Conny Schneider finished her doctorate in 2021 as part of the Cartilage Regeneration Group, in close cooperation with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences and the Medical University of Vienna. Her dissertation focused on the development of biomaterials for cartilage tissue engineering and she is enthusiastic about employing a broad variety of imaging techniques to visualize her findings. During her PhD journey, which had been somewhat slowed down by her two most beloved tissue engineering projects, born 2013 and 2016, she has also worked at the orthopedic research department of Prof. Gerjo van Osch, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam (The Netherlands), and the 3B’s Research Group of Prof. Rui Reis, University of Minho (Portugal). Prior to her dissertation, she earned a BSc in Biotechnology and Environmental Engineering, followed by an MSc in Biotechnology, both from the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, and worked for IGOR, a company providing cell expansion for patients undergoing MACI (matrix-associated chondrocyte implantation).

In addition to her research, Conny is active in science communication, both behind the scenes as well as on stage. What started with volunteering for front-end web development of her institute’s webpage, turned into an integral part of her professional career. She has written articles for blogs, newspapers and magazines, organized and held workshops for non-scientific audiences of all age groups and generally takes every opportunity to put her fellow scientists into the spotlight. Managing the social media presence of the Open Innovation initiative Tell Us! has also sparked her interest in open science and involving the public in scientific decision making. She has since joined the newly founded research group SHoW (Senescence and Healing of Wounds) which aims for an open transfer of knowledge between bench and bedside.

Conny is a member of the Outreach Committee as well as the Event Endorsement Committee of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), Event Manager at Pint of Science Austria and Board Member at the Musculoskeletal Interdisciplinary Translational Young Researchers (MuSkITYR), a community organized by young scientists to improve networking between young researchers and promote interdisciplinary collaborations in the field of musculoskeletal research.