Jessica Jung-Fittkau is pursuing her doctorate at HFU and conducting research on how to better capture carbon dioxide in the future.
Precision and plenty of surprises - Jessica Jung-Fittkau is conducting research at Furtwangen University on how peptides can bind CO2
In the lab, Jessica Fittkau patiently places tiny droplets onto a glass slide. She repeats the same precise motion hundreds of times. Each droplet contains a different combination of amino acids — and perhaps a crucial clue as to how carbon dioxide can be better captured in the future.
“Chemistry sometimes feels like detective work,” she says. Jessica Jung-Fittkau is pursuing her PhD at Furtwangen University (HFU) and loves the creativity her field allows. Within the rules of science, there are countless possibilities, according to Jung-Fittkau. “You can really let your imagination run wild.”
The doctoral candidate finds it particularly exciting that chemistry is full of surprises. “You formulate a hypothesis and then, during the experiments, suddenly stumble upon things you hadn’t even considered.” These unexpected discoveries are often the most interesting moments in the lab.
Jessica Jung-Fittkau was already passionate about chemistry at school. After graduating from high school, she deliberately sought out an interdisciplinary degree programme and began her bachelor’s degree in Bioprocess Engineering at Furtwangen University in 2016. She then completed her master’s degree in Sustainable Bioprocess Technology.
“And then I just ended up sticking around in the chemistry lab,” she says with a laugh. As part of the “PepKatCO2” project, funded by the Vector Foundation, she is using a combinatorial approach to create a library of peptides — small protein molecules — and investigating whether they can bind CO2. A year later, she began her doctoral studies on this topic in collaboration with the University of Hohenheim.
The focus of her research in the project is on how carbon dioxide can be captured and then utilised as a resource. Her model is enzymes found in nature, in which certain amino acids play a crucial role. Using a combinatorial synthesis approach, Jessica Jung-Fittkau is investigating which sequences are particularly well-suited for this purpose.
To this end, she has synthesised several hundred different peptide sequences by hand on glass slides. Although automated methods exist, the technology has so far reached its limits for her research question — which requires precision, perseverance and manual work.
Jessica Jung-Fittkau’s research is supervised by Prof. Dr. Magnus Schmidt, Vice-Dean of Faculty III: Health, Medical & Life Sciences — himself a passionate chemist. At the same time, she collaborates with students. She enjoys supervising bachelor’s and master’s theses in the lab — in part because it allows her to witness how others discover their own enthusiasm for chemistry.
Her passion for her field has even become visible at HFU. Together with Prof. Schmidt, Jung-Fittkau has installed peptide structures as wall decals in the university’s hallways — an unusual eye-catcher that sparks curiosity about the world of molecules.
Outside the lab, Jessica Jung-Fittkau is involved in a wide range of activities. She organises her daily life in a very structured way so that she can balance research, leisure time and her part-time job. Her former part-time job as a student — providing care for the elderly at the Schwenninger Bürgerheim — is still important to her, and the avid horseback rider finds balance as often as possible with her horse, Dori.
Jessica Jung-Fittkau’s connection to HFU goes beyond her academic career. It was here that she met her current husband, who is also pursuing his doctorate at the university.
The researcher is already in the home stretch of her doctoral work; she has already published her main paper. Further results will follow as she completes the writing phase of her dissertation. She hopes to complete her doctorate by next year at the latest. And she plans to stay at HFU — a postdoc position is already in the works as part of a follow-up project. After all, there are always new questions — and for Jessica Jung-Fittkau, every hypothesis she answers often leads to the next exciting lead.
HFU Doc Stories
This new series shines a spotlight on the next generation of researchers at Furtwangen University. More than 80 doctoral candidates at HFU are working on exciting research projects and their dissertations. With HFU Doc Stories, we follow their journey.
Further impressions
