Report Ulm

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Trip to Ulm - by Annette Leingärtner January 2008

In my diploma thesis I studied the behaviour of North American slavemaking ants. The workers of this species neither forage for food nor care for their brood, but they enslave workers of other closely related ant species. There is a similar slavemaking system in Europe with an interesting chemical communication between the hosts and parasites. I wanted to learn more about this fascinating system but in our laboratory we didn’t have the necessary equipment to examine the communication. For that reason I applied for an EES grant to visit another laboratory which is equipped with the needed instruments and where I could learn the new method. With the conceded money I went to the University of Ulm for one week from November 5th to 9th 2007 and Prof. Dr. Manfred Ayasse kindly introduced me to the GC-EAD method. It was very interesting for me to see another laboratory and to learn the new technique. In the future I will try to establish the newly learned method in our laboratory in cooperation with the neurobiological team of the LMU.

The research group welcomed me with open arms and I could gather a lot of information about different laboratory practise. At lunchtime we went together to the cafeteria and during exiting talks I could get an insight into the diverse fields of research they are working on. I also took part in the weekly seminars which was very exciting for me, because until then I only knew how seminars are held at the LMU. The week-long stay at the University of Ulm was a great benefit for me, because I learnt a lot and became acquainted with many interesting persons. I still have contact to one diploma student. We regularly write e-mails and I hope to visit Ulm once again!