Profile

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Frank Schubert

    • About Me:

      I am working at the University of Portsmouth on the sunny South Coast, but live with my partner in SW London.

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      As I scientist, I am spending a lot of time both at work and at home around research and teaching. The long commute also means spending a lot of hours on the train, so time outside work is a bit limited. Still, I have been involved in track & field coaching and team management for many years, and we enjoy ballroom dancing when we have a chance.

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      We are mainly using embryos developing in fertilised chicken eggs to study the role of genes in brain development. We are investigating how nerve cells are formed, and how they are correctly connecting to each other. Further projects include studying how the brain gets its blood supply, and developing the chicken embryo as an in vivo model for paediatric brain tumours.

      The second theme of my research is built around evolution. This includes analysing the evolution of gene families by sequence comparisons, or using ancient DNA analysis to explore museum samples and archaeological remains.

    • My Typical Day:

      My day starts with coffee 🙂 before getting on my bike to the station and then onto the train to Portsmouth. At work I am typically doing experiments with my students in the lab, or I am teaching. Late afternoon or early (hopefully…) evening I am taking the train back home.

    My CV

    • Education:

      I was born in Cologne in Germany, but went to school in Flensburg, a port town at the Danish border. My secondary school specialised in sciences, so I took chemistry, biology, physics and maths.

      Following my military service in the navy, I studied Biology first in Kiel and then in Heidelberg. My studies covered areas like zoology (animals) and botany (plants) before I specialised in molecular genetics (the structure and function of genes). I was lucky to spend some time at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg during my studies.

    • Qualifications:

      The qualifications in Germany are different from the UK. There are no GCSEs or A levels, and the post-16 education in grammar schools is a baccalaureate style. This gave the chance to study a wide range of subjects besides the sciences, and for my final exam I took biology, maths, history and Russian. I finished school with the ‘Abitur’.

      My undergraduate degree was a Diploma in Biology, similar to an integrated Master’s degree in the UK. I graduated in 1989, and then started my postgraduate studies at the Max-Planck-Institute of Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen (1989-1994). During my PhD project in the group of Prof Peter Gruss I investigated the evolution of the Hox cluster in vertebrates and insects.

    • Work History:

      My PhD project set the focus for my career – investigating the molecular mechanisms of brain development. Having obtained the doctorate from the University of Heidelberg, I joined the laboratory of Prof Andrew Lumsden at King’s College London as an EMBO research fellow in 1994. I spent several years as a postdoc in London.

    • My Interview

      • What did you want to be after you left school?

        Scientist exploring nature

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        Not really

        Who is your favourite singer or band?

        Too many to choose

Questions answered by Frank

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