Profiles of early-career researchers at the Faculty of Natural Sciences
‘Curious minds – What's yours?’
We first became aware of the lead author, Celin Mundt, when she was awarded the L3S Best Publication Award at the end of 2025 for her paper AI-Driven Personalized Nutrition: Integrating Omics, Ethics, and Digital Health. Since February, the nutrition scientist has been working on her doctorate on the chemical analysis of wild garlic and its bioactive compounds. She is particularly fascinated by the sulfur compounds responsible for wild garlic’s characteristic aroma, which may possess anti-inflammatory and genoprotective properties. We decided to dig a little deeper:
Three questions for a nutritional scientist: Celin Mundt from the Institute of Food and One Health
Editorial team, Faculty of Natural Sciences: What drives your scientific spirit, what do you hope to discover?
Celin Mundt: I would like to find out whether wild garlic compares favourably with much better-known members of the allium family, such as garlic and onions, whose anti-inflammatory properties have already been extensively documented in the literature. At the same time, I would like to highlight the scientific and health-related value of this native plant.
What motivated you to pursue a career in research?
What drives me is the tangible sense of continuous progress. In research, you gain new insights every day. These may take the form of theoretical input or practical experimental results. Whether an idea succeeds or fails, I always gain insights that help me move ahead.
After completing my degree, I initially decided against a career in research and took a position in the food industry. However, after a few months, it became clear to me that the daily work routine was heavily defined by fixed and repetitive routines. This led to a growing sense of professional stagnation, as the focus was less on developing new research questions and more on consistently achieving a defined production target – namely, producing a food product of defined quality. I realised that I was lacking the scope for professional development, scientific curiosity and working on open-ended questions. During my studies, I had completed a research internship, so I knew that I could find all of this in academia. Today, I am grateful for this detour, as it taught which career path truly suits me.
In which area do you expect the most significant developments over the next twelve months, and why?
I expect my understanding of analytical methods, experimental designs and data analysis to deepen further over the coming months. During my studies, the focus was often on efficient learning and following protocols when conducting experiments, in order to achieve results that were as ‘textbook-like’ as possible. With my own research work, this focus is shifting. Rather than simply applying standardised procedures, I am increasingly required to critically evaluate methods, adapt them purposefully, or even develop new approaches. While the existing literature provides valuable guidance, practical implementation demands independent decision-making, particularly when dealing with unexpected results or challenges. In this process, I also expect to learn how to tolerate uncertainty and cope with frustration when experiments do not proceed as planned or when results are not immediately clear.
Celin Mundt discovered her passion for research whilst studying for her Bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Sciences at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. She then went on to pursue a Master’s degree in food research and development at Leibniz University Hannover (LUH), where she completed her Master’s thesis on ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) in personalised nutrition’. She came across this topic through her work as a student assistant at the L3S Research Centre, where she became aware of the potential of AI. After completing her studies, she initially worked in quality management at a food company before returning to LUH in early 2026.
Her doctoral project is a DFG-funded collaboration with Poznań University of Life Sciences (Poland) and the University of Queensland (Australia).
Outside of research, she is drawn to nature. Growing up near the Harz Mountains, she likes to return there in her spare time to hike or run. Sport is an essential part of her life – ‘Sport not only moves my body, but also my mind’.
The portrait series ‘Curious minds – What's yours?’ introduces early-career researchers from our Faculty. Through a set of concise questions, it offers personal insights into the variety of current research. Following the idea of big questions and short answers, readers can discover not only the science itself – but also the people who pursue it with dedication and passion.
