Supporting outstanding women scientists on their path to leadership
Minerva Fast Track Fellowship for Lea Dietrich at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research
The Minerva Fast Track Program of the Max Planck Society offers exceptional female scientists a unique opportunity to establish their first research group immediately after completing their doctorate or first postdoctoral position. In 2025, Dr. Lea Dietrich will take up this fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research (MPIBR) in Frankfurt, where she will explore how mitochondria – the cells’s tiny powerhouses – adapt their energy conversion to the specific needs of neurons. By providing up to four years of funding, the program enables fellows like Lea Dietrich to pursue their own research vision and prepares them for future leadership positions within the Max Planck Society and beyond.
Dietrich uses in situ electron cryo-microscopy to visualize neuronal mitochondria at near-atomic resolution, creating molecular maps of the bioenergetic machinery that powers the brain. During her PhD and postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, she solved the first in situ structure of ATP synthase in the organism Polytomella—an achievement that earned her the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society.
Her new group will be embedded in the Department of Synaptic Plasticity, headed by Prof. Dr. Erin Schuman, Director at the MPIBR. Dietrich will initially study mitochondria in hippocampal neurons, applying electron cryo-tomography and complementary techniques.
“I am very happy and proud to be part of Prof. Schuman’s department. I look forward to exploring a new field and techniques while contributing my expertise in structural biology,” says Dietrich.
“I’m thrilled to welcome and support the new Dietrich group- and look forward to what we will learn about the inner workings of neuronal mitochondria with her methods”, says Schuman.
Through the Minerva Fast Track Program, Dietrich will receive the resources and mentorship to build her first team, positioning her to become one of the next generations of research leaders in neuroscience.
About the Minerva Fast Track Program
Since its launch in 2014, the Minerva Fast Track Program has become an important driver for increasing the proportion of women in scientific leadership roles while maintaining the highest scientific standards. Many of the early fellows now lead their own groups within the Max Planck Society or have advanced to professorships elsewhere. Initially established in the Chemistry, Physics and Technology Section, the program expanded to the Human Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities Section in 2017, and with the addition of the Biology and Medicine Section in 2023, it is now been established across all Sections of the Max Planck Society.
