Our Program

The IMPRS for living matter provides an amazing environment for young, talented and ambitious scientists to start an academic career in the field of life sciences.

As a graduate student, you will join a top-level research group and you will have the chance to carry out an exciting and novel project with access to state-of-the-art facilities and world class experts.

The goal of the IMPRS-LM is to support students in their projects by providing the tools for them to learn experimental methods, as well as rigorous scientific thinking and scientific communication.

The IMPRS-LM curriculum comprises the following training activities:

• Seminar Series (external and internal speakers)
• A biennial scientific retreat (2-3 days)
• A biennial International Symposium (organised by students)
• Scientific workshops to learn key-methods (cryo-EM, cryo-ET, X-ray structure determination, light microscopy, mass spectrometry) and important tools (R, Fiji, Python, Adobe Illustrator)
• Transferable Skills Courses
• Career Development Workshops and Event

Here are a few of this year’s workshops:

• Python for Scientists, February 9-13, 2026
• Good Scientific Practice, January 22-23, 2026
• Team Work & Leadership throughout the doctorate, April 13 2026
• ImageJ Macro Scripting for Automatic Image Analysis, in planning for 2027
• Introduction to scientific writing, October 19-23, 2026
• Vector Graphics for Scientists, in planning for 2027
• Presentation Skills Course, June 15-18, 2026
• Effective Visual Communication of Science (The Seyens Method), in planning for 2027
• Introduction to data visualization using R, in planning for 2027