First-Person Report: Ulrike Gaul Interview by Stefanie Schramm

Have you finished packing?
Not yet, but I'm in the middle of organising our move. The most complicated part is transporting the flies to Germany.

The flies?
Drosophila melanogaster, our test animals. We've put years of research into breeding various mutants. They will be coming with us to Munich. And they have to travel by plane - the flies wouldn't survive the journey by boat.

The USA offers you working conditions German researchers can only dream of. Why are you coming back now, after twenty years?
The aims associated with the Humboldt Professorship appeal greatly to me: on the one hand, science in Germany is to become more international, on the other hand, new research areas are to be developed. I can contribute significantly to that.

What are you thinking of doing?
I would like, for example, to organise a summer school for my subject, systems biology, to which I would invite fellow scientists from America, Europe, Israel. That sort of thing is still quite uncommon at German universities.

How would that benefit the students?
The great thing about this award is that for a change it is bringing excellent scientists not only to research institutions, but also to universities. I think it's extremely important that students see how exciting science is. In Germany contacts of this kind are often made very late, if at all.

Why is that?
Many high-ranking scientists here work at research institutes.

Would you also have returned without the Humboldt Award?
I had already been approached by the Ludwig Maximilians University. That's unusual in Germany. The standard appointment procedures are laborious and long-winded.

But you hadn't made your decision yet?
I wanted to have a look around first. After all, there were reasons why I left back then. I went on what you might call a tour of Germany, visited probably twenty institutes, and spoke to many researchers. I wanted to know: what is it really like now?

And what is it like?
I was pleasantly surprised. Things have changed a lot; the structures are less hierarchical, less bureaucratic, less rigid. The German Excellence Initiative has generated a lot of energy.

Did that convince you?
Yes, that appealed very strongly to me. But we intend to develop a new key research area at the Munich Gene Centre. That will require lots of equipment and new staff. Which is all very expensive.

So it wouldn't have been possible without the Humboldt funding.
(laughs) Not so easily.

Five million euros for five years - is that internationally competitive in your league?
Absolutely. I also had offers from the USA, so I know what you can get at top institutes there. The Humboldt Professorship is internationally attractive.

Some award winners nonetheless hesitate to make the move to Germany, also because the sponsorship ends after five years. You didn't?
I don't see that as a serious issue. If you are given that much in advance and conduct good science with it, you will attract funding from elsewhere too. The Humboldt Professorship is a research award, not a life insurance. You only receive the Nobel Prize once too. At some point you just have to start writing grant proposals again like everyone else.