This year, IBA-Phd organized a short seminar for all IBA-Phd members focusing on mental well-being the day before IBA annual meeting (arranged by UiO in Oslo). The seminar covered a lecture about “mindfulness and imposter syndrome” and a YOGA session followed by team-building activity and dinner plan, where IBA-PhD’s interact and get to know each other more. The central theme of the seminar was to learn how to cope with situations where we struggle within academia and battle with imposter syndrome, anxiety, and stress. The speakers were reflecting upon their stories of failure and struggles and a strategy that they used to overcome these issues

We had Helga Eggebø, a researcher at Nordlandsforskning, talk openly about the issues that are recognizable for many of us but are still difficult to articulate. Also another speaker was Stian Grastveit, a professional cross-country skier until this year. He gave lectures on mental health and used his own experiences to show the public how we can create more inclusive and understanding environments that invite better performance. We also had a YOGA workshop and mindfulness session by Glød Yoga. The yoga session taught us how to relax and focus during working time, and all of the sessions were very engaging and inspiring.

During the PhD journey, sooner or later, the stressful phase comes where it’s easy to get a breakdown. Thus, this seminar aims to benefit PhD students concerning their mental health and peacefulness so that they learn how to handle struggling situations and create a friendly working environment. We had 21 physical participants of IBA-PhD members from UiB, UiT, NMBU, UiO, OsloMet and NTNU at the Nationaltheatret Conference centre in Oslo.

The IBA committee in Trondheim organized a great local meeting on the 28th of September 2022. We came together for a workshop on how to find our voice in science communication presented by Julius Wesche (researcher and founder of “Science Communication Accelerator”).

Working in small groups, the attendees developed strategies and topics on how to communicate their science. The workshop and the following dinner offered a great opportunity for us to get to know new and senior members of IBA Trondheim.

UPCOMING IBA COURSES

Nov 7-11: Course on Molecular Mechanisms of Inflammation (NTNU)

Nov 14-15: IBA course on Pathogenic Immune Evasion Strategies (NTNU)

Nov 14-18: NDPIA course on Microbiota and Health (Sweden)

Nov 30 – Des 2: Advanced course on Scientific Illustrations (Online)                     

Des 12 -16: Scientific writing with Mathew Stiller Reeve PART 2 (Online)

IBA annual meeting 2022 is taking place in Oslo (October 27-28). Click here for more information!

IBA GRANTS FOR RESEARCH STAYS

The IBA graduate school runs into its last year in 2023

If you are planning to apply for a travel grant, please be aware that you need to complete your travel before November 2023 latest (so your travel claim can be processed in time)

NB! We have utilized all budgeted funding for travel grants in 2022. There are still openings available for activity in 2023. Read more and apply here.

This year`s Principle of Infection Biology course was arranged in Tromsø at UiT The Arctic University of Norway from May 30 to June 3, 2022.

The course provided lectures on basic concepts of infection biology spanning the disciplines of host-parasite interaction and infections caused by bacteria, eukaryotic microbes and viruses. Lecturers included researchers of renown from the University of Virginia, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, the University of Helsinki and many more (full schedule can be accessed here).

During the 5-day course the 22 students from IBA and the Swedish National Doctoral Programme in Infection and Antibiotics research school (NDPIA) presented their projects through poster presentations.

April 2022. Author: Ataur Rahman

My PhD project aims to establish a novel basic knowledge of antimicrobial and antibiofilm compounds from rich marine sources in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. This project applies a dual approach using marine bacteria for bioactive secondary metabolites and synthesized marine natural product mimics. Our aim is to find and evaluate exciting candidate molecules and document their potential for future drug development.

The discovery and characterization of such compounds may have the potential for clinical or industrial use. The work in this project involves a broad spectrum of experimental activities, from multi-omics to animal infection studies, and requires a good understanding of data analysis. I plan to conduct an RNA-seq experiment on bacterial biofilm, with and without novel antibiofilm compounds present, to determine the mechanism(s) of antibiofilm activity by observing the up- and down-regulation of genes. However, I did not have enough knowledge about the RNA-seq and how the RNA-seq data could be analyzed. When I saw that EMBL-EBI is offering a course on RNA-seq and IBA is funding the course, I applied and was lucky to get the funding for this course.

It was a five-day course starting from 21^st  February to 25^th February this year. I was a bit anxious, as I did not have that much programming knowledge. The course was well designed with theoretical and practical sessions and was delivered by expert scientists from different parts of the world. The course participants were also from different countries. Although the course was held online, it was nice to meet new researchers who are also interested in learning about RNA-seq.

Previously, I planned to take service for the RNA-seq data analysis. However, now I am more confident in doing some coding and knowing different programs that I can use to analyze the RNA-seq data from my experiment. The author is grateful to IBA for funding, which helped to learn new techniques and meet knowledgeable scientists and future colleagues in RNA-seq. This course will help me assist with the functional analysis and interpretation of transcriptomic data that I plan to do in my PhD.