All posts by Tara Daughton

 IBA Career Day –from PhD to Industry, 4thMay 2023

The local committee in Trondheim organized a career day, shedding light on the transition from academia to industry. The event was open to IBA members and researchers from NTNU who were interested in exploring new career avenues. We were privileged to host five speakers who shared their personal experiences and insights regarding their own journeys into industry. They discussed their motivations and strategies for transitioning and provided comparisons between working in industry and academia. The speakers represented diverse backgrounds, including start-ups, big Pharma industries, development of medical devices, and animal health. At the end of the career day, a podium discussion was held, allowing participants to seek advice and clarify any remaining questions. During the subsequent lunch break, networking opportunities emerged, facilitating connections among the speakers, IBA members, and attendees. The event was a remarkable success, providing valuable guidance and fostering meaningful connections for attendees as they navigate their career paths.

Principles of Infection Biology course 2023

This year`s Principles of Infection Biology course was arranged at Granavolden Gjæstgiveri  in Gran from June 5th to June 9th, 2023. 24 students from IBA and the Swedish National Doctoral Programme in Infection and Antibiotics research school (NDPIA)) traveled from all over to Granavolden, with their poster, to participate in the PIBs course and present their work.

During the course, we had a guided tour around Granavolden to learn more about the exciting history of the place. The IBA director, Mike Koomey and NDPIA director Debra Milton enjoyed the great weather while strolling behind all the students and lecturers.

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 international and national researchers of renown from different universities, such as the University of Tel Aviv, the University of Basel, Imperial College London, the University of Helsinki and many more. 

During the 5-day course, the students could learn basic concepts of infection biology but also build a network with each other and get to know their lecturers, who also stayed at Granavolden for a couple of days. The days were filled with lectures, great food, games, beautiful scenery, and cow petting.

We had a kubb tournament between students and lecturers.
The lecturers won one round during the tournament, and the students won the next. This led to an exciting final where the students won the third match and, therefore, the tournament.
Everyone was mesmerised by one friendly cow that loved being petted.


We are delighted with this year and IBA´s last PIBs course. And we want to thank everyone who participated and made it a great week!

CV building webinar by Karl Brown 28th March 2023

The IBA-PhD arranged a CV Building ZOOM webinar on 28th March 2023 for all IBA members before going on easter vacation 🙂 We also included social gatherings in each local institute after the webinar – where we discussed about the seminar, exchanged knowledge about CV and resume, get to know each other more while eating pizza together. In total, 24 participants took this opportunity to build their CVs while building their careers. The attendees were belonging from UiT, NTNU, NMBU, UiO, OsloMet, and UiB.

Since a CV is the first contact you have with a prospective employer, this webinar was a perfect platform to improve on our CV which would enable us to make a good first impression on the employer. We learnt about the differences between a resume and a CV, what to include and what not.  

Picture taken by Srijana during the webinar

Additionally, we had a nice discussion section with Karl about improving our CV and making it to outstanding among several. We hope that this webinar has helped all other participants, especially final-year PhD’s who will be looking forward to applying for new positions soon

This webinar has generated awareness among us so that we start formulating our academic rewards, qualifications, and experiences and soon in the CV or resume, in an accurate way with some important keywords.

Picture taken at UiT during the social gathering

IBA-PhD event: Lecture by Henrik Herrebrøden

The IBA PhD committee organized a digital lecture by Henrik Herrebrøden on Tuesday the 13th of December 2022. Henrik Herrebrøden is a psychologist with many years of experience helping athletes cope with pressure. Henrik gave many helpful tips on how to deal with failing and the pressure to always do well in academia. PhDs gathered locally to watch the lecture together and afterwards made holiday themed ornaments. The event was a great opportunity to mingle with other PhDs from the same university and get into the holiday spirit!

IBA-PhD seminar and social activities – 26th of October in Oslo

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.