{"id":3035,"date":"2015-01-09T14:12:26","date_gmt":"2015-01-09T13:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.embl.de\/?p=3035"},"modified":"2024-11-29T16:55:34","modified_gmt":"2024-11-29T15:55:34","slug":"1501-marcia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1501-marcia\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome: Marco Marcia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How would you explain your work to non-scientists?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The way I explain it to non-scientist friends is that, when I arrive in a city I like to have a map to orient myself. And that\u2019s pretty much what we do in X-ray crystallography: we\u2019re building maps of our target molecules, and then we know where the active site of the enzyme is, what that residue is doing\u2026 we know where each of those elements is located in a three-dimensional space. So it\u2019s like going to a city and knowing where\u2019s the post office, the chemist, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I arrive in a city I like to have a map to orient myself. And that\u2019s pretty much what we do in X-ray crystallography.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Name one tool you can\u2019t do without<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not really a tool, but I\u2019d say my left hand, because it\u2019s the one I use for freezing and harvesting crystals \u2013 I\u2019m not actually left-handed, but that\u2019s the hand I use for that very important part of my job. Apart from that, my pot of Chinese green tea that I like to drink when I\u2019m doing computer work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whose work at EMBL intrigues you? Do you already have potential collaborators in mind?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I already have contacts with some specific groups, like Christoph M\u00fcller\u2019s lab<\/a> in Heidelberg, because we share complementary interests. So I could be looking at the RNA side of projects that he\u2019s carrying out from a protein-protein or protein-DNA perspective. The other important collaborator that I\u2019m really counting on is Anton Enright<\/a> at EMBL-EBI, because to understand these long non-coding RNA sequences we need sophisticated bioinformatics tools, and potentially even to create some novel tools. And that\u2019s where Anton is an expert, so I\u2019m really happy to have the possibility of collaborating with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is for the moment, but long non-coding RNAs are involved a broad range of fundamental processes, so I expect that many groups will be able to share interests with us and help us to understand the function of our targets from a cellular biology point of view, from a genomics point of view, a developmental biology point of view, and even potentially for doing some work in model organisms, like mice, together with colleagues in Monterotondo<\/a>. So I expect that in the future my network of collaborations within EMBL will grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your philosophy for running your lab?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In addition to mentorship on their research projects per se<\/em>, I think that mentorship on how to present research, how to organise it clearly and explain it clearly is important. It has certainly been important for me in the past, both to understand my results better and to secure positions throughout my career. This can come from the classical group seminars, but also from individual discussions, working together on presentations and research proposals, and eventually paper manuscripts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my students\u2019 office there\u2019s already a small corner where I want to collate brochures and information about fellowships, grants, availability of positions in other labs to help build their careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentorship on how to present research, how to organise it clearly and explain it clearly is important.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What will you be looking for as you build your group?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

First of all, I want to have an international group. I\u2019m looking for people who are independent and like to have freedom in the research that they\u2019re doing \u2013 but, of course, without loosing their track. People who are good at communicating and discussing science and converging on common decisions for projects to develop. I have a broad spectrum of interests, and I\u2019d like my students to have broad horizons, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there was a motto hanging at your lab\u2019s door, what would it be?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, we will solve it!\u201d (Because we talk about solving crystal structures\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do you come from? What are the best things about life science in your country?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I am Italian, and I think Italy has an amazing potential in science, contrary to many stereotypical beliefs. Primarily based on my personal experience, what Italy offers that\u2019s really outstanding is the formation of students. The country offers an excellent school and university curriculum that gives you a really solid basis for pursuing a career in research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the best advice you\u2019ve received (or wished you had received) in your career?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For me, that was probably a piece of personal career advice. During my undergrad, Professor Capranico, one of my mentors at Bologna University, understood from the discussions we had that my interests in science were in structural biology, which was new to me as a phrase and as a research field. So the fact that he matched my interest in molecular mechanisms and molecular architectures, and drug-target interactions, to the words \u201cstructural biology\u201d, and advised me to take a career path in structural biology and X-ray crystallography \u2013 that was the best advice. He pointed me to the right field to do the things that I really enjoy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New group leader Marco Marcia aims to broaden horizons while mapping molecules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17591],"tags":[59,29,37,547,79,75,57,35,27,295],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-3035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-science-technology","tag-careers","tag-crystallography","tag-grenoble","tag-marcia","tag-microscopy","tag-phd","tag-postdoc","tag-structural-biology","tag-training","tag-welcome"],"acf":{"article_intro":"

The Marcia group<\/a> will be studying long non-coding RNAs \u2013 large RNA molecules that control when and where genes are turned on \u2013 aiming to understand how they are organised and how they interact with other cellular machinery. The lab\u2019s main approach will be X-ray crystallography, which they will complement with techniques such as electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering as needed.<\/p>\n","related_links":[{"link_description":"Marcia group","link_url":"http:\/\/www.embl.fr\/research\/unit\/marcia\/index.html"},{"link_description":"EMBL Grenoble","link_url":"http:\/\/www.embl.fr\/"}],"article_sources":false,"vf_locked":false,"featured":false,"color":"#007B53"},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"yoast_head":"\nWelcome: Marco Marcia | EMBL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New group leader Marco Marcia aims to broaden horizons while mapping molecules.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1501-marcia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Welcome: Marco Marcia | EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New group leader Marco Marcia aims to broaden horizons while mapping molecules.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1501-marcia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-09T13:12:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-29T15:55:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/1501_marcia_ib.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sonia Furtado Neves\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Aur_ora\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sonia Furtado Neves\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1501-marcia\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1501-marcia\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sonia Furtado Neves\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d926199a955624b44dda296f396c5e68\"},\"headline\":\"Welcome: Marco Marcia\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-09T13:12:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-29T15:55:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1501-marcia\/\"},\"wordCount\":852,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1501-marcia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/1501_marcia_ib.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"careers\",\"crystallography\",\"grenoble\",\"marcia\",\"microscopy\",\"phd\",\"postdoc\",\"structural biology\",\"training\",\"welcome\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science\",\"Science & Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1501-marcia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1501-marcia\/\",\"name\":\"Welcome: Marco Marcia | EMBL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1501-marcia\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1501-marcia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/1501_marcia_ib.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-09T13:12:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-29T15:55:34+00:00\",\"description\":\"New group leader Marco Marcia aims to broaden horizons while mapping molecules.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1501-marcia\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1501-marcia\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/1501_marcia_ib.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/1501_marcia_ib.jpg\",\"width\":620,\"height\":425,\"caption\":\"Marco Marcia. 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