The new PhD programme on Epidemiology and Clinical Research was launched by the University of Duisburg-Essen's Medical Faculty this week. Six students from diverse disciplines within the life sciences have been selected for the three-year course of study which was initiated by Prof. Dr. Andreas Stang. The importance of epidemiology and clinical research has increased significantly in recent decades, yet research and training in this field is still only possible at very few German universities. "Through this programme we would like to spark epidemiological and clinical research in the Rhine-Ruhr region, strengthen its scientific significance, and train next-generation scientists at the highest possible level," explained the Dean, Prof. Dr. Jan Buer. Read more

Katja Kotsch (Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin) was the scientific guest of honour at the annual retreat of the core for Transplantation Medicine held at the popular Unperfekthaus in Essen. She gave a facinating talk on the immunological aspects of risk factors impacting allograft quality and survival in solid organ transplantation. Thereafter, each student member was given the chance to present their latest findings to their peers, and the meeting ended with a relaxed exchange between all participants.

The BIOME cores, Immunology, Infectious Diseases, and Tumour and Signalling joined forces for the graduate school's first triple-core retreat held at a lakeside location in Xanten. Organised by Alexander Ross, Paul David, Hilal Bhat and Fan Zhou, the guest speakers included Ingo Drexler (UKD Düsseldorf), Hansjörg Hause (HZI, Braunschweig) and Wolfgang Schulz (UKD Düsseldorf). Samantha Lange was awarded the prize for the best talk, while Müberra Ahci, Marek Korencak and Vera Schützhold were each recipients of a poster prize.

BIOME was represented by three out of four finalists invited to participate in the 1^st science slam contest which took place during the Medical Faculty's  Research Day 2017, namely by Nadine Beckmann, Lena Fritsche and Kevin Pattberg. Our warmest congratulations go to Kevin Pattberg who won the award by democratic vote and to wild applause after explaining the crux of his virological research using the entertaining analogies of industrial espionage, corruption, and the redeeming intervention of a super hero. This year's keynote guest speaker was the popular WDR host and Grimme Award winner, Ralph Caspers, who shared some of his own experiences of transferring scientific knowledge in an attention-grabbing, memorable way.​ Link to film​

Venusberg in Bonn was the setting of the Genetics and Cell Biology retreat this year as decided by the orga team consisting of Miriam Böhm, Verena Höfer, Nikolay  Kornakov and Ann-Christine Severmann. Invited keynote speakers were Olivia Masseck (Ruhr University Bochum) and Marion Pesenti (Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology, Dortmund), and prizes for the best talks were awarded to Daniela Geist and Jana Jungkurth, while the best poster was presented by Janina Gassen.