers could also be built in fuel cells and batteries. The membrane separating plus and minus pole of the cell could be made from this special material resulting in a more stable membrane linked with a longer life compared to conventional fuel cell membranes due to its higher hydrophobicity. “At the INP every effort is made to ensure that I can conduct excellent research,” says Camelia Miron. She works in laboratories with outstanding and partly worldwide unique equipment. In the last year alone the INP invested 6.7m EUR in new devices and laboratories. “In addition, I have an environment giving enough space to establish contacts with other scientists.” she adds. And because the INP supports participation at international conferences, she can give talks about her research results worldwide. Thus she gains project partners like Dr. Eugen Stamate from the Technical University Denmark (Roskilde). Together they will investigate her method to generate new polymers. For an intensified collaboration Camelia Miron invited her project partner from Denmark at the INP for a short-term research stay. She is confident that “planning experiments and discussions about gained results will work out much easier through a direct dialogue with my project partner.” The INP supports these scientific exchanges with international cooperation partners with about 500.000 Euro EU funding. Camelia Miron is very happy with her decision to return to Europe: “I like how comprehensive the INP supports me in professional and personal questions. I found the perfect conditions to develop my research area.” Currently 120 scientists carry out research in the field of low temperature plasma physics at the INP Greifswald. Thereby the INP is the largest European research institute in this field. The multilateral promoting of international scientists at the INP is realized with the PlasmaShape project. The EU-funded project und grant No. 316216 targets on the broadening of excellent research on an international level at the INP.
Countries
Germany