FACULTY OF

PROCESS- AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

Dr. Zoellner studied Maths, Physics and Information Technology at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. She received her doctorate in 2006 and her habilitation on the topic of "Grain growth in nanocrystalline materials: Where we’ve been, where we are, and where we are going" in 2015. Nowadays she works as a scientific lecturer at the Graduate Academy of the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. Motto: You need the serenity to accept the things you cannot change; the courage to change the things you can, and the wisdom to know the difference

Career

The way to find my field was a bit complicated. I initially studied mathematics, physics and information technology for High School students. During my degree I realized that I loved research and preferred teaching adults instead of children or adolescents. I received my doctorate at the graduate college and afterwards stayed on as a Postdoc. By acquiring my own third-party-ressources from the DFG I was able to gather more experience in both research and teaching. I also acquired a number of guest professorships and research stipends. At the moment I am back at the Otto von Guericke University.

Motivation

At the end of my degree I had the opportunity to take a course in Material Physics and that was the real kickoff of my scientific career. It suited my hobby, the mineralogy, 100% and the theory was also extremely interesting. Because of that I ended up doing my diploma thesis in the field of Material Physics and afterwards got the chance to also do my doctorate in the same field of study. I specialized in the changes of micro structures especially metals and alloys during deformation and heat treatment. These materials are generally polycrystalline which means they are made up of an extremely high number of often very small crystals. I think most people have seen such crystals in a galvanized banister or lamppost. Most crystals are much smaller and during deformation or under the influence of heat they change. Those changes are extremely complex processes that change the properties of the material. By gaining a better understanding of these processes we can get better at predicting for example the lifespan of working materials for specific applications. The interesting thing is that seemingly very different materials also have a similar structure. For example shells and ice cream.

As a researcher I spend most of my time in front of the computer since I worked mainly in the field of analytical and numerical modelling, which requires programming, data evaluation and comparisons with experimental data. Additionally, the results had to be published in Journals and presented at conferences. On the other hand, I was also teaching which I enjoyed very much. And then there were organizational tasks like meetings with colleagues and helping students.

Nowadays as a scientific lecturer my work looks a little different. Most of my time is spent advising Postdocs. Besides that, I organize Workshops at the Graduate Academy on a variety of topics: from project leader qualifications to career planning and voice training. We see again and again that there is a big need coming from the younger scientists.   

Requirements

Generally, you need a curiosity and passion for research. Additionally, the will to solve problems even if they are hard. Some scientific problems will take you months or years to solve. Some might never lead to results. Then there is the question whether you enjoy teaching or not. If teaching isn’t your thing, it might be a better idea to search for a job at a research institute. At a university – especially if you aim for a professorship – teaching will always be part of your job, so you should have a passion for it.

You should also be aware that a scientific career isn’t going to make itself. So, career planning is an essential part to be a successful researcher and scientist.

Creativity is also essential to solve problems. You need stamina both in the field of research and in acquiring funding as well as being able to tolerate a certain level of frustration. A structured way of working and the much-valued communication talent are also an advantage. At the same time, I would say that there are some things you can learn and improve in over time!

Advice

I think it is essential to focus on career planning as early as possible. That might sound a bit boring. But it is very important to set yourself goals and work on achieving them. Don’t keep on putting it off!

I think youth development in general is very important independent of gender. Women and men seem to have different interests overall. I don’t think that is bad in and off itself and it doesn’t say anything about individuals. And therefore we should support those individual people. I think that encouraging an interest in technical and scientific topics in both young girls and boys is a task for the whole society. Typical sentences like „I’ve always been bad at Maths“, absolutely do not help. Instead we should encourage children from a young age to be self-confident and have in interest in research. I think the support for women should do the same: Give girls and young women more self-confidence, that they can reach their goals and are talented in the subjects.

Challenges

All in all, I am pretty happy with the own way. I got to experience so many positive things that I wouldn’t want to have missed. But looking back I might have done a few small things differently. I will give an example: I had planned to go abroad for an extended period of time, up to 1 year, after receiving my doctorate. But I was immediately offered a position as a Postdoc that I really wanted and that couldn’t be postponed. So, I deferred the research trip. After the position as a Postdoc I had acquired my own project resources from the DFG. So, I couldn’t go then either. I continued postponing the longer time abroad and to this day have only had shorter times abroad. As the saying goes: One is always wiser in hindsight.

My path had a few hooks and some delays. After one contract ended I didn’t always immediately get a new one. Sometimes you have to fight pretty hard to get support for your research. But that made me stronger than if I had everything handed to me on a silver platter. At the same time I have learned to be more serene: There are things in the scientific system that cannot be expedited or changed. This is something you have to deal with.

Within the past few years I have also learned that the networks you are part of have an enormous effect. There are some unofficial networks, often called old-boy networks, to which access is basically impossible as a person coming from the outside. But there are also a lot of successful colleagues that are interested in your capabilities and not who you know and network with.

To be honest gender does play a role here. I analyzed who was invited to present at lectures for the TMS, the biggest society for Material Scientists in the US. That analysis showed that entirely male organizing committees invited female plenary speakers far less often than organizing committees that included both women and men. Right now we think this might be a good example for the preference of similarity, where people interact with their own bubbles. for this discrepancy but we will continue to work on it.