2018 Trainee Award goes to employee of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics

Award for the precision mechanic Ms. Laetitia Djayou

Precision mechanic Laetitia Djayou receives the 2018 Max Planck Society Trainee Award for outstanding achievements in vocational training. The award, which has been in existence since 2007, is intended as recognition for outstanding professional and academic achievements and special social commitment during the training period, and also focuses on personal development. It is endowed with 750 euros.

Ms. Djayou began her training as a precision mechanic at our institute in September 2014. She emigrated with her little sister and her unborn child from Cameroon to Germany in November 2009. In the years 2010 to 2012 she attended the cooperative vocational preparation years of the “IB Bildungszentrum” in Reutlingen, where she successfully completed her secondary school education. In September, she immediately visited the “Werkrealschule” and took part in a vocational preparation course on the subject of metal, which paved the way for her vocational training. But that was not all! In spite of her vocational training, she attended the technical college at the same time, which she also successfully completed!

The foreman Markus Scheu was extremely satisfied with Mrs. Djayou. She was a committed and hard-working trainee who wanted to achieve a very good vocational qualification from the very first beginning, which she also achieved with flying colors in spring. Despite a foreign language and a new culture, Mrs. Djayou quickly and successfully integrated into German society. "For me, Laetitia is a prime example of a successful migration!” believes Scheu.

Mrs. Djayou has already fruitfully found a new job. Mr. Scheu is particularly happy about this and wishes her all the best for the future!

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The Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics is studying signal and information processing in the brain. The scientists aim to determine which signals and processes are responsible for creating a coherent percept of our environment and for eliciting the appropriate behavior. Scientists of three departments and several research groups are working towards answering fundamental questions about processing in the brain, using different approaches and methods.

The Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics is one of 84 Max Planck Institutes and facilities that make up the Max Planck Society, Germany's most successful research organization. Since its establishment in 1948, no fewer than 18 Nobel laureates have emerged from the ranks of its scientists, putting it on a par with the best and most prestigious research institutions worldwide. All Institutes conduct basic research in the service of the general public in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. www.kyb.mpg.de