Amelie Schoenenwald facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Amelie Schoenenwald
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Schoenenwald in 2022
|
|
| Born | 1989 (age 35–36) Landau an der Isar, West Germany
|
| Education |
|
| Occupation | Scientist |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | Engineering specific antibodies for Usutu virus (2020) |
| Space career | |
| ESA reserve astronaut | |
| Selection | 2022 ESA Group |
Amelie Schoenenwald, born in 1989, is a German scientist and a special kind of astronaut called a reserve astronaut. She was picked to join the European Astronaut Corps in 2022.
Amelie studied at the Technical University of Munich from 2009 to 2015. She later earned a PhD in a field called integrative structural biology from the Medical University of Vienna in 2020. Before she was chosen as an astronaut, she worked in different companies for several years.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Amelie Karin Josephine Schoenenwald was born in 1989 in Landau an der Isar, a town in Bavaria, Germany. When she was young, Amelie dreamed of becoming an astronaut. She read every book about space she could find at her local library.
As she grew older, she felt her dream might be hard to reach. So, she decided to study other things that interested her. She went to the Technical University of Munich. There, between 2009 and 2015, she earned three different degrees. These included a bachelor's degree in molecular biotechnology and two master's degrees. One master's was in industrial biotechnology, and the other was in biochemistry.
Her Journey to Becoming a Scientist
Amelie Schoenenwald continued her studies at the Medical University of Vienna. She worked towards her PhD in integrative structural biology. She was part of a research team at the Max Perutz Labs. There, she became a leader for scientific projects.
In 2016, Amelie was one of 120 people chosen for an early stage of a special program. This program, called Die Astronautin, aimed to send the first German woman to the International Space Station. In 2017, during her PhD studies, she received money from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. This funding allowed her to attend a course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. She finished her PhD in 2020. Her research focused on creating specific antibodies to fight the Usutu virus.
Working in Biotechnology
After her PhD, Amelie worked as a scientist at a new biotechnology company. In 2020, she also advised a private university in Austria and Germany. From 2020 to 2021, she worked for a healthcare company in Germany. There, she helped with business development and managing processes.
In 2021, she earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA). This degree came from the Collège des Ingénieurs, a business school for engineers in Europe. From 2021 to 2022, she worked for various German start-up companies. She was a part-time freelance worker and a consultant for them.
Becoming a Reserve Astronaut
In November 2022, Amelie Schoenenwald was chosen as a reserve astronaut. She joined the European Astronaut Corps. The group of astronauts selected in 2022 included 16 other people. Five of these were career astronauts. They were all chosen from a very large group of 22,500 candidates. At the time she was selected, Amelie was working as a medical expert manager.
