b-ACTmatter– scientist to take part in the Exist-Women start-up initiative from mid-January
Biotechnologist Subhashini Singh will be funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK ) from mid-January via the EXIST-Women start-up programme.
The young scientist completed her Master’s degree in “Development of point-of-care devices for the detection of carbapenem-resistant bacteria” in Mumbai, India, and has been working in Dr Henri Franquelim’s Biomimetic Nanotechnology junior research group at the Research and Transfer Centre for Bioactive Matter b-ACTmatter since 2022. Her research focus is in the field of Membrane-active DNA origami for biosensing and antimicrobial applications. As the demand for DNA-origami nanostructures has been surging a lot due to their easy chemical modification and self-assembly properties, she would like to utilize her knowledge to develop a groundbreaking platform for targeting membrane-active pathogens by developing origami sensors.
With the EXIST funding programme, the BMWK supports start-up networks, universities and non-university research institutions in their start-up projects. The aim is to improve the start-up climate at universities and non-university research institutions and to increase the number of technology-orientated and knowledge-based spin-offs from research institutions. The EXIST-Women programme is part of the initiative and specifically promotes start-up projects by female university graduates, scientists and students and is implemented at Leipzig University by the SMILE start-up initiative.
The programme enables Singh to familiarise herself with the topics of start-ups and self-employment and to network and exchange ideas with other prospective female founders. The funding includes a 3-month scholarship and a programme of events, advice and support for one year.
