Megan Hockman, Postdoctoral Fellow, Systems Genomics Section, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases
On Friday, February 9, 2024, the NIAID Office of Research Training and Development held a virtual career chat with Christine Hopp, Ph.D., a NIAID postdoctoral alum. Fellows had the opportunity to ask Dr. Hopp questions about her career trajectory, with a focus on acquiring a position and funding outside of the United States.
Originally from Germany, Dr. Hopp participated in two separate postdoctoral fellowships at Johns Hopkins and NIAID, with a stint at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Center in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Her research at NIAID was performed under Peter Crompton, M.D., M.P.H., in the Malaria Infection Biology and Immunity Section of the Laboratory of Immunogenetics and focused on B cell immunology in the context of malaria. Dr. Hopp recently returned to Germany as a junior group leader at the Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin (Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine), where she continues her malaria research.
From the very beginning of the discussion, Dr. Hopp highlighted the stark differences between establishing a laboratory in Germany compared to the United States. Rather than applying for an open position within her current institute, Dr. Hopp applied for a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation), a funding organization. This funding is what pays for her research. She then was able to acquire additional funding which currently covers the salaries of one Ph.D. student and a medical student. As an independent group leader, she does not have any institutional funding aside from overhead costs. If she were to go back in time, she noted that she would have applied for funding through the European Research Council (ERC) prior to her return. Dr. Hopp advised, “If anyone wants to come to Europe, I would recommend trying to do it with an ERC grant.” These grant applications are more similar in structure to NIH grants than those she has been applying to in Germany, which are typically smaller and simpler.
When asked about how to successfully acquire funding through grant writing, Dr. Hopp was emphatic about the importance of having good mentors and soliciting feedback. She encouraged fellows to “seek out mentors. If there’s anyone in your field who makes you feel uncomfortable because they don’t really like what you do because they don’t think it’s that good, talk to them. You want to hear what they have to say…and really get your science to be top-notch.” While this may be intimidating, Dr. Hopp stated that the biggest improvement in her grant writing occurred when she began to focus on the rigor of the science rather than the writing itself, and that good mentorship was integral to this improvement. She also reflected upon the importance of her time at the NIH, where her mentor helped her develop the subtle art of approaching a research question and identifying which hypotheses are worth following.
Her insights were incredibly helpful and highlighted the differences in hiring and funding outside of the United States. Fellows considering establishing laboratories in Europe, particularly in Germany, should take note and focus on acquiring their own funding before they make the leap.
Learn more about postdoctoral training opportunities at NIAID.