Konrad becomes Dr. Konrad
On Friday September 8, our only PhD student Konrad defended his thesis titled Probing and elucidating the dynamics of virus-membrane interaction via plasma membrane mimics. The aim of his thesis was to further develop and implement cell surface mimics of complex composition to study the dynamics of virus-membrane interactions. During the past 5 years, his projects have demonstrated the versatility of the native supported lipid bilayer platform in providing new facets to virology research, which are not easily explored by traditional methodologies.
He gave an excellent and clear presentation summarizing 5 years of work, represented in this thesis by 5 papers, of which 2 are published. After that followed a thorough 90 minutes of questioning by opponent Prof. Susan Daniel (Cornell University, USA) followed by another hour of questioning by the committee. “It was a marathon”, as committee member Prof. Claudia Steinem (Göttingen, Germany) said, but he withstood it bravely and answered all questions thoroughly and thoughtfully. Thus, the committee was happy to inform Konrad that he successfully defended and may now call himself Doctor Konrad Thorsteinsson!
We are very proud of him, and he was duly celebrated with traditional smörgåstårta and permission to write his name on the ceiling of the third-floor lunchroom. He also received his very own doctoral hat, crafted and decorated by Kerstin, Sarah and his partner Andy. This is traditional in Germany, to which all of the aforementioned have ties. From the department he got his own chessboard and a voucher for a game store. The celebrations continued the next day with a party hosted by Marta and Hudson, with a catered barbeque dinner. Hudson also brewed beers especially for the occasion, and also dished out several of his special beers, with lavender, cranberry, pine, and various other flavors for tasting. It was a small but memorable party, which gave the visitors from the USA and Germany a taste of the good Swedish life.
So what is next for Konrad, as his opponent was also eager to ask? He gave us one word: vacation. This understandable answer deserved applause, but after some time to think, perhaps a postdoc in Germany is in the pipeline. In any case, warmest congratulations Konrad, and all the best for the future!