It started with some reading and talk

One of the major motivations which drive students to take up their studies in biology is their profound curiosity for the living world around us. They are wondering how genes influence who we are, how nature’s inventions work, how to cure a particularly nasty disease or some other big question of life. That was at least how I felt when I went to university and I believe I was not the only one who sometimes felt that something was missing. While I learned a lot, it was mostly factual knowledge (which is of course necessary to know) that was encouraged to learn for exams instead of also discussing those facts and building bigger ideas together.

Therefore, I was happy for the times when it was encouraged, as it was the case for one of my master modules - “The Growth of the evolutionary thought”. In this module, we read scientific literature from different fields (mostly – but not exclusively – from the bigger field of biology), explained them to each other and discussed them from the standpoint of evolutionary theory. Even four years later, now as a PhD student, I value the subtle lessons I learned during this time about the merit of relaxed and open scientific discussions where an overarching concept (here it was evolution) guides thoughts and creativity without constricting them.

An important factor in this experience certainly was Francesco Catania, the organiser of this module, who encouraged us to think and voice our opinions. He took us seriously, without giving us the feeling we are in a test situation where we were quizzed for the facts of the last lecture. Even more, he surprised me when he offered some interested students to build on the ideas we prepared for our final assignment – again driven by open curiosity and the ideas themselves. I took him up on his offer and over the next two years, we spent interesting afternoons together talking and discussing the bits we found on the topics of immunity, evolution and autoimmune diseases. After some time, we expanded our little project by taking in Arrigo Fruscalzo, to add the point of view of a physician to our discussion. While we continued in this core group of three, we also spoke to other people about certain aspects of our growing hypothesis, casually doing something which is often promoted under the catch phrase of “interdisciplinarity” – something Francesco intended to foster already in the original module. I greatly enjoyed this time of informal scientific exploration together and it definitely was a highlight during my time at university.

After roughly two and half years of on and off meetings, during which I proceeded with my other studies and Master thesis, Francesco asked if we should put our thoughts to paper. Thus, we started writing a manuscript, which for me was my first venture into one of the core aspects of contemporary scientific careers – publishing a paper. Many drafts, figures, reviewer input and one year later, we managed to share our thoughts in the journal "Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health". The process demanded a lot of energy from all of us, especially Francesco, who coordinated everything – a big “Thank you!” to him at this point.

Writing this publication and the events leading up to it were a very good and educational experience for me, despite the obligatory ups and downs. I know I became better because of it. In my opinion, university should be a place where thinking should be rewarded in addition to learning the facts; where students have the chance to explore on their own and – importantly – can also get guidance and time with experienced people like professors and scientists. That said, I believe other students will get similar opportunities at the WWU in the future where they are supported to develop their ideas. It takes time from professors and students, but it is worth it.

Read the publication:
Bayersdorf R, Fruscalzo A & Catania F (2018) Linking autoimmunity to the origin of the adaptive immune system. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health 2018 (1): 2-12. 10.1093/emph/eoy001 [doi]

Learn more about the advanced module:
The Growth of the Evolutionary Thought