For the second time, the Frankfurt International Graduate School for Science (FIGSS) at FIAS awarded the ‘Best FIGSS Talk’ for summer and winter semester 2023(/24). The FIGSS was founded in 2004 and brings together FIAS doctoral candidates working on a wide range of research topics from nuclear physics to mathematical biology.

In the fortnightly FIGSS seminar, doctoral candidates present their research work to a broad scientific audience, including their doctoral colleagues at FIAS. In the summer semester 2023, seven doctoral candidates presented their work and current projects; in the winter semester 2023/24, there were six. A jury - consisting of the scientific coordinator of the FIGSS, Sebastian Thallmair, and the administrative coordinator of the FIGSS, Doris Hardt - evaluated the presentations.

The summer prize winner Solveig Plomer (Goethe University, CMMS) is working on mathematical models of changes in movement direction and speed in cell organelles. The second prize went to Lukas Stelz (FIAS). He presented epidemiological models, which he expanded using machine learning methods to increase their accuracy.

Winter prizewinner Deyue Kong (FIAS) uses neuronal networks to predict large-scale intracortical interactions during early embryonic development. The predictions were confirmed with the help of optogenetic methods. Jonas Köhler (FIAS) was awarded second prize for his update on analysing earthquake sequences in Japan using deep learning.

In addition to a successful presentation of the research results, the prizewinners impressed the jury with clear introductions to their respective research topics, which provided the audience with a wide range of information.