Volker Mittendorf
Profile
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Time ZoneEastern
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OrganizationSyngenta
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RoleScientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online
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Research Interests (300 words)I have been working in plant molecular biology for many years creating genetically modified plants for commercial purposes. Currently my focus is on marker based breeding; I lead a group of scientists to develop molecular markers and to develop methods for high throughput genotyping to support our plant breeders.
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Profile Question 1What is best about being a scientist?
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Answer the question you selected for profile question 1 here (300 words):I love the rare moments when there's been a technical breakthrough, or when you suddenly gain new insights that finally explain strange observations.
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Profile Question 2What is tough about being a scientist?
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Answer the question you selected for profile question 2 here (300 words):Scientist need to have persistence and resilience, because more than 80% of the time experiments don't work as planned. Most of the time is spent trouble shooting, but we mostly learn in this way and of course this makes the occasional breakthroughs intensely satisfying.
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Profile Question 3What lessons have you learned in your career about how science works?
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Answer the question you selected for profile question 3 here (300 words):Science is outwardly perceived as an objective endeavor, but it is fundamentally based on deeply subjective human characteristics like curiosity, individuality, competitiveness, persistence, humor, intelligence, arrogance and ignorance. In many research areas & projects major advances can be attributed to serendipity and the "proper alignment of all the planets". Nevertheless, the core body of solid science and knowledge keeps growing in a healthy fashion, because the underlying objectivity rejects and eliminates theories and hypothesis based on false ground. Gravity and evolution are examples of rock-solid scientific foundations that guide me as scientist and human.
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AvailabilityI am NOT available, please temporarily remove me from the available mentor list
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Capacity: How many teams at a time are you comfortable working with?2
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