On June 18, 2025, the curAMento interim event took place – a significant milestone in the mentoring program of the curATime future cluster, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). For a year now, we have been accompanying six committed mentees on their individual paths and supporting them in their personal and professional development.

A special highlight of the meeting was the Q&A session with Felicitas Müller, Philipp Wild, and Özlem Türeci. In an open and inspiring exchange, they provided insights into their career paths and answered questions on topics such as career planning, dealing with challenges, and personal development.

Their personal anecdotes made it clear that career paths rarely run in a straight line. Opportunities often arise through detours—and it is always possible to strike out in new directions. These perspectives were not only motivating but also encouraging for our mentees.

We would like to thank all mentors, guests, and participants for the inspiring atmosphere and valuable exchange. We look forward to continuing to accompany our mentees on their journey.

From March 31 to April 2, 2025, the curAHack {Bio} Hackathon, organized by curATime Cluster for Atherothrombosis and Individualized Medicine, took place for the second time at Gutenberg Digital Hub in Mainz. Under the motto “Innovate the Future of Life Science and Medicine,” 14 participants from various disciplines, including hackers from TRON gGmbH, Mainz University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), took on four exciting challenges ranging from single-cell sequencing, a method for sequencing individual cells, to machine learning (ML), a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) that uses computers to mimic the way humans learn.

Bioinformatics knowledge however played a minor role for the participation. The annual event aims to bring bioinformaticians and life scientists together in exciting joint projects, known as challenges. The goal is to address biological questions using bioinformatics methods. Once again this year, the focus was on exchange and networking. In addition to innovative ideas, impressive solutions were developed in an atmosphere full of commitment and fun. The winning challenge team worked on the classification of anti-CRISPR proteins using machine learning. After a short introduction, three intensive days were spent tinkering, programming, and brainstorming.

The event wrapped up with the presentation of the results, the award ceremony, and an inspiring keynote speech by Prof. Dr. Paul Czodrowski from JGU. After thorough evaluation by the curAHack jury, the hacker team with the project “Multiclass Classification of Anti-CRISPR Proteins” secured first place and received restaurant vouchers sponsored by biomindZ Standortentwicklungsgesellschaft Mainz GmbH.

This year's curAHack was organized by TRON gGmbH as part of the curATime innovation support measures, which place a special focus on the education and training of young talent. A big thank you goes to the sponsors of the Gutenberg Digital Hub, Cluster 4 Future, biomindz, and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.