Andrea Barta is Professor for Biochemistry at the Medical University Vienna, Max F. Perutz Laboratories. and examines with structure and function of RNA-protein complexes, especially splicing of mRNA with her research group at MFPL. These projects are funded by a special research programme of the FWF, the GEN-AU programme and by the international research network of excellence EURASNET. Additionally to her scientific work at the Max F. Perutz Laboratories (a joint venture of the University of Vienna and the Medical University at the Campus Vienna Biocenter) she commits herself also to communicate the “fascination research” to the public. To make Molecular Biology comprehendible in a hands-on approach, she founded with some of her University colleagues Dialog<>Gentechnik and subsequently the Vienna Open Lab in 1997.
The education of young scientists in Austria is another concern of Andrea Barta. Therefore she heads since 2006 the FWF-funded Doctoral Programme „RNA-Biology“, where all Vienna Biocenter Campus institutes participate.
„I hope that more women will be elected as full members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences soon”, describes Andrea her most important concern: to inspire more women for a scientific career - as she is only one out of four women who are active Full Members of the Section for Mathematics and the Natural Sciences at the moment.
Short Biography:
Ao.Prof. Andrea Barta, born 1950 in Vienna, studied Biochemistry at the University Vienna. After her graduation 1979 and Postdoc contracts at the Universities of California in San Francisco and Santa Cruz, USA, she habilitated 1989 for Biochemistry at the Medical Faculty and is since then working at the Medical University Vienna, Max F. Perutz Laboratories. Andrea Barta is amongst other things executive member of the Austrian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), member of senate at the Christian Doppler Society (CDG) and advisor for the BRIDGE programme of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). 1989 Andrea Barta was awarded with the Sandoz Prize for Chemistry and the UNESCO-L'OREAL Special Honour Award for Woman in Science.
Links:
Barta Group at MFPL http://www.mfpl.ac.at/index.php?cid=68
ÖAW –Austrian Academy of Sciences http://www.oeaw.ac.at/